Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
BOLAND-B15444
Date(s)
- 1926-08-08 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
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Initiating officers of the Knights of Pythias posed at Cushman Dam on August 8, 1926. From L-R: Ben Lunan, Charles Rohrs, Ed Beamer, George Ball, R. Ray, Arthur Rowen and Ralph Towne. They had brought several candidates including Tacoma mayor M.G. Tennent and Winthrop Hotel manager Ray Clark to the new dam. The Knights of Pythias had established a custom of initiating candidates in unusual places, including on a high peak adjacent to Mount Tacoma (Rainier). The initiating officers are standing next to Mr. Ball's Chrysler and by a bronze marker which lists the name of the project, chief engineers and contractors, and also proclaims "Built by the Light Department City of Tacoma 1925." Cushman Dam was officially opened on Monday, May 24, 1926 when President Calvin Coolidge pressed a telegraph key manufactured by Lincoln High School and brought to Washington D.C. by high school baseball star James Mosolf. G24.1-150 (Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 8-15-26, 14-G-article & alternate photograph)
Knights of Pythias; Fraternal organizations--Tacoma--1920-1930; Chrysler automobile; Cushman Dam #1 (Lake Cushman); Dams--Lake Cushman; Historical markers;