Lu Jacobson Collection of Latimer and Denny Family Material
See letters, photographs and other ephemera from two of Seattle's early families.
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Narcissa Latimer letter to Alexander and Sarah Latimer, November 17, 1884
Narcissa Leonora (Nora) Latimer Denny was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Latimer. She had four sisters: Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler (1856-1934), Harriet Ellen Latimer Stephens (1859-1938), Clara Latimer Bickford (1861-1934), and Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds (1864-1946). Narcissa married Orion Denny on April 1, 1889. The letter is addressed to Alexander and Sarah Latimer and is written from Seattle. It discusses Seattle's climate, her duties as a teacher, women's suffrage, the recent presidential election and Denny family matters including the birth of Roland Denny's third daughter (Edith Denny). Narcissa writes that one of Roland's daughters' was upset that the baby was a girl and notes that ""Cousin Arthur"" (Arthur Denny) consoled the child by telling her that a girl is worth as much as a boy because ""She can vote."" (Washington Territory women were granted the right to vote in 1883 but the right was repealed in August 1888 when a court ruled that the territorial government did not have the authority to enfranchise women voters. Washington became a state in 1889 but women did not regain the vote in Washington until 1910.)
Identifier: spl_lj_004
Date: 1884-11-17
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James St. Cable Line, Birds Eye View - Looking South, 1904
Map showing the James St. Cable Car route and location of pulleys.
Identifier: spl_maps_2354008
Date: 1904
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Alexander Latimer, ca. 1865
Tintype portrait of Alexander Latimer. Alexander was married to Sarah Latimer and had five daughters: Narcissa Latimer Denny (1851-1900), Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler (1856-1934), Harriet Ellen Latimer Stephens (1859-1938), Clara Latimer Bickford (1861-1934), and Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds (1864-1946).
Identifier: spl_lj_019
Date: 1865?
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Unknown woman in New York, ca. 1880
Photograph taken by C. Hayden in New York City.
Identifier: spl_lj_026
Date: 1880?
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Unknown woman in Clarinda, Iowa, ca. 1880
Photograph taken by E.B. Hinman in Clarinda, Iowa.
Identifier: spl_lj_031
Date: 1880?
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The City of Seattle Harbor Department, Map of Central Waterfront District, 1916
Map depicting businesses along the waterfront and water depths along piers and in Elliott Bay.
Identifier: spl_maps_2361529
Date: 1916
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"Monterey" gunboat in Port Orchard dry dock, ca. 1896
Transcribed from back of photograph: "The Monterey in dry dock at Port Orchard near Seattle. They put the boats in the dock, then pump out the water to paint or clean the bottom which gets covered with barnacles, little muscle shell, seaweeds, + c." The Port Orchard Dry Dock mentioned in the caption is likely the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
Identifier: spl_lj_063
Date: 1896?
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Cherry Blossoms
Frank Asakichi Kunishige was born in Japan on June 5, 1878. He came to the United States via San Francisco in 1895. After graduating from the Illinois College of Photography, he opened a small photography studio in San Francisco. Kunishige moved to Seattle in 1917. In the same year, he married Gin Kunishige and began working in the studio of Edward S. Curtis where he became acquainted with Ella McBride who he worked for in later years. Kunishige was well known for his use of Pictorialism, a popular painterly style of photography. He developed his photographs on "textura tissue," a paper of his own creation, which allowed him to produce almost dreamlike prints. His work was featured nationally and internationally in exhibitions and publications such as Photo-Era and Seattle's Town Crier. In 1924, Kunishige became one of the founding members of the Seattle Camera Club, a group of local photographers including Kyo Koike, Yukio Morinaga, Iwao Matsushita and Fred Y. Ogasawara who gathered to share techniques and ideas, as well as their deep love of the medium. Although the group was initially solely Japanese, they soon welcomed more members including Ella McBride, their first female member. When World War II struck and the country's Japanese internment policy was put in place, Kunishige and his wife were forced to leave Seattle for Idaho where they were interned at the Minidoka camp. After their release, Kunishige spent two years working at a photography studio in Twin Falls, Idaho but eventually returned to Seattle due to his poor health. Frank Kunishige passed away on April 9, 1960.
Identifier: spl_art_367924_14
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Two unknown men, ca. 1865
Tintype portrait of two unidentified men.
Identifier: spl_lj_038
Date: 1865?
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Milton Katims Interview, May 10, 1986
Milton Katims (1909-2006) was a skilled violist and conductor, leading the Seattle Symphony for over two decades. Katims was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Columbia University. He taught viola classes at schools such as Julliard, Northwestern University, and the University of Washington. He married his wife, Virginia Peterson, in 1940. In 1943, Katims joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra, a radio orchestra that performed weekly broadcasts, and served as the assistant conductor. He also composed his own music and played with ensembles including the Budapest String Quartet and the New York Piano Quartet. Katims conducted symphonies internationally in locales such as Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and London. He was the conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 1954 to 1976, helping the symphony to grow in prominence. He played a critical role in garnering support to convert the city’s Civic Auditorium to the Opera House, which was shared by the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Following his time in Seattle, Katims moved to Houston where he worked as the Artistic Director for the University of Houston School of Music for eight years. Following his retirement, he returned to Seattle.
Identifier: spl_ds_mkatims_01
Date: 1986-05-10
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