Browse photographs from the Paul Dorpat Collection which documents the history of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. At this time, a small sampling of images has been digitized while the collection is actively being processed.
Lake Washington, Mercer Island, and Mt. Rainier, ca. 1910s
View southeast from around the Leschi neighborhood in Seattle towards Lake Washington, with Mercer Island, parts of Bellevue, Seward Park, and Mt. Rainier visible. Detailed view of spl_dor_gpn_re_00026 showing closeup of homes. The roofs of the Leschi Park Pavilion and Boathouse can be seen along the waterfront.
Identifier: spl_dor_gpn_re_00027
Date: 1910; 1911; 1912; 1913; 1914; 1915; 1916; 1917; 1918; 1919
View this itemDixy Lee Ray Interview, August 23, 1986
Dixy Lee Ray (1914-1994) was a Tacoma native, scientist and the first female governor of Washington State. She graduated from Mills College in 1937 and earned her doctorate in biology from Stanford University in 1942. After completing her education, Ray taught at the University of Washington and served as the director of the Pacific Science Center, helping to define its direction in the wake of the 1962 World’s Fair. In 1972, President Nixon appointed Ray as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission where she remained until 1975. Ray became of the Governor of Washington in 1976.
Identifier: spl_ds_dray_01
Date: 1986-08-23
View this itemAlbert and Audrey Kerry Interview, March 16, 1988
Albert Sperry Kerry Jr. (1903-1999) and Audrey Legg Kerry (1907-2005) were from pioneering Seattle families and were active participants in the city’s civic and arts organizations. Albert’s father, Albert Sperry Kerry Sr. arrived in Seattle in 1886, working to grow the city’s lumber industry and acting as a prominent civic leader. He served as the vice-president of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909, president of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and helped raise funds to construct the Olympic Hotel in 1924. Kerry Sr. donated the land that is now Kerry Park to the City of Seattle in 1927. Audrey’s parents, Louis and Helen Legg, were also early Seattle pioneers who moved to Seattle in 1876. Albert Kerry Jr. attended the University of Washington and served on the Seattle Art Museum’s Board of Directors for decades. Audrey Kerry attended Lincoln High School and the University of Washington and served on several clubs and committees including the Sunset Club, the Music and Art Foundation,the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Washington, and the Committee of 33. Albert and Audrey married in 1928. They were awarded the Corporate Council for the Arts Award in 1997 for their support of the arts.
Identifier: spl_ds_akerry
Date: 1988-03-16
View this itemBoats at Fishermen's Terminal, Seattle, ca. 1917
Boats Famous, Margaret and Penguin at Fishermen's Terminal. The Ballard Bridge appears under construction in the background.
Identifier: spl_dor_gpn_re_00064
Date: 1917?
View this itemSkagway, Alaska and Chilkoot Inlet looking south, ca. 1899
Identifier: spl_ap_00135
Date: 1899?
View this itemChief Kyan totem pole in Ketchikan, Alaska, ca. 1899
Chief Kyan was a Tlingit chief who, in 1885, sold 160 acres to Mike Martin, one of the city of Ketchikan's founders. The totem pole shows the lineage of the Chief's family. The bear at the base of the pole represents Chief Kyan's family. The Thunderbird in the center represents his wife's family and the crane at the top represents his wife.
Identifier: spl_ap_00080
Date: 1899?
View this itemHigh Relief
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_45
View this item[Untitled view of Suzzalo Library], ca. 1931
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_25
Date: 1931
View this itemSnoqualmie Falls dam from south side, ca. 1910s
Identifier: spl_dor_gpn_re_00224
Date: 1910; 1911; 1912; 1913; 1914; 1915; 1916; 1917; 1918; 1919
View this item