Donald Schmechel Oral History Collection
Watch oral histories with prominent figures in the Pacific Northwest including artists Jacob Lawrence and Kenneth Callahan; Governors Albert Rosellini and Dixy Lee Ray and Reverends David Colwell and Samuel McKinney.
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Municipal Plans Commission of the City of Seattle map showing a portion of Duwamish Valley, 1911
Map showing proposed city improvements under the Plan of Seattle, commonly known as the Bogue Plan. Designed by Virgil Bogue, Seattle's municipal plans director, the Bogue Plan proposed a series of improvements aimed at beautifying the city and making it making it more cohesive after years of rapid growth and industrialization. The plan worked in tandem with the Olmsted Brothers new system of parks, begun in 1903, and proposed new government buildings, an improved city center and an interurban road connecting the city together. The plan was rejected by voters in 1912.
Identifier: spl_maps_2465533_8
Date: 1911
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Municipal Plans Commission of the City of Seattle Topographic Map of Seattle and Vicinity, 1911
Map showing proposed city improvements under the Plan of Seattle, commonly known as the Bogue Plan. Designed by Virgil Bogue, Seattle's municipal plans director, the Bogue Plan proposed a series of improvements aimed at beautifying the city and making it making it more cohesive after years of rapid growth and industrialization. The plan worked in tandem with the Olmsted Brothers new system of parks, begun in 1903, and proposed new government buildings, an improved city center and an interurban road connecting the city together. The plan was rejected by voters in 1912.
Identifier: spl_maps_2465533_20
Date: 1911
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Municipal Plans Commission of the City of Seattle map showing Harbor Island Waterfront District, 1911
Map showing proposed city improvements under the Plan of Seattle, commonly known as the Bogue Plan. Designed by Virgil Bogue, Seattle's municipal plans director, the Bogue Plan proposed a series of improvements aimed at beautifying the city and making it making it more cohesive after years of rapid growth and industrialization. The plan worked in tandem with the Olmsted Brothers new system of parks, begun in 1903, and proposed new government buildings, an improved city center and an interurban road connecting the city together. The plan was rejected by voters in 1912.
Identifier: spl_maps_2465533_6
Date: 1911
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Roy Jackson Interview, April 5, 1988
Roy Jackson (1916-2000) was the deputy director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and active in protecting salmon. He was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska. Jackson graduated from the University of Washington College of Fisheries in 1939 and studied salmon in the Fraser River. In 1948 he graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in civil engineering. Between 1938 and 1955, he held a variety of roles with the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission including chief engineer and assistant director. In his time with the organization, he helped restore salmon spawning beds and establish fishways for salmon to travel, resulting in a dramatically more robust salmon population. In 1955 he accepted a role as the executive director of the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission which he held for several years before moving to Rome in 1964 to work for the United Nations. He became the deputy director of the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization in 1972. In 1979, he returned to Seattle and co-founded Natural Resources Consultants. He also held the role of chairman of the board for the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources.
Identifier: spl_ds_rjackson_01
Date: 1988-04-05
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Proposed Plan of Improvement of Salmon Bay Harbor, 1892
Map showing proposed warehouses and manufacturing areas on the Salmon Bay Waterway, soon to be developed as the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
Identifier: spl_maps_2449773
Date: 1892
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Kenneth Callahan Interview, 1984
Kenneth Callahan (1905-1986) was a noted Washington artist, known for his work in painting and sculpture. Together with Mark Tobey, Guy Anderson and Morris Graves, Callahan was part of the “Northwest Mystics” or “Northwest School” a group of artists formed during the 1930s who embraced Asian aesthetics and the natural environment of the Puget Sound. Callahan was born in Spokane, Washington and raised in Glasgow, Montana. His family moved to Raymond, Washington in 1918 and then Seattle in 1920. Callahan attended Broadway High School and, briefly, the University of Washington. He moved to San Francisco where he had his first one-man show and worked as a ship’s steward before returning to Seattle in 1930. In the same year, he married Margaret Bundy. The couple’s home quickly became a meeting point for many figures in Seattle’s art scene. During the Great Depression, Callahan worked as an artist for the Federal Arts Project. In 1933, Callahan’s work was included in the First Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art at the Whitney Museum and Callahan began working as a curator at the Seattle Art Museum, a role he continued until 1953. In 1954 he won a fellowship from the Guggenheim. He traveled extensively through Europe and South America and focused on his painting. In 1961 Margaret passed away after a battle with cancer. Callahan remarried Beth Inge Gotfredsen in 1964 and the couple moved to Long Beach, Washington. Callahan returned to Seattle in 1984, shortly before his 1986 passing. Callahan’s work is included in the collections of several prominent museums including the Seattle Art Museum, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and the Chicago Art Institute.
Identifier: spl_ds_kcallahan_01
Date: 1984
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Laurene Gandy interview, April 6, 1987
Laurene Tatlow Gandy (1908-1993) was born in Denver, Colorado. She attended Colorado University for two years before transferring to Smith College where she earned her degree in English literature. She received her masters degree from the University of Denver and taught English there until she met and married in Joseph Gandy in 1937. Joseph Gandy was appointed as the president of the 1962 Century 21 Exposition and Laurene was often referred to as the fair’s “First Lady.” She served an important role hosting hundreds of visiting dignitaries and celebrities visiting the fair. Gandy was active in a variety of civic activities throughout her lifetime including serving on the board of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, acting as president of the Seattle Children’s Home and helping to found the Seattle Center Foundation in 1977.
Identifier: spl_ds_lgandy_01_01
Date: 1987-04-06
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Stan Pocock Interview, September 1986
Stan Pocock (1923-2014) was a prominent rower and coach in Pacific Northwest rowing. He was born in Seattle and had an interest in rowing from an early age thanks to the legacy of his father, George Pocock (1891-1976) who was renowned for his design and construction of rowing shells. George Pocock was responsible for the construction of the rowing shells used by the University of Washington in their 1936 Olympic championship and supplied collegiate rowing shells across the nation. Stan attended the University of Washington and graduated with a degree in engineering. Stan carried in his father’s footsteps and became known for his own innovations, creating the first fiberglass rowing shell in 1961. He also became a successful rowing coach, leading eight crews to the Olympics during the 1950s and 1960s; coaching the University of Washington rowing team and acting as the first coach of the Lake Washington Rowing Club. In 2012, USRowing awarded Pocock the Medal of Honor, honoring his lifetime achievement in the field.
Identifier: spl_ds_spocock_01
Date: 1986-09-14; 1986-09-17
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Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Seattle, Wash - Plate 8
Baist Real Estate atlases of Seattle were published in 1905, 1908, and 1912. The atlases show property ownership (for large tracts), plats, block and lot numbers, streets, buildings, sewers, water mains, electric railways, and steam railroads.
Identifier: spl_maps_341191.8
Date: 1905
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Frank Cunningham Interview, September 15, 1986
Frank Cunningham (1922-2013) was a fixture in the Seattle rowing scene. Cunningham grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts and attended Harvard and was part of the varsity rowing team. He interrupted his college education to serve in the Marine Corps during World War II. Following the war he moved to Seattle where he began working at Boeing and met his wife, Jane. He earned his graduate degree in teaching from the University of Washington and began a career in education. He also coached the rowing team at Lakeside school where he was also a humanities teacher. Several of his students later became Olympian rowers. He received the medal of honor from the U.S. Rowing Association in 2010 and was included in their Hall of Fame. In 2012, he was honored by the Washington State Senate for his teaching and coaching career.
Identifier: spl_ds_fcunningham_01
Date: 1986-09-15
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