Showing 163 results

Authority record

John McCluskey and Rudy Henry

  • CAC1005
  • Family
  • 1934-2023

Rudolph “Rudy” Henry Jr. was born on July 14, 1934, on a farm near Fresno, California. He was born to Tomas Enrique Filva (also known as Rudolph or Thomas Henry) and Ann Finley, a Mono tribe member, but was raised by his Aunt Teresa Silvia Miranda, also a Mono tribe member, and her husband Francisco Bustamante Miranda. Henry served in the U.S. Air Force from 1954-1958 in Germany. When Henry was honorably discharged, he moved to San Francisco and worked at TransAmerica for 25 years. He then moved to Tacoma in 1983 with McCluskey and participated in local activism for gay rights. Henry passed away on March 16, 2023, in Tacoma at 88 years old (1).

John McCluskey was born on September 9, 1936 in Pawhuska, Oklahoma to Lillian and Daniel McCluskey. He was drafted in 1950, but due to his openness about his sexuality, was rejected by the Army (2). He was transferred to Tacoma in 1983 by his job, the St. Regis Paper Company, and Henry moved with him (1). McCluskey participated in many gay rights campaigns in Tacoma, Pierce County, and Washington for the three decades before his death (2)(3). McCluskey passed away on May 25,2022 at age 85 at a Tacoma long-term care facility (2).

Rudy Henry and John McCluskey met at a New Years Eve party in San Francisco in 1958. On April 1, 1959 they made the commitment to live together as spouses. After nearly 50 years together as a couple, they were issued the first marriage license given to a same-sex couple in Pierce County on December 6, 2012. Their wedding was held a few days later in the First United Methodist Church on Dec 15th (1).

John Linck

  • 1.2.6
  • Person
  • 1843-1927

John W. Linck was born in Jefferson County, Indiana on December 7th, 1843. His father was a German immigrant and his mother was an Irish immigrant. His father became a farmer in Indiana and moved the family to the town of Madison in the 1850s. When John was in school learning the printer’s trade the Civil War broke out. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 as a drummer boy and served for over three years, participating in many battles and becoming a colonel. After returning home he resumed his education and entered university to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1868 and became an attorney for the National Branch Bank and the Pennsylvania Railway Company. He went on to hold a series of elected offices in Indiana, including justice of the peace in Madison, prosecuting attorney, United States commissioner, member of the Indiana state legislature, director of the southern Indiana prison, postmaster (a position to which he was appointed by President Garfield), and mayor of Madison. During this time he was the owner and editor of a newspaper called The Spirit of the Age, which he continued to edit while he practiced law. He was first appointed as Special Agent of the Treasury Department by President William Henry Harrison, and then appointed again by President McKinley. In 1896 he married Eva Buchanan and they went on to have two children, Catherine and Jack. During his second appointment as Treasury Special Agent, he was transferred in 1898 to Tacoma, WA, where he ultimately resigned from the Treasury and went on to be appointed justice of the peace by the city commissioner. He was then immediately appointed as judge of the municipal police court by Mayor George P. Wright. He became heavily invested in real estate while living in Tacoma and was elected as mayor in 1908, succeeding Mayor Wright. He retired from that office in 1910 and went back to practicing law until 1914, when he ran for election again as justice of the Peace and served as such until 1922, when he was defeated for re-election. He then retired from public life and died in 1927 at the age of 83 years old.
Mayor of Tacoma (1907-1909)

John Boynton Kaiser

  • 1.4.9
  • Person
  • 1887-1973

John Boynton Kaiser was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1887. He received his B.A. in 1908 from the Western Reserve University, and later Kaiser studied at the New York State Library School in Albany, N.Y., where he received his B.L.S. in 1910 and M.L.S. in 1917.

After graduating, Kaiser began his career at the New York State Law Library. He became the assistant state librarian in charge of legislative services at the Texas State Library from 1910-11. He served as the departmental librarian in economics and sociology at the University of Illinois from 1911-1914. Kaiser was the director of the Tacoma Public Library from 1914 to 1924. However, during World War I, Kaiser served as the camp librarian at Camp Knox in Kentucky and Camp Upton in New York from 1918-1919. He left Tacoma to become the University of Iowa Libraries director and was in charge of their library school. Then in 1927, he took a position as director of the Oakland Public Library until 1943, when he became director of the Newark Public Library. While director of the Oakland Public Library, Kaiser was "also responsible for the Oakland Public Museum, the Snow Museum, and the Oakland Art Gallery." Kaiser retired from Newark Public Library in 1958.

Kaiser wrote many publications, including The National Bibliographies of the South American Republics (1913), Law Legislative and Municipal Reference Libraries, an Introductory Manual and Bibliographical Guide (1914) and Legal Aspects of Library Administration (1958). In addition, Kaiser served as president of the Pacific Northwest Library Association, the California Library Association, the New Jersey Library Association, and the New York State Library School Association. He was vice president of the American Library Association and executive director of the American Documentation Institute. Kaiser passed away on September 30, 1973 in Florida.

Jim Tweedie

  • 6.1.14
  • Person
  • 1927-2021

Jim Tweedie was born in Longview, Washington in 1927. Both his father and grandfather were employed at Long Bell Lumber Company. Starting in high school, Jim began working weekends at Long Bell West Mill and Weyerhaeuser's pulp mill, beginning a lifetime interest in the plywood and lumber industry. He graduated from Kelso High School and served in the military during WWII, stationed in Japan. Upon returning, he resumed his career in lumber, working at Long Bell once again. From there, Tweedie worked at Weyerhaeuser Company for 30 years, working both domestically at mills in the U.S South and traveling abroad serving as Weyerhauser’s manager of international sales. Following his retirement from Weyerhauser in 1984, Tweedie worked for 9 more years as an international broker for plywood, operating under his company name Pacific Gulf International. He officially retired in 1993, but remained involved in the timber industry through his work with the Plywood Pioneers of America and the Cowlitz County Historical Society and Museum. Additionally, he volunteered at the Mt. St. Helens Forest Learning Center, and published his book "The Long-Bell Story" in 2014, detailing the history of the company that first sparked his career in lumber. Jim Tweedie passed away in September 2021 in University Place, Washington.

James R. Merritt

  • 2.2.1
  • Person

James R. Merritt, a native of Tacoma, graduated from the University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning in 1970. He became a registered architect with the State of Washington in 1973. In 1975, he co-founded Glassie-Merritt where he was as a principal architect until 1979. He then went on to hold this role with several other firms including Tsang-Merritt (1979-1984), Merritt Associates (1984), Merritt + Pardini (1984-1998), Merritt + Pardini/PMX (1998-2001), and Merritt Arch (2001-present). He and his firms worked on a number of projects across Tacoma and the broader northwestern United States including the restoration of the Tacoma Union Station, the Pinkerton Building, and the Rialto Theatre.

Jacqueline Noel

  • 1.4.7
  • Person
  • 1880-1964

Jacqueline Noel was City of Tacoma Librarian from 1924 until her retirement in 1943. She was born in Washington, D.C., on June 28, 1880, to Jacob Edmund Noel and Eleanor Fresneau Leadbeater Noel. Jacqueline Noel graduated in 1913 from the Library School of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. She would continue to donate to the Pratt Institute throughout her life. Before joining the Tacoma Public Library staff in July 1924 as an assistant in the reference department, she was an assistant librarian in La Grande and Portland, Oregon.

While serving with the Tacoma Public Library, Jacqueline Noel became the Head of the Reference Department and was elected as the librarian to succeed John Kaiser. Jacqueline Noel is credited with expanding the branches of the Tacoma Public Library. She obtained the funds to build the McCormick and Mottet branches by raising donations from citizens. From 1938 to 1941, Jacqueline and the Tacoma Public Library worked with the Works Project Administration. She played an active role in the Washington Library Association.

Tacoma confectioner Harry Brown (1893-1960) created a butter-crunch toffee covered in milk chocolate and chopped almonds in 1923. Henry Brown then passed out samples of the candy to Tacoma residents. At the Tacoma candy company Brown & Haley, company lore credits Jacqueline Noel with the name Almond Roca. The name came about because of the hard crunch when eating the candy. Furthermore, most almonds were imported from Spain, and "Roca" is a Spanish word for rock.

Jacqueline Noel was an active member of numerous organizations. She was a member of the American Library Association and had previously served as vice president of the Pacific Northwest Library Association. During the American Library Association's 1933 conference in Chicago, Jacqueline presented a paper describing the business and technical books held in the reference library, which Tacoma citizens used widely. She had also participated in the North End Shakespeare Club. She was a past regent of the Elizabeth Forey Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a member of the Huguenot Society of America. Jacqueline Noel passed away in Tacoma, WA, on May 19, 1964.


Noel Family


Noel, Edmund Jacob:

Jacqueline's father, Jacob Edmund Noel, was born in Cumberland County, PA, on January 25, 1847. His grandfather immigrated to America after serving in Napoleon's army and would later die during his service in the War of 1812. Jacob Noel's father was a captain of the Pennsylvania volunteers during the Civil War. Jacob served as a drummer boy early during the conflict; however, his father obtained an appointment in West Point. He would graduate from West Point in 1865. His class was sent out on a gunboat at the naval academy after the Confederate cruiser Florida off the Long Island Sound.

Jacob spent twenty-six years in the Navy, where he rose to senior lieutenant commander. From 1871-1872 he participated in the first surveys of the Nicaragua canal route, and from 1872-1875, he led an investigation into the dangerous aspects of navigation. He married Eleanor F. Leadbeater on March 18, 1879, in New York City.

In 1889 the Noel family moved to Tacoma, WA, where Jacob Noel took up civil engineering. He served as deputy county engineer for two years, and for eight years, he served as the county engineer for Pierce County. Later, he began a private practice in 1912 and focused his energy on Masonic service. He became a freemason in Lisbon, Portugal, in July 1867. He died in Tacoma, WA, in 1918.

Noel, Fresneau Eleanor:

Eleanor F. Noel nee’ Leadbeater was born to Edward H. Leadbeater and Lucy S. Dodge around1857 in New York. She would marry Jacob Noel on March 18, 1879, in New York City. They would go on to have two daughters together, Jacqueline and Anita. She had a deep interest in family genealogy and became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution on January 2, 1896. She died in Tacoma, WA on October 15, 1924.


Mason Family


Mason, Anita (Noel):

Jacqueline’s younger sister Anita was born to Jacob and Eleanor Noel in 1885. She would graduate from Tacoma High School on June 6, 1902. On July 17, 1907, Anita married Thomas Wilson Mason with her sister as a witness. Anita and Thomas had one son, Thomas E. Mason (Teddy), born on June 12, 1914. She passed away in Tacoma, WA, on June 22, 1964.

Mason, Wilson Thomas:

Thomas W. Mason came to Tacoma, WA, in 1888 with his parents, John Quincy Mason and Virginia Murdoch Mason. Thomas was born in 1883 in Missouri. He attended Tacoma High School and later worked at the West Coast Grocery Company with Charles C. Hyde, the founder. Thomas W. Mason also worked with the Northern Pacific Railroad engineering department during the Kalama to Vancouver line construction. After marrying Anita Noel on July 17, 1907, they homesteaded in Flathead County, MT. He joined an irrigation project workforce. Later, he worked at various smelters in Tacoma, WA, Great Falls, MT, and Sudbury, Ontario. Thomas W. Mason also worked at the Pierce County division of the Standard Oil Company and retired from the Pacific Wax Paper company based in Seattle, where he was secretary-treasure for ten years. Following retirement, he formed Mason Sales of Tacoma. He passed away on January 6, 1950.

Mason, Edward Thomas (Teddy):

Jacqueline Noel’s nephew Thomas E. Mason or Teddy was born June 21, 1914, to Thomas W. Mason and Anita Mason nee’ Noel. Teddy graduated from Stadium High School in 1931 and received his undergraduate from Puget Sound. He was an employee of the United States Postal Service for 28 years. He died on December 12, 1986, in Tacoma, WA. In his will, Teddy donated $360,000 to the Tacoma Public Library in 1988 to honor his aunt Jacqueline.

Jacki Skaught

  • 1.6.1
  • Person

In 1979, the City of Tacoma voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bond issue to build a sports and convention center, originally conceived of as a “Mini Dome.” The city decided to apply a “Design-Build/ no bid” process for selecting architects and contractors. This was such a unique process at the time that Washington State legislation had to be altered in order to allow it to proceed. The central concept of the Design-Build process is that project initiators have a set monetary figure in mind, and will only accept a favorable proposal from a design team willing to work within these parameters. A Jury of Recommendations was officially created by the city council to help make decisions in every aspect of the planning and designing phases of the building. This team consisted of seven members representing expertise in building management, construction, downtown area business, architecture, athletics, education, and the interests of the citizens of Tacoma. Jacki Skaught, the donor of this collection, was the official “Citizen at Large.” Jacki, a former children’s librarian, came into this position with a strong background in city development and government. She was a member of the League of Women’s Voters and had held positions on the Tacoma City Council. As such, she had worked closely with city management. For three years, the Jury worked diligently creating a plan for selecting the site, choosing the design and functions of the building, requesting construction proposals, developing timetables, and interviewing construction team applicants. Part of the Jury’s work involved travelling to other cities to view structures similar to the designs they had envisioned. Although it was not the jury’s role to make any authoritative decisions themselves, the well-researched proposals they presented before the mayor and City Council were the guiding factors that shaped the design of the Tacoma Dome we know today. Jacki describes the planning and building of the Tacoma Dome as a true “grass roots” project. The Jury of local representatives worked well together, the public and local government were tremendously supportive, and the final accepted proposal was from a local design team- the Tacoma Dome Associates. The building was constructed on time and under budget, and featured the world’s largest wooden dome (made from trees blown down during the eruption of Mt. St. Helen’s), and state of the art acoustics. The work of the jury proceeded with a few glitches: residents of a house that had to be removed from the building site held out for some time, and there was a heated public dispute (that continued on through 1984) concerning the selection of Dome art for the building’s roof. The Tacoma Dome opened to the public April 21, 1983. A VIP Grand Opening Gala was held the evening before, and the ribbon cutting was the next day, followed by three days of festivities planned by Jacki and the other Jury members. Although the jury’s work was officially done following the acceptance of the proposal, they continued to work together throughout the building construction, selection of vendors and sports teams, and other pre-opening activities. Jacki was actively involved in planning the opening week festivities, selecting the first manager of the Dome, and is credited with shooting the first basket on the basketball court. The jury was never officially dismissed, but they were officially reconvened briefly in 1985 to review issues related to the Dome after two years of operations. The jury informally disbanded after 1985, although individual members, such as Jacki, continued to participate in Dome related events and issues. For example, Jacki oversaw the planning of the 10 and 20 year Dome anniversary celebrations, and helped lobby for a 2005 bond issue for Dome improvements, which failed. Following her official work on the Jury, Jacki has remained active in Tacoma Dome events and has held other positions with the city of Tacoma. She served as an Economic Development Specialist, concentrating on tourism, business recruitment and retention, marketing, special events and international trade relations. She also was employed as a city film commissioner, promoting the Tacoma area for film companies.

J. W. Roberts

  • 6.1.3
  • Person
  • 1836-1912

J. W. Roberts, born July 17, 1836 in Hollingworth, England, was a farmer and early pioneer in Spanaway, Washington. He was born to Elizabeth Wilson and Samuel Roberts and had four siblings: Matilda, Jane, William and George. In 1843 the Roberts family emigrated from England to the United States. Census records show that the Roberts family lived in Wisconsin (1850) and Illinois (1860), but in 1860 J. W. Roberts was no longer living with his family and had presumably headed west. The year when J. W. Roberts arrived in Washington is unknown, though his papers indicate he was living in Pierce County as early as 1866. Other family members, including his parents, brother, and niece eventually moved to Pierce County and purchased land near J. W. Roberts' claim at the southwest side of Spanaway Lake. Through inheritance and investment, J. W. Roberts continued to obtain and lease land in Spanaway and parts of South Tacoma. At the time of his death in 1912, J. W. Roberts was a wealthy land owner, landlord and farmer who had lived in Pierce County for over 40 years. Between 1868 and 1912, J. W. Roberts recorded his daily work on notebooks, loose papers, account books and pieces of cardboard. The journal entries average only a line or two a day and give accounts of details such as the weather and his daily work: tending to livestock, planting, clearing land, and various household tasks. He describes trips to Tacoma and other nearby areas to purchase or sell goods, and visit family. J. W. Roberts’ journals and correspondence also illustrate his family’s movements in Pierce County. His parents settled in Steilacoom in 1870, and his brother George Roberts lived in South Tacoma and ran Roberts Granite & Marble Works at 5304 South Alder St. In the last month of his life, J. W. Roberts’ journal entries made mention of “akes & pains,” swollen ankles, and being “verry sick.” According to his obituary, J. W. Roberts died May 12, 1912 at his brother George Roberts’ home in Tacoma. On May 14 his funeral was held in the Merrow & Storlies Chapel in South Tacoma. He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery. J. W. Roberts died a wealthy man without a wife, children or a will. After his death there were several claims on his sizable estate, estimated at the time to be worth between $70,000 and $90,000. Claimants included his great-grandnephew Charles Larson who petitioned on behalf of himself and his siblings, and a woman named Marguerite Clark Mulroy Snyder of Rockford, Illinois who declared herself a long-lost granddaughter. Both petitions were eventually rejected by the courts, and the claim by Mrs. Snyder declared grossly fraudulent. Included in these papers is a full record of this court case which made front page news and attracted considerable attention in both Tacoma and Rockford, Illinois. In the end, half of J. W. Roberts’ estate was awarded to his only surviving brother George Roberts, and the other half was split between two nieces, Elizabeth Beck and Catherine Rossiter.

Illema Club

  • 3.7.1
  • Organization
  • 1901-1977

The Illema club was organized in 1901 by Mrs. Edwin Sharpe, Mrs. Frank LaWall, Mrs. J.W. Clare, Mrs. Stanton Warburton, Mrs. John L. Mills and Mrs. W.B. Coffee. The name Illema is taken from the first letters of all of the founding members' first names, although they kept this a secret in initial appearances in the Tacoma Daily News. The group met biweekly at rotating houses around Tacoma. The group appears to have always had a literary focus rather than social or philanthropic. The final recorded meeting was on September 25th, 1977. The club colors were green and white and the club flower was the white carnation.

Illahee Study Club

  • 3.7.1
  • Organization
  • 1915-1977

The first and final published meetings of the Illahee Study Club were June 16, 1915 and March, 6, 1977. The first recorded president of the Club was Mrs. C.O. Lynn and the final president was Mrs. Clyde Henderson. The club colors were pink and green, the club flower was the test-out rose and their motto was, "the desire for knowledge increases ever with the acquisition of it."

Honor L. Wilhelm

  • 5.5.2
  • Person
  • 1870-1957

Honor Wilhelm was born in Shiloh, Ohio in 1870. He graduated from Wittenberg College in 1894 and apprenticed in a law firm. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1897. Later that same year, he relocated to Seattle. He began writing for a weekly Presbyterian newspapers, The Daysman, and writing two serials, "Musing of Maffy Moore" and "Scenes in the Sunny South." Through local printer H.L. Pigott, Wilhelm became aware of the recently founded magazine "The Coast," which was struggling financially. Wilhelm purchased the magazine and credited its founders by saying that the two women who started it in 1900, "...deserve praise for the perseverance and pluck with which they met adverse and discouraging conditions." While editing "The Coast," Wilhelm traveled around the northwestern United States. He wrote articles, took photographs, edited manuscripts, and sold advertisements and subscriptions. He sold "The Coast" in 1911 and became an ordained minister. He served congregations in Black Diamond, Sedro Woolley, Auburn, and Seattle. He later led a church service broadcast. He died in 1957 at age 87.

Hilltop Library Planning Committee

  • CAC2006
  • Organization
  • 2012-

The Hilltop Library Planning Committee (HLPC) was originally created in 2012 in response to the closure of the Tacoma Public Library’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch which was built starting on January 19, 1987 and existed at 1902 South Cedar Street. Original members of the committee include: Bil Moss, Al Nurse, Billie Johnstone and Ellen Smith. The current president/chair of the committee is Linda Oliver. The committee continues to meet regularly to share information, engage the community in the project, have discussions with city leaders and advocate for the return of a local library for the Hilltop neighborhood.

Hilltop Action Coalition

  • CAC2010
  • Organization

The Hilltop Action Coalition was founded in 1989 and as of 2023 is a non-profit organization. The HAC's aim is to “mobilize and empower diverse individuals, families, businesses and other public and community organizations to build a safe, clean, healthy resilient and united community.” They hold community meetings once a month, provide monthly reports to the City of Tacoma on issues within the community, and hold workshops and training sessions that help create connections between residents, schools, and businesses in Hilltop. [1] Since their inception they have lead initiatives like cleaning up overgrown yards, starting block-watch programs, and painting over gang graffiti. [2]

Henry Foss

  • 6.1.12
  • Person
  • 1892-1986

Henry Foss was one of four children born to Andrew and Thea Foss who founded the Foss Launch and Tug Company in Tacoma. Henry attended Stadium High School and went on to attend Stanford University. After graduating, he returned to Tacoma to work in the family business. In 1930, he was elected as the State Senator for the 26th District. During World War II, he served in the US Navy where he was part of naval intelligence. He retired as a Rear Admiral and was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Navy Marine Life Saving Medal. Over the course of his career, he served as Pierce County Republican Chairman, Port of Tacoma Commissioner, and Director of the Pacific National Bank of Washington. In 1973, Henry Foss High School was named in his honor. He died in 1986.

Helen Stafford

  • 3.4.2
  • Person
  • 1899-2002

Helen Cecile Beck Stafford (1899-2002) was a long-time community and civil rights advocate in Tacoma. She was born on November 15, 1899 in Wamego, Kansas, the tenth of eleven children born to a formerly enslaved father. In 1920, she graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in home economics and a minor in sociology. She taught in Kansas schools before moving to Tacoma in 1926 where she met and married her husband, Wendell P. Stafford. Openly denied a teaching position in Tacoma because she was Black, she later became the first African-American case worker for what was then the Tacoma Department of Public Assistance. During her years in Tacoma, Helen Stafford was a community leader and actively involved in many local civic and cultural organizations. In 1927, she organized the Matron’s Club, a social gathering of young Black married women who were mothers. In the early 1930s, Stafford helped to organize the Tacoma chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and served as its president. She organized the first Pacific Northwest chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, as well as the Tacoma chapter of The Links. She was involved with the Tacoma Urban League, and served on the board of the YWCA and the Tacoma Colored Woman’s Club. She was also an active member of the Allen AME Church, where she sang in the choir and was the long-time superintendent of Sunday School. After retiring in 1970, Stafford remained active in numerous local organizations, and in 1971 she was named the State Woman of Achievement by the Washington State Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Association, becoming the first African-American woman in the state to receive the honor. She received many awards, including the Finer Womanhood Award from Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Tacoma Municipal League, the Tacoma NAACP Service Award, and the YWCA Woman of the Year Humanitarian Award. In 1986 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Puget Sound for humanitarian services, and in 1987 she returned to Kansas State University to receive the Alumni Medallion, a lifetime achievement award. On November 15, 1999, when she turned 100 years old, the Tacoma City Council declared the day “Helen Stafford Day.” She died on August 27, 2002 in Tacoma.

Harold M. Tollefson

  • 1.2.5
  • Person
  • 1911-1985

Tollefson was born in Perley, Minnesota, one of seven children. His family moved to Tacoma when he was two and lived in the McKinley Hill neighborhood. He graduated in 1928 from Lincoln High School, then worked at Hunt and Mottet Hardware to support two of his siblings while they completed their education. He was an enthusiastic amateur athlete.

Tollefson graduated with a law degree from the University of Washington and began practicing law in Tacoma in 1939. In 1952 as a freeholder, he helped draft a new charter for Tacoma, changing it from a Commissioner--Mayor to a Council--Manager system of government. Following adoption of the new charter, he won a seat on the new City Council. The Council appointed him to Mayor. As Mayor, Tollefson worked to shut down commercial prostitution and gambling in the city. He oversaw development of modern sewage treatment for Tacoma, undertook a program of street paving and lighting, and worked to replace the city’s wooden water mains. After completing his term as Mayor, he served on the Council from 1956-1958.

In 1962 he was directly elected Mayor by citizens of Tacoma. In this second mayoral term Tollefson brokered an agreement for joint tenancy of the County-City Building. He successfully lobbied the Washington State Legislature to allow cities and counties to receive a portion of the State sales tax. He led the fight to protect Tacoma’s Green River Watershed by keeping the area closed to the public. He supported completion of the Cowlitz River dams.

Tollefson served on the Executive Board of the Association of Washington Cities. In 1966 he was elected President of the National League of Cities. In these positions Tollefson championed increased intergovernmental cooperation. He organized municipal lobbying efforts in favor of full funding for the Model Cities program.

Defeated in the 1967 election, Tollefson returned to practicing law in Tacoma. He continued in public service as a board member of the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington. He was President of the Tacoma Lion’s Club and the Tacoma Bar Association.

Tollefson was survived by his wife Edith, his children Nicola, Andrea and Brian, three grandchildren, sisters Agnes Hendrickson and Gyda Langlow, and brother Erling.

Grit City Magazine

  • 5.6.1
  • Business
  • 2017-

Grit City Magazine was founded in 2017 by Sierra Hartman, Sara Kay, and William Manzanares IV. The project began as an online only publication. The first print edition was issued in September of 2018. The magazine is produced quarterly with new issues released in March, June, September, and December.

Griffin Fuel Company

  • 2.4.2
  • Business
  • 1889-1966

The Griffin Fuel Company originated in 1889 as the Griffin Transfer Company. Founder Fred L. Griffin started the company in the Tacoma tide flats, originally transporting ice within established Tacoma fuel yards. The company eventually became a supplier of heating and fuel products to a large portion of the Tacoma population. Griffin Fuel transported coal, wood, sawdust, “fuel oil,” “hog fuel,” and “Presto logs” within Tacoma and the surrounding area. In 1949, Griffin Fuel Company was considered the “oldest and largest exclusive fuel dealer in the west." (1)

In 1931, Fred L. Griffin passed away and was succeeded as owner by his son, Edwin “Ed” L. Griffin. By 1942, Ed and his brother Fred expanded the business by opening a wholesale location by the name of “Griffin Bros” in Seattle. Griffin Fuel Company also opened oil storage facilities in Tacoma’s Lake district in 1951.(2)

In 1954 President of the corporation James S. Griffin changed the corporate name to James S. Griffin Co., and the company name also changed to Griffin-Galbriath Fuel Company. On Sept. 8th, 1965 the James S. Fuel Company liquidated all corporate assets and sold all property and naming rights to the Standard Oil Company of California, Western Operations, Inc. The Washington State Department ratified the official dissolution of Griffin-Galbriath Fuel Company on Dec. 5th, 1966.(3)

Gordon Johnston

  • 1.2.1
  • Person
  • 1918-2006

Gordon Johnston was born in South Tacoma in 1918. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1936, and married his wife, Esther, in 1941. During World War II, he served in the U.S Army as a Master Sergeant.

Johnston was elected mayor of Tacoma in 1969, defeating incumbent mayor A.L. "Slim" Rasmussen by a mere one percent of the vote. Previously, he worked as an architect and It was his first time running for public office. In his first year in office, both Johnston and the city council members faced recall campaigns from the citizens of Tacoma. Following petitions calling for the recall of five city councilors, there were additional calls for Mayor Johnston and the remaining three council members to be removed from office as well. In a vote in September 1970, five councilors were voted out of office. Johnston remained in office and served two terms as Tacoma’s mayor.

As mayor, Gordon Johnston was involved with the Puget Sound Governmental Conference. In 1975, the organization voted to reorganize under the name Puget Sound Council of Governments until it dissolved in 1991. Additionally, Johnston worked with the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency and was involved in a decision to require the ASARCO smelter plant to reduce its sulfur emissions by 90 percent, receiving both citizen backlash and support in response. Additionally, two important municipal projects that happened while Johnston was in office was creating Broadway Plaza downtown and converting the old City Hall Building into a food and shopping center. Following his time as mayor, Johnston represented Housing and Urban Development as an administrator, retiring in 1985. As a lifelong resident of Tacoma, he spent his years of retirement camping and spending time with his grandchildren until he passed away in 2006.
Tacoma Mayor (1970-1978)

Gerald Davis

  • 2.3.1
  • Person
  • 1926-?

Gerald Davis was born in England and moved with his family to Seattle in 1937. In 1941, his father Norman purchased Heidelberg Brewery and the family relocated to Tacoma and lived at 424 North D Street. Davis attended Stadium High School and began working at the brewery in the bottle shop warehouse. He joined the Navy in 1948 and attended the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. He then attended the University of Louvain in Belgium where he studied the chemistry of brewing. He then worked as an apprentice at Cardinal Brewing Company in Fribourg, Switzerland. He then returned to Heidelberg Brewery to work in marketing and advertising. The company was sold to Carling Brewing Company in 1958 and Davis joined Carling as Assistant to Director of Marketing.

George O. Swasey

  • 6.3
  • Person
  • 1868-1958

George O. Swasey was born in Beverly, Massachusetts in 1868. He was a graduate of Exeter Academy and Harvard University. He arrived in Tacoma around 1907 to begin a law practice and was active in the Tacoma Elks Lodge, the Tacoma Bar Association, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Unitarian Church. At the time of his death in 1958, he resided at 4622 North 28th Street. Swasey bequeathed $110,000 to the Tacoma Public Library to establish the George O. Swasey library branch.

George M. Miller

  • 3.2.2
  • Person
  • 1889-1964

George Miclea Miller was born in Palos, Romania on October 5, 1889. He immigrated to the United States and lived in Ohio before relocating to Tacoma in 1923. He worked as a longshoreman and checker for 32 years. He served eight years as President of the Local 38-97 International Longshoreman's Association (ILA), five years as the President of the Washington State Maritime Trades Group, and five years as President of the ILA District Council. Miller represented the longshoreman during the Streamline Strike of 1936 and helped lead a demand for higher wages for Pacific Coast longshore workers in 1940. He died in November 1964 at the age of 75.

George Kupka

  • 6.1.10
  • Person
  • 1912-1989

George W. Kupka was born on July 3, 1912 in South Prairie, Washington. He held the title of Sheriff’s Deputy for Pierce County from 1934 to 1941. After this, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II. Before becoming a state legislator, Kupka was also a jeweler and worked in private construction. He was also a founder of the Bank of Tacoma. Kupka was elected to the House of Representatives in 1948 as a Democrat for Tacoma’s 27th District. He held this position until 1956 where he was elected to the Senate until 1968. During his time as an elected representative, he was chairman of the Commerce, Manufacturing and Licenses Committee, and the Interim Committee on Public Institutions and Youth Development. He was also a member of the Committee of Banks, Financial Institutions and Insurance; Cities, Towns and Counties; Labor and Social Security; Liquor Control; State Government and Veterans Affairs, and Ways and Means; and Military Affairs, Civil Defense and Public Utilities. George Kupka died on December 30, 1989, at the age of 77.

Frederick Gamble, Jr.

  • 3.5.14
  • Person
  • 1915-1991

Frederick Gamble Jr. was born to parents Frederick O. Gamble and Mary L. Witzman on June 12, 1915, in Memphis, Tennessee. His family was involved in the arts, and Frederick Gamble Jr. was the third generation of professional musicians. While in grade school, Frederick Gamble Jr. and his family moved to Washington state, settling in Puyallup. After graduating high school, Gamble took care of his family’s fox farm business and his siblings due to his father’s ailing health and the death of his mother.

Following the liquidation of the family business Gamble began his journey into the arts by becoming a street singer “ballyhooing” films. He later moved from doorman to advertising man, and then theater manager until Frederick Gamble Jr. partnered with Sidney P. Dean in running the Lakewood Theater and four other theaters. Gamble served as director of the Seattle Community Concert Association. He was also active in local music circles and advocated for musicians. Gamble toured the country as a tenor. He debuted at the Carnegie Hall in New York City on October 6, 1953. (1)

Gamble moved to New York City in the 1950s, where he worked as a sales manager for Custom Shop Shirtmakers from 1954-1961, and later, he joined the Whitehouse and Hardy clothing firm, where he oversaw their training program from 1961-1965. He also worked for Damon International from 1966-1975, managing the warehouse outlet and as a sales executive for the southern branches. Frederick Gamble Jr. died on September 11, 1991. (2)

Forsberg-Sauers Family

  • 6.2.9
  • Family
  • 1887-

Lorraine Thoren Forsberg (1911-2001) was born in Tacoma in 1911, the first child of Henry M. Thoren and Clara Rosetta Sauers Thoren (1). She attended Lincoln High School in Tacoma and graduated from Pacific Lutheran College in 1932. She taught for several years before marrying Leo J. Forsberg in 1940 (2,3). They had four children, Julia, twins Joanne and John, and Mary Ellen (2). She joined the Tacoma Genealogical Society in 1965 and served as president from 1969 to 1970 (3,4,5). Starting in 1972 she published a genealogical newsletter, The Hansons of Hamnvik (the title varied through the years), that circulated to relatives and solicited their information. Her daughters Mary Ellen Forsberg and Julia Roberts continued it after her death until 2004 (4). She died in Tacoma in 2001 at the age of 89 (2).


Anna C. Meyer was born in Wisconsin in 1886, the fourth daughter and fifth child of German immigrants, George Sauers and Anna Mahlberg. Her family had moved to Chehalis, Washington by 1900, and she married her first husband, William Criswell in 1904 (1,2). By 1914 they were living in Tacoma and operating a bakery and confectionery shop downtown (3). William died in 1915, and she continued running the business with her sister Ella Simpkins for a short time afterward (4,5,6). She married her second husband, John A .Meyer in 1917, and they stayed in Tacoma. He died in 1961, and sometime later she moved in with her sister’s daughter, Lorraine Forsberg. She died in 1979 at age 92 (7,8).


Ellen Forsberg was born in Michigan in 1887, the first surviving child of Swedish immigrant Victor Forsberg and his first wife, Sofia Carolina Stromberg (1). Her mother died in 1895 and her father married his second wife, Johann “Hannah” Bjur in 1899 (2, 3). The family had moved to Tacoma before 1903, when she graduated from Edison School (4). She was awarded a teaching certificate in 1908 and taught for the next 57 years (5,6). She earned a diploma in the two-year Normal training course for teachers at the College of Puget Sound in 1914 (7). Her father died of appendicitis in 1916 and she provided support for her mother and her eight younger siblings (8,9). Her career began at a one-room school at a German settlement between Eatonville and Elbe and culminated in teaching English for 27 years at North Kitsap High School in Poulsbo, from which she retired at age 77 (6). Her later years were spent living with her younger brother, Leo J. Forsberg, his wife Lorraine Forsberg and family. She died in 1978, age 92 (10).


Malcolm Forsberg (1908-1991) was born in Tacoma in 1908, the fifth child of Victor Forsberg and his second wife Johann “Hannah” Bjur (1). After graduating from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, he attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He began working in Ethiopia as a missionary with the Sudan Interior Mission (now SIM) in 1933. In 1935 he married fellow missionary Enid Miller and three of their four children were born in Africa. In 1938 they were ousted from Ethiopia by Mussolini’s forces and transferred to Anglo-Egyptian Sudan where they spent the next 25 years. He spent the final ten years of his career serving as candidate secretary for SIM in the United States, and retired in Carlsbad, California. He died in 1991 in Rancho Encinitas, California at the age of 82 (2, 3).


Mary Ellen Forsberg (1946- ) was born in Tacoma in 1946, the fourth child of Leo J. and Lorraine Forsberg. She attended Stadium High School and in 1967 graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in history (2, 3). From 1971 to 1974 she worked as a high school librarian in Keansburg, New Jersey while earning her MLS degree at Rutgers University (4, 5, 6). She returned to Washington in 1974 and was employed as an elementary school librarian in Prosser (7). In 1993 she began assisting with the genealogical newsletter her mother published and continued it after Lorraine died in 2001, producing paper copies until 2004 (8). By 2003 she had returned to Tacoma and lived at 1001 S. Prospect, the house her father had built on weekends using the steel fabrication techniques he employed as a boat-builder (9,10). She sold the house in March of 2023 (11).

Forsberg Family

  • 6.2.8
  • Family
  • 1866-

Edward Forsberg (1866-1954) was a cabinetmaker in Tacoma, Washington. He began his trade as a carpenter in 1893, working for various firms in Tacoma including Cornell Brothers. He then transitioned to cabinetmaking at the Lone Star Cabinet Shop from 1908 to 1912, and established his own shop in 1913. For ten years it existed at various addresses in downtown Tacoma, and in 1923 he built E. Forsberg Cabinet Work and Show Cases at 2907 Sixth Avenue and continued there until he retired in 1940 (1).

Born in Sweden, he emigrated in 1887 and in 1892 married Anna Johnson (1863-1955), also a Swedish immigrant. They had three daughters (2, 3, 4). Agnes (1894-1984) married Norman Simpson in 1923 (5,6). Edith [also Edythe] (1896-1948) married Emmet Cooper in 1935 (7, 8). Mildred (1901-1972) graduated from Stadium High School in 1920 and the College of Puget Sound. She taught high school in Puyallup for many years before marrying David Thomasson in 1934 (9, 10). The married daughters settled in California and were followed by their parents (2,8).

Fern Hill Parent Teacher Association

  • 4.3.6
  • Organization
  • 1911 - ?

The Fern Hill Parent Teacher Association was established in 1911 as a branch of the National Congress of Mothers. It backed projects such as upgrading the school water fountain and remodeling the school when the original structure was deemed "unsanitary." The PTA also voted on the measure of splitting up Fern Hill's school population into elementary and intermediate. Fern Hill was the only school within Tacoma Public Schools to have grades from kindergarten to eighth in one building. The PTA also helped to plant a tree celebrating the 100th anniversary of Tacoma Public Schools on Fern Hill property.

F. Jay Haynes

  • 1.5.6
  • Person
  • 1853-1921

F. Jay Haynes was born in Saline, Michigan on October 28, 1853. He was a photographer of the Northern Pacific railroad. His studio was located along Pacific Avenue and 17th street. The subjects of his photos include landscapes and scenery of the Northern Pacific country, as well as individuals and groups. He also worked with crayon and pastel to produce portraits. As an official photographer of the Northern Pacific railroad, he took pictures of the railroad in order to garner public interest in railroad travel. Haynes died on March 10, 1921, at the age of 67. (1)

Ernest Norling

  • 3.5.7
  • Person
  • 1892-1974

Ernest Norling was born in Pasco, WA on September 26, 1892. In 1895 his family moved to Ellensburg, Washington. Norling attended Whitman College where he majored in math and physics. After college he worked as a draftsman for the city engineer's office before moving to Chicago. He studied at the Chicago Art Institute and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and then moved to Seattle, where he began teaching art at the Cornish School. While teaching, Norling wrote "Perspectives Made Easy" (1939), a book on the use of perspective in art. He was one of fifty artists in Washington to take part in the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) during the Great Depression, creating documentary paintings of the Civilian Conservation Corps at work. Norling worked as an artist for the Seattle Times and as the art director for the Boeing Aircraft Company Preliminary Design Unit. He worked as an illustrator for a number of children’s books, including the Kenneth Gilbert books Bird Dog Bargain (1947), Triple Threat Patrol (1953), and Cruise of the Dipsy Do (1954). Norling and his wife, Josephine Stearns, also worked together on a series of "Pogo" books that featured a dog inspired by their daughter's pet. The novels explored underrepresented topics in children's literature such as lumberjacking and train mechanics. Over 12 years, Norling and his wife produced 20 childrens books set in the Pacific Northwest, including Pogo's Train Ride which is part of this collection. He also created commissioned works for the University of Washington, which included a mural for the student union building, now known as the HUB, in 1949. The mural depicted individuals and events from the University of Washington's history from 1861 to 1925. Ernest Norling died in Seattle, Washington in March 1974 at the age of 81.

Erna Spannagel Tilley

  • 6.1.6
  • Person
  • 1887-1982

Erna Spannagel Tilley (1887-1982) was a supporter of the arts in Tacoma. She was born in South Dakota to a German immigrant father and Wisconsin-born mother. She and her four siblings moved with their parents to Spokane, Washington where she attended high school. After graduating from the University of Washington, she married Homer H Tilley (1884-1953) in 1911. He was employed by Metropolitan Insurance Company and transferred to Tacoma by 1917.

Their social circle included artists, writers, poets, and dramatists throughout Puget Sound. In later life, Erna Tilley profiled several of these artists in her books, ”A Gateway to Friendship” (1970) and “Remembrances of Five Notables” (1971). She helped organize the Tacoma branch of the Drama League of America in 1918, and was involved throughout its existence and transformation into the Tacoma Little Theatre. An active board member for 28 years, she chronicled it in “The History of the Tacoma Little Theatre” (1965).

In 1929 she was named Tacoma’s official hostess, authorized by the city council to run the Welcome Wagon, a job she held for at least ten years. She helped orient new residents to city resources and distributed sample goods from local businesses. In 1935, she served on the first board of the Tacoma Art Association which developed into the Tacoma Art Museum. She documented its beginnings in “Resume: Early History of Tacoma Art Association”. Later she was also a founding member of Allied Arts of Tacoma, receiving its Allied Arts Civic Award in 1969.

She worked as a real estate salesperson and was concerned about the course of Tacoma’s urban development. She was a board member of the Tacoma Municipal League and received their Distinguished Citizen Award in 1977. She died July 6, 1982 at the age of 94.

The Tilleys had two daughters; the first, Julia, was born in 1913. She lived with her parents until sometime after 1960 when she was institutionalized. She died in a nursing home in 1980.

Margaret Tilley was their second child, born in 1916. A 1933 graduate of Stadium High School, she attended the College of Puget Sound for two years, then transferred and graduated from the University of Washington in 1937. Her weekly letters to her mother began when she was employed at the Custodial School in Medical Lake, Washington for a year. She returned to Tacoma and served as an editor of the Tacoma News Tribune’s society page for two years. In 1941 she moved to San Francisco and resumed writing letters. By 1944 her job with the American Red Cross entailed service on troop transport trains, assisting wounded servicemen from the Pacific theater on their return to points east. She was attached to Army groups in China and Japan in WWII. She was on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff of the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group to the Republic of China when it was evacuated to Japan in 1949. She joined the Foreign Service in 1950 and served in Vienna, Damascus, London, Montevideo, Pretoria, Milan, and Bangkok. She maintained a correspondence with her mother during her years abroad. She retired in November 1972 and died in Tacoma on January 3, 1974, age 57.

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