-Thank you to History Cafe and MOHAI
for having us and to all of you for coming out.
I know weeknights aren't always easy for people.
Jimmy and I have attended many presentations here.
And following people like Sean Scott
and David Williams is a little daunting,
but archivists are always really excited to talk
about what's in the archives, and we're no exception.
Pictured here on the title slide
is an image of Hoovervilles on the tide flats from 1933.
And I just wanted to say a little bit about SMA
before we got started.
Our mission is to identify, acquire, arrange,
describe, preserve, and make accessible records
of enduring value created or received by city agencies
and elected officials. The Archives is open to all.
We like to say that you never know
what you'll find in the archives,
and to some extent that is true.
You don't know what you'll find
in a folder titled Homelessness Policy and Program Records,
for example, or one titled Encampments.
But in SMA's case, you do know
that the records will address policies
relating to homelessness from the city's perspective.
You know you will be able to learn
about the range of opinions regarding homelessness
from Seattle residents and the unhoused.
In any archives, it's important to know
where the records originate, as this gives them context.
At SMA, an item could come from a specific department,
the office of an elected official,
or a resident from a specific neighborhood.
Archivists are different than historians.
Archivists provide sources for historians to use.
And becoming an archivist helped me realize
that how people write history,
how they write about what happened in the past
can never be objective.
The voices that you include to craft your narrative
about the past matter.
In this presentation, we'll look at a subset
of the primary sources available at SMA on homelessness
providing a glimpse of what issues face the city
and how city government has addressed them over time.
Records in the archives can tell us many things,
provide political perspectives at specific points in time,
insight in different sides of an issue,
and shed light on the decision-making process
and local government.
Exhibits which are a form of outreach for us
have taken different forms over the years.
One of the early ideas we had for exhibits
was a digital document library, or DDL.
These provide a brief narrative
and an extensive list of digitized documents
that students or others can use
without having to visit the archives.
You can also serve as a jumping-off point
for more research. DDLs are often topics
without as much visual content as other topics.
The idea with digital document libraries is to --
not to be comprehensive on a topic but show people enough
so that they know there is more if they want or need it.
Documents on the DDL for Hoovervilles
were chosen to represent the perspectives of the unhoused
and those who wanted to help them
as well as those who found them a nuisance.
The first petition in the list begins, quote,
"We the rank and file delegation have been unanimously elected
by over 3,000 unemployed workers assembled before city hall
on February 10, 1931."
It is known that there are between 45,000
to 50,000 unemployed workers and their families,
and they are suffering from cold and hunger.
The masses of the city of Seattle
are suffering as a result of the breakdown
of the present capitalist system of economy,
which has proven itself
unable to serve the interests of mankind.
The petition ended by requesting $5 million
for the immediate relief of the unemployed.
No photographs of the event exist at SMA
but the flyer pictured here.
And the petition submitted to the mayor and city council
are in the archives.
For more context on the event, you could explore
what's available in local newspapers
at the Seattle Public Library or check for other --
check in other archives for related materials.
It was clear from the --
just the small selection of documents on the DDL
on Hoovervilles that the unemployment and housing issue
was getting worse in the 1930s.
The 1935 Health Department Annual Report
stated that, quote, "Seattle has been forced
to allow the growth of shack towns."
They were mostly located along the waterfront
and on the filled-in tide lands. Language is important.
I always feel and noted as the use of the word of shacks.
Several people wrote to city council from Magnolia.
One the letters has stuck with me,
dated April 24, 1937 from the North End Progressive Club.
The way in which the writer anonymized the people
to such an extent that she could envision shooting them
to get rid of them,
out of the way, excuse me, was hard to forget.
This brief dip into the records relating to Hoovervilles
bolstered my knowledge that one of the strengths of SMA records
is that they illustrate the attitudes of residents
and the needs of citizens.
Archives are arranged by the creators of the records,
so it's important to know the health department
was addressing the issue at one point, for example,
and that the concerns of residents
went to the mayor and city council.
We recently started a Favorite Archival Objects series,
another form of outreach, where we each pick an item
or set of items and explore why we are drawn to it.
I came across reports from the Mayor's Commission
for Improved Unemployment from 1931 to 1932.
Even the wording of the committee is interesting,
as if they couldn't use the word unemployed.
The Favorite Archival Object structure is not designed
as much for students to find unused documents
but to engage all public with content in the archives.
In this report, the city's actions are featured,
although it also illustrates how fast strategies can change
depending on who is elected to office
and unsaid in the report is who was turned down
for requests for access to the depots.
The report describes not all requests were fulfilled.
Sometimes what documents do not exist
or what was not reported in the document
is just as important as what was included.
I started looking for clues on how the city was moving forward
with an increasing number of the unemployed
and homeless in the 1930s.
I looked in the annual reports of the police,
parks, and other departments,
but was unable to locate any reference to shacks or shanties.
But I did find this resolution passed by city council in 1938
in the legislative database. Many researchers come to us
wanting to look at minutes for city council meetings.
But as you can see from this entry,
they are not as interesting as you might think.
They do not have a lot of context
and simply record the decision made at the meeting.
Of note that this is a resolution
which reflects the intent of counsel
but would not have carried the weight of law,
the resolution stated
"Prohibiting the erection of shanties,
shacks, lean-tos, or other similar shelters in the areas
zoned as First Residence or Second Residence Districts."
The areas referenced are defined in the city's
first zoning chord,
passed in 1923, and pictured on the right,
complete with annotations and some scotch tape repair.
First residents' districts
permitted single-family dwellings, public schools,
private schools, churches, parks, libraries,
conservatories, and railroad stations, among other uses.
Second residents' district
permitted these uses as well as apartments,
and boarding houses, hotels, and hospitals.
This map came with a report by the housing authority in 1941
and the survey they did of shacks
along with recommendations.
This document was included in the DDL on Hoovervilles
and also became a Favorite Archival Object,
which allowed me to do a deeper dive
into how the city dealt with its housing and shack issue in 1941.
That was my deep dive into the 1930s,
and the Favorite Archival Objects
give me an excuse to go a little deeper than,
as archivists, we would normally be able to go.
My colleague Jeanie Fisher took a much wider view
on homelessness and created a DDL
pointing to records that range from the Great Fire,
to Nickelsville, and beyond,
and she will take over from here.
-My part of tonight's talk will draw from research
I did while putting together a Digital Document
Library or DDL, as Anne said,
on the topic of homelessness and city records.
And that's the picture that you see on the slide there.
It has brief narrative and includes
links to digitized records,
and you can access it from anywhere.
It also includes a full bibliography,
pointing to additional records you can use for more research.
The intention behind this resource
was not to create a comprehensive history
of homelessness in Seattle.
In fact, soon after I started researching for it,
I realized that a comprehensive history
would be almost impossible for me to do,
partly because, as Anne noted,
we're archivists and not historians.
But mainly because this is an incredibly complex topic,
reaching into issues of poverty, healthcare, unemployment,
addiction, disability, and much more.
So rather than provide a comprehensive history,
this DDL is meant to be a guide
to city records available on the topic.
So what kinds of records are available?
There's legislation, for example,
ordinances and resolutions.
There's also records from city departments
and elected officials, and petitions and letters
submitted to the city by Seattle residents.
There's also photographs, moving images,
and audio recordings of public hearings
and committee meetings. Overall,
city records documenting homelessness in Seattle
and the issues that have contributed to it
are vast and varied,
dating from the late 1800s to the present day.
So tonight, I'll highlight just a few of them,
and hopefully they can give you a sense of the kinds of records
that we have in the archives.
So the first record I want to share with you dates
from just a few years after the city was incorporated in 1869.
Pictured on this slide is a copy of Ordinance 32,
and this is the city's first so-called vagrancy law,
passed on November 14, 1872. It goes into a lot of detail
in terms of what defined a so-called vagrant.
For example, someone who was able to work
but was not working,
someone who was loitering or begging for money,
someone who took shelter in someone else's barn or shed,
or someone who was leading a, quote,
"idle, immoral, or profligate course of life."
What struck me about this ordinance
is how broadly the law might be applied,
despite all the detail,
and how subjective the judgment of guilt might be.
For example, if you were unemployed
and without shelter or panhandling in the street,
or if the authorities felt that you were idle,
dissolute, or immoral,
you could be considered a criminal
and convicted under this law.
The penalty under the law was harsh.
The ordinance stipulated that those found guilty of vagrancy
were to be fined at least $5 and no more than $100.
That was a lot of money in 1872, especially if you had no money.
If the fine could not be paid,
the person would be sentenced to hard labor at the city jail.
In the following years, more ordinances
were passed to further define what could constitute vagrancy,
broadening the situations under which the laws could be applied.
All of these ordinance can be searched
in the city clerk's offices --
in the city clerk's office legislative database,
which is available online.
And on this image is also a bird's eye view of Seattle,
dating from 1878, just to give you an idea
of what the city looked like, around this time.
There's a lot of industry on display,
lots of ships in Elliott Bay,
and you really get the sense of a growing city.
The downtown and Pioneer Square area are pretty built up.
We have a high-resolution scan of this map
in our digital collection site.
And if you zoom in, you can see things like schools and churches
and lodging houses and much more.
So this is a picture showing tents lining a street
in Pioneer Square in 1889.
This is now 20 years since the city was incorporated,
but rather than a street lined with buildings,
which is what you might expect to see
after 20 years of a booming city, we see tents.
There was a major event that happened in Seattle in 1889
that speaks to why we see tents and not buildings.
And I'm wondering if anyone here knows what that was.
[ Indistinct talking ]
The Great Seattle Fire of 1889, right.
The Great Seattle Fire broke out on June 6, 1889
and destroyed 100 acres
in Seattle's business district and waterfront,
displacing thousands of Seattleites overnight.
By necessity, the newly homeless quickly occupied
hastily constructed tents, and within a month of the fire,
over 100 businesses were also operating out of tents
as seen in the picture here. As fall and winter approached,
some residents petitioned the city for permission
to reinforce their tents against the coming cold and wet weather.
Seen here is one such petition,
written in September 1889 by Seattle resident
James T. Armstrong.
He describes himself as an old resident of Seattle,
whose property at the corner of Fourth and Jackson
had been entirely destroyed by the fire.
Since that time, he says, quote,
"Your petitioner has been compelled
to live in a canvas tent,
that as the cold and damp weather is near of hand,
he will be so exposed in this tent
as to be entirely unable to do any business,
and hence unable to earn a living for his family
unless allowed by your honorable body to cover
and surround the tent aforesaid with corrugated iron."
In response to this and other similar petitions,
the city agreed that iron roofs could be added
to tents for protection during the winter months,
but iron could not be used to reinforce the walls.
The city explained their decision by saying that, quote,
"to allow this much would in effect be to sanction
the construction of a permanent building
with all its vested rights.
Citizens can and ought to be content with a good roof
and submit to inconvenience for a little while longer
for the sake of the general safety."
These documents are part of SMA's General Files collection,
which includes some of the earliest materials
held in the archives,
mostly dating from the late 1800s.
All of the general files are individually catalogued,
and over half of the collection has been digitized,
including these documents,
and can be viewed online at our digital collection site.
This handwritten report,
also from the general files collection,
was prepared by the city's fire and water committee,
a couple of months later, in November 1889.
It recommends the city implement a policy
calling for all tent permits to be withdrawn
and canceled by May 1, 1890
and that all tents be removed by that date.
This record and others illustrate
how the focus of city officials was on rebuilding Seattle
with permanent structures. And within the following year,
the city had been nearly completely rebuilt
and its population increased by almost 33%.
So there's one more document I want to share from 1889.
This petition dates from December of that year
and is the earliest complaint I could find in the archives
about what we might call today a temporary encampment.
The petition was signed by over 20 property owners,
requesting the removal of so-called shanties
or shacks that had been erected near their properties.
The petitioners were complaining that the structures were, quote,
"untidy, unsafe," and caused a threat to their buildings,
which forced them to pay increased insurance payments.
For these reasons, the petitioners asked the city
to have the structures removed.
So the area defined in the petition concerns
two blocks between Stuart and Pike and front
which is today's First Ave, and West or Western,
as highlighted on the Sanborn map from 1888.
If you're not familiar with Sanborn maps,
they were created for fire insurance purposes.
They contain detailed block-by-block
representations of the city.
They show things like the outlines of buildings,
what kind of materials buildings were made out of,
for example, whether brick or wood,
the type of businesses housed in the buildings,
how close the buildings were to each other, and so on.
And this particular Sanborn map
is from the Seattle Public Library's online
Sanborn map database, which is a fantastic resource
and free to anyone with a library card.
So besides showing the location described in the petition,
what I think is also interesting about this map
is the note along the left side,
just to the west of where the highlighted blocks are.
The writing characterized the area is having, quote,
"steep and uneven ground covered with squatters' shanties."
I couldn't find a reply to this petition,
so I don't know what if anything was done
by the city in response.
Since at least the 1890s,
one way the city assisted unsheltered residents
was by providing charitable organizations
free access to the municipal water supply.
Organizations that were regularly granted free water
included hospitals, shelters, orphanages, and others.
This is an example of a petition sent to the city
asking for free water. It dates from May 1894
and is from the Seattle City Mission,
which was located at 604 Commercial Street.
And today Commercial Street is First Ave,
so this is basically right in the middle of Pioneer Square.
The mission describes itself as providing meals for the,
quote, "unemployed and destitute."
The petition notes that during the previous winter,
the mission had provided over 20,000 meals and shelter spaces,
which I thought was interesting,
as it speaks to the level of need at this time.
Since the mission relied on donations
to provide its services,
it was asking the city to forgive their water bill
and provide free water.
Most petitions asking for free water,
like this one, appeared to have been granted by the city.
However, in September 1896,
this letter from the Committee on Fire and Water
to the council president noted that the city was receiving
a high number of petitions for free water
and recommended that they be denied from that point forward.
The reason given was that, according to state law,
it was technically the county's responsibility
and not the city's to provide support for,
quote, "indigent persons."
Although a resolution was soon passed,
declaring that all future petitions for free water
would be referred to the county, by at least 1898,
the city seems to have changed course.
And it was once again granting the petitions,
at least some of them.
A search in the city clerk's legislative database
brings up over 200 petitions from both organizations
and individuals asking for free water based on need,
continuing into the 1960s. The map scene here is from 1908.
It's a detailed view of a portion of Pioneer Square
where city hall and the King County Courthouse are today.
The long dividing line kind of in the middle of the map
is Yesler Way,
which was previously called Mill Street,
and is colloquially known as Skid Road.
The term skid road has its origins in the 1850s
when lumber was skidded down from First Hill along Yesler Way
to lumber mills on the waterfront.
Over the years, it's also become an area synonymous with poverty
and homelessness in Seattle. This petition is from May 1907.
It was sent to the city from residents along Yesler Way.
The petitioners were complaining about a group of shacks
that had been constructed on a triangle-shaped parcel of land
between Third, Yesler, and Jefferson,
which is now highlighted on the map.
Today this area is Prefontaine Place,
which is located across the street from City Hall Park,
which is next to the King County Courthouse.
The petition is accompanied by a letter
that echoes some of the sentiments
of the 1889 petition we just saw,
calling the shacks unsightly and a nuisance
and requesting that the city remove them.
In addition to complaints like this,
there were also other letters sent to the city
during this time that present a different point of view,
including some that protested the criminalization
of the unemployed and unsheltered,
who were often arrested and jailed under vagrancy laws.
Some letters asked for the city support with personal efforts
to provide assistance to those in need.
For example, this handwritten letter was received
by the city in January 1908,
sent by Jay H Johnson, owner of the Palace Restaurant
located at 160 Washington Street,
near Occidental in Washington,
pretty much right in the middle of the Skid Road district.
He writes that he has been providing free coffee and rolls
to unemployed men in the area.
It reads, in part, the number of men in line
has assumed such proportions that it is
now beyond my financial capacity to meet the number.
Over 150 men were in line this morning.
Through private donation, I have been helped,
but it will be impossible for me to care
for all those who are now seeking aid
if some assistance to me is not rendered.
The letter was placed on file,
and I wasn't able to find any documentation
of city assistance.
I did, however, find a Seattle PI article from December 1907
reporting that the Palace Restaurant was providing
free Christmas meals to, quote, "500 homeless men."
And the Seattle Times article the following year
reported that the Palace Restaurant had partnered
with the Salvation Army to provide 400 Christmas dinners
to, quote, "unemployed and homeless men."
So apparently he was able to get some support from other avenues.
In 1911, city council considered
establishing a municipal lodging house
to provide temporary housing for men without shelter.
A report to council submitted
by the local Charity Organization Society
gave details on how such a facility
could be set up and run.
It was envisioned as part of a social program
that would work closely with the city employment bureau
with the goal of finding jobs for the men
and included the establishment of a, quote, "farm colony,"
to which residents of the lodging house would be sent
if they could not find a job in three or so days.
The report also recommended the enforcement of vagrancy laws
as well as returning non-residents
to their families in other cities.
An ordinance for the lodging house was drafted,
and this is the cover of the bill here,
but the bill was never signed into law.
One thing I found especially interesting
about the proposed legislation are two pages of statistics
attached to the bill seen here, showing the demographics of men
helped by the Charity Organization Society
over the course of a month and a half.
These details give a rare view of Seattle's
unsheltered population during this time,
with information including age, time in town, and nationality.
There's also data on marital status, physical condition,
and the number of meals given by the society
during the month of December. A, quote, "cause of application"
is also noted for some with the reasons
given including unemployment, sickness, and old age.
There's also a penciled note at the bottom,
mentioning that the lifeboat mission had provided
over 3,000 free meals during the past 20 days
and had an average of 180 homeless men
sleeping on their floor every night.
So this is another record that stood out for me.
It's a letter sent to city council
from Seattle Police Chief Austin Griffiths on November 10, 1914.
In it, he cites the high level of unemployment in the city
and explains that the city jail
was serving as a kind of default shelter
for people who did not have a place to stay the night.
He mentions that many unemployed men
were now stranded in the Skid Road area
and added it is not humane.
Neither is it practical to attempt to drive
these unemployed persons out of Seattle.
He also stresses that the number of people
needing shelter and food, quote,
"is not a police problem, but is a social problem."
He went on to say that arresting everyone
who was unemployed and on the streets, quote,
"does more harm than good to the misfortune of being
without work is often added
the stigma of being treated as a vagrant or a criminal."
What also stood out to me in the letter
is the distinction he makes between the, quote,
"worthy poor" and those whom he defined as, quote,
"vagrants," which drove home to me again how subjective --
how subjective the application of the vagrancy laws could be.
He closes the letter suggesting
that the city and county coordinate efforts
to provide employment to those needing it.
And later that month, city council
passed Ordinance 33988, providing for the, quote,
"relief and care of the unemployed of Seattle
to take effect immediately."
In addition to correspondence and legislation,
city records related to homelessness
can also be found in surveys, studies,
and reports from city departments.
These photos are from a 1915 Department of Health
and Sanitation Annual Report.
The report states that during 1915,
sanitation workers had burned or raised
395 condemned buildings deemed unsanitary
and unsafe for habitation,
many of which were described as semi-permanent,
quote, "unsightly shacks" built on tide flats by, quote,
"squatters with salvaged pieces of lumber and boxes."
A lack of sewers and sanitary facilities in the area
was cited as the main reason
why the improvised structures were deemed a health hazard.
And the report describes plans to install privies
throughout the district
to prevent the spread of disease.
The narrative gives a lot of detail and points --
and paints a vivid picture
of what conditions were like in the area.
But what I also thought was really interesting
is that the report includes photos.
Seen here are a few examples. Not only do they show
the exterior of the structures described,
but one of the pictures also gives us
an example of an interior.
So I'm curious how many people here
know that underneath the pergola in Pioneer Square is a restroom,
an old restroom. Okay, a few people.
So the Pioneer Square Comfort Station,
which is what public restrooms
were called back then, opened in 1909.
These four images are from the 1910
Parks Department Annual Report.
One shows the men's room. One shows the women's room.
One shows the outside entrance under the pergola,
and one shows the floor plan,
illustrating how it was laid out.
Both the 1909 and 1910 annual reports dedicate
several pages to the comfort station,
going into a lot of detail about the design
and the materials used,
including marble stall dividers, porcelain sinks and urinals,
nickel-plated brass fixtures, and much more.
The report states that the press and many members of the public
were initially opposed to the comfort station.
But since opening, the reception had been universally positive,
and it was popular. According to the report,
8,000 people on average used it on a daily basis
and as many as 15,000 on Sundays when the saloons were closed.
The 1910 report calls it, quote, "the largest and most elaborate
underground comfort station in the United States,"
and also includes an excerpt from a 1910 Pacific builder
and engineer article which says "the man of travels will find
nowhere in the eastern hemisphere
a subsurface public comfort station
equal in character to that which has been recently
completed in the downtown district of Seattle."
During the Depression, the comfort station became
even more essential,
as it served as a key sanitary facility
for residents of the large Hooverville encampment
nearby on the tide flats,
as well as for members of the Skid Road community.
On December 31, 1942,
the comfort station was closed by the city
after it had fallen into disrepair.
The city received several letters in protest,
asking for it to be repaired rather than closed,
citing a lack of public toilets
and washing facilities in the area.
The letter seen here is from a store located in Pioneer Square,
asking to go on record protesting the closure,
stating, quote, "The class of people who use
those conveniences are here in the city
and it is up to the city to take care of them.
We cannot run them out of town
because they have no place to go."
This letter is sent by the King County OAPU,
which I think is the Old Age Pension Union,
referred to the closing as a, quote, "grave situation."
And also received was a petition for testing the closure
signed by approximately 500 people.
And seen here are just a few pages of the signatures.
The petition cites the importance of the facility
to the people in the area
who, in the absence of another option,
would be driven into the nearby taverns and bars for relief.
So despite these protests and others,
the comfort station remained closed for several years.
In 1949, the Public Safety Committee
requested that the City Planning Commission
conduct a survey of sanitary facilities in Pioneer Square
to evaluate the present need and determine
if reopening the comfort station would help.
The archives has a copy of the resulting study,
the cover which is seen here,
which includes demographic statistics
and a complete inventory of available facilities.
The study determined that there were 2,500 residents
and approximately 1,500, quote, "homeless and unemployable men"
living within the district.
And it concluded that the rehabilitation
of the comfort station
would not be enough to solve the problem.
The report recommended that a sanitary and social center
be established nearby
and suggested three possible buildings
that could be adapted to fit the need.
One of them was the Lutheran Compass Mission,
located in Pioneer Square. In February 1952,
the Lutheran Compass Mission sent this letter to city council
proposing to install a sanitary social center
for public use in the basement of their building
at 77 Washington Street.
The following month, the city entered into a contract
with the mission to, quote,
"establish and maintain a recreational center
for homeless men in the Skid Road area
with toilets, showers, and laundry facilities."
The city continued supporting the mission for this purpose
into the next several decades. And there's the ordinance.
Okay, so now we're going to jump ahead a few years
to Seattle's Model Cities Program
in the late 1960s through the 1970s.
Model Cities projects included several that worked
to address homelessness and related issues.
The Central District, the International District,
and Pioneer Square, including the Skid Road area,
were designated model city neighborhoods
and targeted to receive services.
Projects initiated and supported by Model Cities
included drug and addiction treatment services,
outreach programs for at-risk youth,
healthcare services for low-income
and transient populations, and food, shelter,
and referral services for the Skid Road community.
The program also helped to begin a neighborhood cleanup program
in 1972, which by the late --
which by the mid 1980s was run
by the Seattle Conservation Corps or the SEC.
The SEC still exists today as a Parks Department program
and continues to provide training, work experience,
and income to people experiencing homelessness.
The archives has a large number of Model Cities
records documenting
these projects, including project proposals,
planning, administration, evaluations, and more.
So one of the two images on this slide
is the logo for Model Cities,
which is roughly in the shape of a bird
and would sometimes include the phrase make it fly.
The other image is a color photo taken in June 1971,
showing a Model City's cleanup project in progress.
So the early 1970s,
the US was headed towards a recession, and locally,
Seattle had the highest national employment rate
since the Great Depression. Many of the records I found
relating specifically to homelessness during this time
were focused on the Skid Road area.
For example, in December 1971,
the city was considering authorizing funds
to support a Skid Road food and shelter program
to help residents during the winter months.
This is a letter from the First Avenue Service Center
sent to city council in support of this program.
I think what stood out for me initially when I found
this letter was the sense of urgency expressed in it.
It calls on the city to, quote, "act immediately"
to relieve the acute housing needs
affecting the inhabitants of the Skid Road area
and says that human beings by the hundreds
are forced to sleep outdoors
and weather severely detrimental to human survival.
Days later, the city passed Ordinance 100582 seen here,
allocating Model City funds to support the food
and shelter program and authorizing an agreement
with the Skid Road Community Council to manage it.
The Skid Road Community Council was a nonprofit organization
which advocated and supported the district's residents.
The two color photos on the slide date from the 1970s.
The top photo shows a pawn shop in Pioneer Square,
and the bottom photo shows the intersection of Third
and Jackson with King Street in the background.
So I was curious if there were other reasons besides
the recession for the low-income housing shortage
and in the Pioneer Square Skid Road area at this time
and found some clues in this report published
by the Skid Road Community Council in 1972.
While acknowledging that the housing problem was, quote,
"diverse and intricate,"
the report pointed to the strict enforcement of fire
and building codes as a key reason why housing
availability had plummeted in the area.
When faced with violations, owners of residency hotels,
which were a key source for low-income housing,
had the option of making repairs or closing.
According to the report, many landlords were choosing to close
rather than invest in costly repairs,
leaving low-income residents with few options in the area.
The other thing I found interesting about this report
is that it includes statistical data on services
available at this time,
accompanied by the names of related service agencies.
For example, it outlines shelter options,
employment numbers, free food and meals options,
and health services available. So this report is included
in SMA's Published Documents Collection,
which is a great resource for finding reports
on similar projects and services over time.
So this report on downtown housing for the -- from the --
for the low income was produced in May 1986
and is also from the Published Documents Collection.
Although this is 14 years after the report we just saw,
it describes the same issues that,
by this time, according to the report had reached a, quote,
"crisis situation." It also cites code enforcement
as responsible for the closing of residency hotels
and other single-room occupancy or SRO housing.
In addition, the report states that the renovation of some SRO
housing into studios and one-bedroom units
had resulted in fewer units available overall
and at higher, less affordable rates,
meaning that, quote, "low income residents are being displaced
to make room for middle income residents."
While acknowledging that the issue of homelessness
is complex,
the report points to this loss of housing
as well as recent sharp decreases in federal and state
funding as the key contributing factors to the crisis.
Also in 1986, a bond measure was passed by Seattle voters,
authorizing a levy to provide housing for low-income
households and establishing city housing development programs.
The housing levy remains a key source of funding
for affordable housing in Seattle.
And over the past several decades,
Seattle residents have consistently
supported this measure,
with the most recent housing levy passing
just last year in November 2023.
In addition to legislation, the archives has records related
to the levy and council member records,
mayoral records, departmental records, and more.
In 1989, the city adopted a Homeless Priority Agenda
prepared by the Human Services Strategic Planning Office.
The seven-page agenda defined the dynamics
of homelessness in Seattle
and was intended to be used as a guide
for implementing city efforts.
The agenda identified recent trends,
such as an increase in unsheltered families
and a growing number of, quote, "homeless youth."
It emphasized that coordinating city efforts
with other current and potential partners was essential
and listed priorities for action,
which included expanding prevention and stabilization
strategies, adding transitional and emergency services,
increasing housing options,
and improving coordination across city departments
and with other agencies working in response to the need.
During the 1980s and '90s,
ordinances to redefine and increase the penalties
for things like loitering, camping,
and panhandling were passed by city council.
For example, in 1985,
the city passed an ordinance redefining menacing behavior
and disorderly conduct, allowing the police to determine
when panhandling was aggressive enough
to constitute harassment and intervene.
The legislative history of this ordinance can be researched
using several different collections in the archives.
For example, background materials
and supporting documents filed with the City Clerk's Office
include letters from residents
both supporting and opposing the law.
The archives also has audio recordings of public comment
from hearings and council committee meetings.
This may not sound like the most exciting listening,
but these recordings are incredible resources
that not only document the legislative process,
they also include the voices of everyday
Seattleites, who may not be documented anywhere else.
For example, a public hearing
held to discuss an earlier version of this ordinance,
on May 30, 1985, includes over two
and a half hours of testimony from people
speaking both in favor of the law and against it.
As I listened to the recording,
it struck me that several of the comments sounded like
they could have been made today.
This hearing as well as many others have been digitized
and are available to listen to and download
from our digital collection site.
In 1993, and '94, a series of so-called civility laws
was passed -- were passed.
One of the laws allowed for the closing of spaces
under bridges and viaducts when necessary to, quote,
"preserve the public peace."
Also passed were ordinances defining, quote,
"aggressive begging" and making public urination,
defecation, and liquor consumption criminal acts.
Another law bans sitting or lying on the sidewalk
in the downtown area from 7 am to 9 pm.
This law was challenged in court,
but the State Court of Appeals
and the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals
ultimately ruled that the ordinance
did not violate constitutional rights,
and the supreme court -- the state supreme court declined
to take up the case, allowing the law to stand.
The archives has a collection
documenting the enactment of these ordinances,
including departmental correspondence and memos,
letters from residents both in favor
and in opposition to the laws,
and records relating to the litigation.
The black-and-white photo seen here is from the collection
and shows an example of what was considered loitering
on the sidewalk in the university district circa 1993.
This impact report from 1999 evaluates progress
made by the city towards goals outlined
in its Consolidated Plan for Housing
and Community Development,
which was developed under guidelines
established by the federal department
of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.
According to the report, the city spent over $100 million
that year on initiatives to combat homelessness.
Although it highlights numerous successes,
such as increased shelter capacity
and permanent housing options,
it also acknowledges that, quote,
"despite a booming economy,
there is an increasing number of homeless persons in Seattle."
So in addition to textual records and photographs,
the archives also has moving images related to homelessness.
I want to play just a short clip from a documentary produced
by the Seattle Channel in 2001 called Just
Like Noah. The documentary follows
Noah who is struggling with homelessness in Seattle
while waiting for a kidney transplant.
It shows him going through dialysis,
spending nights sleeping on the bus,
navigating the red tape of trying to secure housing,
and asking for assistance from passerbys
in front of the Dick's in Queen Anne, as we'll see in the clip.
-And because I get extremely lonely here
sometimes because I'm here by myself.
Hello, ma'am. How are you tonight?
-Just nice.
-Wonderful, wonderful.
You can be on top one day and be on the bottom the next.
Oh. -Thank you.
-Thanks a lot. I'll eat this later.
I said there's times that I've had 13, 14, 15 hamburgers,
and nine order of fries,
six Cokes at the end of the night
and still no place to stay.
Not that I'm not grateful because I am.
I am grateful. I am grateful.
-In 2005, a new regional initiative was launched,
the Committee to End Homelessness in King County,
or CEH, was spearheaded by King County
and led by a broad coalition of stakeholders,
including the city of Seattle,
and other local governments, housing authorities,
social services providers, businesses, faith-based groups,
and people who were currently experiencing
or who had experienced homelessness.
The effort aimed to create 9,500 housing units,
while building and realigning systems
to help people access and retain permanent housing.
When 2015 arrived, the CEH had been rebranded as all home
and released a report evaluating
the program's efforts and results.
It stated that the plan had succeeded in ending homelessness
for nearly 40,000 people.
However, the report also acknowledged
that nearly 10,000 people
were currently experiencing homelessness in King County,
and the numbers were continuing to grow.
Both of these reports are cataloged
in SMA's Published Documents Collection.
They've both been digitized and can be viewed
and downloaded from our digital collection site.
In 2008, the first Nickelsville encampment
was established along West Marginal Way.
The name hearkened back to the Hoovervilles
of the Great Depression, with residents naming it
for Mayor Greg Nickels in response
and in protest to continued encampment sweeps
and the lack of available shelter space in the city.
This photo was from a visit to Nickelsville
by council members Sally Bagshaw, Nick Licata,
and Tom Rasmussen in July 2011.
The visit took place during a Housing Human Services Health
and Culture Committee meeting on July 7.
Since this was an official committee meeting,
it was recorded, and the audio is cataloged in the archives.
The recording includes a tour of Nickelsville
given to the council members by residents who lived there.
So I want to play a very short clip from the audio,
and it relates directly to the photos seen here.
It features a resident of the camp named Rita,
who was described as one of Nickelsville's
donation coordinators.
-One of our donation coordinator,
she's one of them, Rita?
-Hi. -Hi, Rita.
-Hi. My name is Rita Bill. -Hi, Rita.
-My husband, of course, is Mike.
He said we've been here since February 4.
I am a donation coordinator.
This is our donation tent, which is closed until tomorrow.
We get clothes, toys, books, games, hygiene personal things.
As campers need it, they'll find one of three, you know,
and ask for what they need.
We'll get it for them --
toothbrushes, shampoos, women hygiene things.
You know, they need some clean clothes,
something that maybe go find a job with.
You know, we'll bring it out, let them go through it,
you know, and get what they need out of it.
-In November of 2015, Mayor Ed Murray
issued a proclamation declaring a civil emergency
for homelessness, which is seen here.
These photos were taken the same year
and are catalogued with Mayor Murray's staff records.
They're part of a series of several black-and-white
photographs showing encampments near I-5.
When I see them, I can't help but think of the photos
from the 1915 Health Department Annual Report, as well as --
as well as the Hooverville photos that Anne shared earlier.
So every one of the records we've highlighted here tonight
has a layered complex story that is far more complicated
and involved than our brief remarks can represent.
I certainly know as I researched this topic
and prepared for this talk,
I had far more questions than I had answers.
If this also brings up questions for you,
or if you're interested in this topic
or any of the records we've described,
there are materials in the archives
that can help you dig more.
This is our website, Seattle City --
seattle.gov/cityarchives,
and there you'll find links to our online databases
as well as a number of online research guides,
including the Hooverville and homelessness guides
that we've talked about tonight, and much more.
The archives is located on the third floor at city hall.
This is a picture of our research room.
We're happy to pull any records that you're interested in.
We can set up a time for you to visit,
and if you have any questions about the collections,
or if you'd like any help navigating our databases,
we're always happy to help with that.
Our email address is archives@seattle.gov.
So thank you very much.