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.