In His Shoes - Summarry of John Nordstrom

John Nordstrom was only 16 when left his home and traveled to New York with about $5 in his pocket. He was born February 15, 1871 in Alvik Neder Lulea, Sweden and was traveling in hopes to make it rich. Unfortunately for him; he could not speak a word of English. He left Sweden with 2 friends and traveled to many different places getting money from various odd jobs. And eventually found himself gold-mining in Alaska. He returned to Seattle with $13,000 and decided the best thing to do was to go back to Seattle. He went to business school for a couple of years and in May of 1900 Nordstrom married a woman named Hilda Carlson and the two began raising a family together and eventually had five children. A man named Carl F. Wallin who he had met earlier in Alaska offered him a partnership in a little Seattle shoe repair shop.

In 1901 the two as business partners opened Wallin & Nordstrom. At last Nordstrom had begun to invest in the business that would lead him to success. But by the year of 1928 after opening another store and working together for more than 20 years, the two were arguing and disagreeing about the way to run their business. Nordstrom would have left the business but his son, Everett, was still extremely interested in the shoe business. So Wallin sold his part of the business to Nordstrom and eventually John sold it to his two sons in 1930. And so the business was carried throughout the family. Unfortunately, On October 11, 1963, John Nordstrom died in Seattle, Washington of a cerebral hemorrhage, at the age of 92. Nordstrom’s was passed along from his son’s to his grandsons and on and on until today. Now Nordstrom’s is a nation-wide fashionably consistent store with many locations and hundreds of loyal customers.

- Edie Dean

Doc

Doc Maynard was born on March 22, 1808 near the town of Castleton, Vermont. Originally David S. Maynard, arrived at Alki Point on March 31, 1852. He was aquatinted with the Duwamish Indians and Chief Seattle whom paddled Maynard from Olympia in a canoe all the way to Seattle. Maynard settled in a tiny village of what used to be known as Seattle, called Duwamps. He was Seattle's first merchant, physician, postmaster, Indian agent, and justice of the peace in the spring of 1852. Doc Maynard was one of Seattle's most influential people. He sympathized with the local Indians and represented their needs. He was one of the first to develop some of Seattle's laws and territories. He was one of the first to build important structures for the economy and for the people.

-Evan

Lou Graham: Brothel Madame or Shrewd Business Woman?

Seattle, September 1888. Germman Native Dorothea Georgine Emile Ohben a.k.a Madame Lou Graham steps off the steamer Pacific Pride. She was soon to become the first successful business woman in Seattle, giving loans to prominent Seattle corporations when they couldn't afford to carry on their livelihood. She gained her money and fame through the brothel business. She supplied consorts, companions and overall, females to the the city of Seattle. When she arrives, the city was barely three decades old and suffering from the the outcome of women's suffrage which resulted in a reform period where liquor licenses were revoked, brothels closed and law strictly enforced. In turn the city shriveled, the citiziens not realizing that the income recieved from fines and taxes on liquor, crime and prostitution were what kept Seattle afloat. MAdame Lou Graham made big bucks and played a huge part in resurrecting Seattle. She left a quarter million dollars to the public schools. She died at age 42 of syphilis.

phil marcus- summary-William D. Wood

William D. Wood played an important role in Seattle's history. He helped develop the Green Lake neighborhood and was the mayor of Seattle for a short period of time.It was his studies in law that brought him to Seattle in 1884. He became the judge of king county. he didn't get re-elected but that was ok because he found new opportunity in land development. He bought up 600 acres of land around the Green Lake are. he platted the land for resale in 30 by 100 lots for families who wanted more space outside the busy city, and he was able to get the trolley out to Green Lake. After that Wood became mayor of Seattle. but only for a short while, do to the gold rush. Wood quit as mayor and began shuttling people from California to Alaska. he did this for a few years than he died several years later do to intestine ailment on march 23,1917

Doc Maynard, that drunk

In March 22, 1808, David Swinson Maynard. He attended the Castleton Medical School in Vermont. He eventually made his way to the west coast. He caused some trouble in Olympia, where he had ended up. The town fathers kicked him out and Doc went to Seattle, at the time the city was called Duwamp. Doc Maynard caused some more trouble there. He was always drinking. Doc helped in the development of the pioneer square district and was the reason why the streets in that area are oriented to a compass. The other founders ran the streets along the water. Doc would then help the city grow. He would later advertise the city and invite a lot of people to settle in it.

Bio Summary

Aurthur Denny (born 1822) traveled with a group of settlers in 1851 to Alki Point and became recognized as the founding settlers in Seattle.

Throughout his time in the area he made many contributions to the development of Seattle, specifically in regard to politics. He was a key player in the campaign to separate "the north of Columbia" area from the rest of the Oregon Territory, and in the relations with the native people, and even with women's rights.

Because of this political involvement, his voice was a influential tool that shaped the area into what it is today.



Angela Conti~

Steph Golden Bio-Summary

Nordstroms Success Within the Expasion of the Pacific Northwest


John Nordstrom was born in Sweden in 1871 and came to America at the Age of 16. While working in New York he read an article about the Gold Rush, the next day he set off to Alaska. He sold a claim for $30,000 and split it with his parntners at the time and got $13,000. He then returned to Seattle and opened a small show repair store with his friend CArl Wallin in 1901. As Seattle expanded so did John Nordstrom's success in his business. Nordstrom,INC. is now one of the nation's leading fashion retailers. His success in business influenced many others to expand in the United States.


Steph Golden

The Life and Times of Takuji Yamashita

Takuji Yamashita was born in Japan in 1874.

He came to Tacoma in the late 1890’s, and came to Seattle in 1900. He came because he had little hope of a good future in Japan, and wanted to get an education and “work for the public good.”

He graduated from the UW school of Law with distinction, but was not allowed to practice law because only a US citizen was allowed to do that. At the time, Asians living in Washington could not legally gain citizenship. People in the area were resentful towards most immigrants. So he went to court to contest it, and represented himself, but lost the case. His struggle paved the way for many such struggles against racism in the future. In the end the law saw changed, and many now see Yamashita as a hero.

Jessica

John Norstrom

John Nordstrom was a very important part of Seattle’s history. He created what is today one of the largest fashion companies in the world; Nordstrom. He traveled from Sweden in search of opportunity at a young age and eventually moved to Alaska because of the Klondike Gold Rush. He met a man while living there and together they opened up a shoe store n Seattle. At first they made little money but once people started to know the store they became popular. Later they expanded to a clothing an shoe store and the company spread among states. Over the years the company has grown into one of the largest retail companies in the United States and is still expanding over the world.

Charlie Terry: The Money Man

Charles C. Terry, born in Waterville, NY, in 1830, originally sailed west to make a fortune in the California Gold Rush. But when he met Arthur Denny in Portland in 1850, the man recruited him to a party that was headed for the Puget Sound, where Denny planned to build a city. There began the story of how Charlie Terry became one of the most important founders of Seattle. Terry was particularly essential to the city's economy and good humor. He was friendly, outgoing, sharp with mathematical calculations, and was an incredibly hard worker whenever there was money to be made. He was the first one to bring in money for the settlement at Alki Point, and continued to find economic success in Seattle up until he died at the early age of thirty-seven.

Madame Lou

Lou Graham came to Seattle in 1888 with very little and managed to become the first successful business woman in Seattle. Very little is known about Lou Graham before she came to Seattle, but her contributions to the young city are still relevant today. She gave loans when banks couldn't and when she died she left a quarter million dollars to the public schools. She was born in the late 1860s and died at age 42 of syphilis. Lou Graham was the infamous madame who employed the women that drew wealthy business men from across the country to Seattle.

-Jerusha

Project 2 Assignments: Essay

Your essay about your International District site should answer the following question:
* What does this site tell us about the history of the International District?

Another way to think of this question is:
* How does the history of Asian-Americans in Seattle “speak” through this site?

Your response to this question is your argument. Clearly, this is a big question with lots of possible answers. So you will probably want to pursue a more specific direction in your essay, which will allow you to make a more specific argument. But that kind of specificity will only be possible after you have done some initial research.

Your argument about your site will be supported by various kinds of evidence, such as:
* Artifacts from your collection, which tell us about the present state of the site, its current use and relationship to the neighborhood;
* Other kind of primary research, such as interviews with residents of the I.D. and your own "field observations" of the site, its use and its locale;
* Secondary research that can help you understand the history of the site, such as information you get from book, articles and authoritative websites about the International District, Asian-American history, Seattle history, certain kinds of architecture, certain kinds of urban patterns, and so on.

Your essay should be 5 pages long, typed and double-spaced. Your draft is due on Wednesday, 3.26. The final version is due on Friday, 3.28.

Project 2 Assignments: Artifact Collection

Your Artifact Collection is a collection of 10-15 found objects, images and sound recordings from, of, around and inside your International District site. As a whole, the collection should help your reader/viewer understand what and where the site is, its relationship to its immediate environment, and its role in the International District. Each artifact should have a caption that explains briefly what it is and its location; for images that you do not create yourself, the caption must also provide credit and source information. The locations of all the artifacts should be represented in some way on a map--a map of Seattle, of the International District, or a more specialized map of the neighborhood that you make yourself or get from a resource.

SO, WHAT IS AN ARTIFACT?
For the purposes of this assignment, an artifact is an image, found object or sound recording. You must include at least one item from each of these three categories in your collection. But of course, for some categories, you will want to include more than one item. You can take your own photos or find images in brochures, books, articles and other sources. (Remember, you must provide credit/source information for pictures that you do not make yourself.)

1. the site itself, past and/or present
* current picture of the site
* historical picture of the site

2. nearby features of the built environment
* picture of graffiti or “ghost signs” near or on the site
* picture of street signs, trade signs, street lamps, etc. near or on the site
* picture of curbs, sidewalks, asphalt repairs, streets, alleys, potholes, railroads, bike lanes, etc. from or near the site
* picture of buildings, walls, windows, doorways, facades, monuments, etc. from or near the site

3. traces and remains
* pamphlet, brochure, flier or poster mentioning or describing the site
* sample of paper or plastic trash found on or near the site (packaging, bags, wrappers, notes, cards, etc.)
* picture of other kinds of trash from or near the site (three-dimensional garbage, food waste, etc.)
* picture or sample of flora and fauna from or near the site (leaves, grass, trees, pigeons, pigeon poop, etc.)
* picture of people at or around the site (workers, residents, restaurant customers, gardeners, homeless folks camping out, kids playing, etc.)
* sound recording from or near the site (traffic, dogs barking, people talking, etc.)

WHAT IS NOT AN ARTIFACT?
Pretty much anything that you can document from, of, around, near or inside the site counts as an artifact. Obviously, most of the built environment is not portable. Most of the plant, animal and human residents of the International District are also not portable. Most of the material remains of human culture (e.g. garbage) are either not portable or are too yuchy or cumbersome to sample. So you will need to represent these kinds of artifacts in images and sound recordings.

Project 2 Introduction

For project 2, we’ll be examining Seattle's “International District” or I.D., an area that has historically incorporated many names and roles, reflecting changes in immigration patterns, local power and civic identity: Chinatown, Japantown, Little Saigon, the center of Seattle’s post-World War II jazz scene, and plain old “home” for many in Seattle’s Asian-American community. This time, our focus is the built environment—how it reflects the history of the people who lived and live there.

We’ll read about the geographic development of the area and its specific history, with a particular focus on how Japanese American internment during World War II affected the district. Then we’ll put this neighborhood history into national and international context, so we can understand how Seattle’s International District reflects ideas, drives and pressures far beyond its borders. During this study of the International District as a whole, you will begin individual research on a single sample of the built environment--a site such as a building or part of a building, bridge, street, monument or park in the neighborhood. Your research will culminate in two products: 1) an artifact collection of 10-15 found objects from, in, of and around the site, with captions that help us understand the objects as signs of the site in the present and an accompanying I.D. map, and 2) a 5-page essay about the site, using the objects and other sources as evidence to support a claim about what the site tells us about International District history. Our goal is to collectively build a more detailed history of the International District, one site at a time.


PROJECT 2 SCHEDULE

2.25
De-brief biography assignment and discuss summary.
Introduce project 2. Read thumbnail history of ID.
HW: Post biographical summaries on course blog.
Read Colasurdo (CR) and Kaneko (CR).

2.27
Discuss Colasurdo, journalistic objectivity and “academic argument.” Discuss Kaneko.
HW: Read Sone (CR).

2.29
Panama Hotel Café ($5).
Compare Kaneko to Sone. Tour #1 of I.D.
HW: List possible sites in ID. Read Zia (CR) and respond to study questions. I.D. map.

3.3
Discuss Zia. Share site possibilities.
HW: Using sources, add I.D. timeline events to timeline in CR. Read Choy (CR).

3.5
Discuss Choy. How do you write an argumentative history essay? Discuss schedules.
HW: Read Jackson, “The Public Landscape” (old CR).

3.7
Panama Hotel Café ($5).
Sign up for conferences.
Discuss Jackson.
Tour #2 of I.D.
HW: over break, begin your research and prepare for your conference. I.D. map.

3.10-3.14
SPRING BREAK

3.17
NO CLASS—CONFERENCES

3.19
NO CLASS—CONFERENCES

3.21
NO CLASS—RESEARCH DAY

3.24
ARTIFACT COLLECTION DUE
See guidelines above.
Share artifact stories and I.D. maps.

3.26
Essay draft for peer review.

3.28
FINAL ESSAY DUE
See guidelines above.

Duwamish Waterway Field Trip

Some pix from our trip to the Harbor Island area, near the West Seattle Bridge, where the Duwamish Waterway meets Elliott Bay...

Group Timeline of Early Seattle History

Nov. 13, 1851- arrival of the "Denny party" at Alki Point.
Source: Alki: Birthplace of Seattle, dir. B. J. Bullert.

Nov. 13, 1851 - Denny party arrives.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle

January 26, 1856 - natives attacked the Seattle Settlement
Source: “History of Seattle Before 1900,” Wikipedia.

1864- Importation of 11 unmarried women to Seattle from Lowell, Massachusetts, by Mercer
Source: Coll Thrush, "Seattle Illahee," Native Seattle, 56.

January 14, 1865 - Seattle was incorporated as a town.
Source: “Early History of Seattle,” Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_seattle

1865- Seattle officially incorporated
Source: Coll Thrush, "Seattle Illahee," Native Seattle, 56.

1865- Ordinance No. 5 passed
Source: Coll Thrush, "Seattle Illahee," Native Seattle, 56.

1866- second installment of 34 "Mercer Girls"
Source: Coll Thrush, "Seattle Illahee," Native Seattle, 56.

1866 - Chief Seattle dies.
Source: Chief Seattle, Dir. BJ Bullert 2000

April 4, 1884 - 15 Seattle Women founded The Ladies Relief Society to address "the number of needy and suffering cases within the limits of the city." This eventually resulted in the founding of Seattle Children's Home, still in operation today.
Source: “History of Seattle Before 1900,” Wikipedia.

1884- Seattles ladies relief society is founded and opens an orphanage the following year
Source: MOHAI

1886 - Anti Chinese mobs drive Chinese workers from Seattle resulting in riot and death.
Source: MOHAI museum

1886 - first graduates of seattle highschool
Source: MOHAI

1886- Seattle got its first YMCA gymnasium
Source: “History of Seattle Before 1900,” Wikipedia.

1888 - The Seattle, Lakeshore and eastern railroad reaches Issaquah
Source: MOHAI Museum

June 6, 1889 - Great Seattle fire
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Seattle_Fire

June 6, 1889 - Great Seattle fire
Source: Mohai

1889 - Washington becomes a state
Source: Mohai

1889 - Washington territory achieves statehood
Source: MOHAI Museum

1889 - The city contracted with the Pacific Bridge Company to construct the headworks, dam, and pipeline.
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Building The City," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 75.

1890 - the total population in Seattle was 42,837.
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, “Reaping the Profits of the Klondike Trade,“ from Hard Drive to the Klondike

1892- built 3500 new buildings and seattle was reborn, the fire started in the Pontius building Source: MOHAI

1893 - Great Northern Railway completed
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Reaping the Profits of the Klondike Trade," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 44.

1893 - Great northern completes railroad line from st. Paul to Seattle.
No source.

1894 – Coxeys army marches. Protestors concerned about unemployment march at capital. Jack London is a participant.
No source.

1896 - Gold was discovered in Klondike region of Canada.
Source: “Early History of Seattle,” Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_seattle

1897 - City Council increased police force by 40%
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Reaping the Profits of the Klondike Trade," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 53.

1897 - 1898 - Seattle's fleet tripled in size
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Reaping the Profits of the Klondike Trade," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 45.

April-May 1900 - over 8,000 miners gold seekers past through seattle on their way to Nome.
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Reaping the Profits of the Klondike Trade," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 58.

1900 - Electric rail lines connected seattle to comunties to the north and south sides of the city. An interurban train ran between seattle and Tacoma, and the completion in 1900 of a line from seattle to everett futher opened opportunities for growth.
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Building The City," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 70.

1902 - Voters decided in favor of the city power plant.
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Building The City," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 76.

1903 - Cooper and Levy sell out and sell their business to the Bon Marche.
No source.

1910 - Congress authorized construction of the Lake Washington Canal connecting Lake Washington and Lake Union to Puget Sound. –
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Building The City," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 76.

1910 - Congress authorized construction of the Lake Washington Canal connecting Lake Washington and Lake Union to the Puget Sound.
Source: Lisa Mighetto and Marcia Montgomery, "Building The City," from Hard Drive to the Klondike, 78.

Timeline

Project 1 Assignments: Biography

Referring to the readings, films and site explorations for our class, choose a real person who lived in the Seattle area at some point between 1851 and 1900 and write a 5-page (typed, double-spaced) biography of this person’s life in relation to some of the events that occurred in and around Seattle during that time. You should pick a subject whose life or life circumstances interest you. Your biography can tell the story of your subject's whole life, or just some part of it, but it should show how the subject was involved in or affected by events in the Seattle area--namely, those events represented in the group timeline.

You will need to make a research plan to help you manage your time in the coming weeks. As you make your research plan, think about the research challenges you’ll face. Does your biographical subject count as a “major” or “minor” historical figure? Why? I.e., what do those designations presume? If you choose a “major” historical figure, what kinds of research problems and advantages do you think you’ll encounter? How can you address these issues? If you choose a “minor” historical figure, what kinds of research problems and advantages do you think you’ll encounter? How can you address these issues?

Research plan due: 1/30/08
Biography due: 2/22/08

Project 1 Assignments: Timeline

Using the readings, films and site explorations for our class, we will collectively construct a timeline of early Seattle history, from pre-colonial times to about 1900. This group timeline will help you plan and write your project 1 biography. You will turn in a version of the timeline with your biography, with additional dates and events relevant to your biographical subject’s life.

In order to make this timeline useful for all possible biographical subjects, we need to think broadly and creatively about what counts as an important “event” in the history of Seattle. What kinds of events can be labeled with a specific date? What kinds of events get recorded? What kinds of events get left out—and why? How do the events and people who are left out continue to haunt the city and its history? How can we represent these invisible events in our timeline?

Your job is to provide data for our timeline as COMMENTS on this posting. Organize your events chronologically. For each timeline entry, provide:

1) the date. If your event can't be tied to a specific date, give it a range, like late 1880s, or 1800-1830, or circa 1900.
2) a brief explanation of the event. What happened?
3) source information. Use the same MLA format that you are using in your reading log.

Please also post COMMENTS about timeline-related issues and problems, in response to the questions above, for example.

Timeline due: 2/22/08.

Project 1 Introduction

In the textbook history of Seattle, the city’s origins can be traced back to November 13, 1851, when Arthur C. Denny and the “Denny party” landed at what is now called Alki Point, in West Seattle. These founding fathers, determined to build a new city, went on to plan the village that, by dint of hard work and savvy investments, became a lumber station, a trading post, a boom-town, a wonder of civil engineering and gradually a thriving metropolis.

There are a number of problems with this account. First of all, the members of the "Denny party" were not the first white settlers in the area. More importantly, the U.S. interest in “manifest destiny” (the belief that the United States should extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean) and the colonizing of the “New World” by Europeans in the first place (beginning with Columbus) ignored the fact that the land was already inhabited. Seattle’s history is complicated by relations between white settlers and original Native residents, as well as by competition within each of these two groups. Seattle is haunted by the legacy of these conflicts; even the names of certain city landscapes and landmarks testify to this unresolved past.

For this project, we’ll investigate some of the myths and histories that Seattle has created and destroyed. Specifically, we’ll focus on two geographic areas, their histories and their presents: the Duwamish River, particularly where it meets Elliott Bay, and Pioneer Square. One, named for the Seattle-area tribe that negotiated with the whites and then lost its treaty rights, is now an industrial waste-site. The other, now a commercially thriving historic district, celebrates the achievement of the settlers—although it really owes its neighborhood identity to the “gold rush” of 1897, the event that was the turning point in the city’s economic fortune. These two neighborhoods tell us a lot about the relationships between power, landscape and history in the city’s development and identity. They also point to the ways that the terms "natives" and "newcomers," as designations that can help or hurt their bearers, change depending on context...

PROJECT 1 SCHEDULE

1.14
Intro, wrap up from last quarter

1.16
“Detroit Arcadia” (Urban Inventions Course Reader)
“Mystery on Pearl Street” (hand-out)

1.18
PORTFOLIO REVISIONS DUE
Watch Alki: Birthplace of Seattle and Chief Seattle: A Biography

1.21
NO CLASS--MLK DAY

1.23
“Building on Disappearance” (Urban Inventions Course Reader)

1.25
“History of Seattle Before 1900” (wikipedia)
Museum History & Industry ($2.50)--bring your journal and take notes for timeline

1.28
“The Haunted City” (Urban Inventions Course Reader)

1.30
RESEARCH PLAN DUE
“Seattle Illahee” (Urban Adaptations Course Reader)

2.1
“A River Lost” (Urban Adaptations Course Reader)
Duwamish trip (busfare)--details TBA; bring journal and camera

2.4
“Hard Drive to Klondike” (Urban Adaptations Course Reader)

2.6
timeline updates

2.8
Pioneer Square tour and Gold Rush Museum (busfare)--bring journal and camera

2.11
library workshop 1 (in class)

2.13
readings on history.org TBA

2.15
Underground Tour (entrance $)

2.18
NO CLASS--PRESIDENTS DAY

2.20
historical biography and timeline drafts due

2.22
HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY AND TIMELINE DUE

Hello.

Urban Adaptations is an Integrated Studies course at Cornish College of the Arts. We are examining four neighborhoods in Seattle WA at different moments in the city's history, with a particular interest in how different cultures and different approaches to nature have shaped the landscape. Each of these neighborhoods has the multiply inscribed quality of the palimpsest... history has been written onto the landscape, then partially erased and re-written, a process that continues and requires human and non-human inhabitants to adapt to changing conditions.