Then and Now, Landscapes in Time

Often described as the "American West," "American Frontier," and even the "American Dream", the transcending from eastern institutions and geography to progressive western communities would not have been as easy without eastern or foreign investments (Pg. 189).  However, by the late 1880s, many of these investors lost interest in investing in prevalent mining and railroad projects.  Enter the Dutch investor.

View of the aftermath from The Great Spokane Fire, north from Railroad Avenue, Spokane Falls, August 1889
Courtesy Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (Image No. L86-139)

In John Fahey’s When the Dutch Owned Spokane, the “optimistic spirit” of Spokane Falls impressed Hollander, Herman A, Van Valkenburg.  Van Valkenburg consequently started the Northwestern and Pacific Mortgage Company in 1885, to assist with loans for the hardworking and entrepreneurial residents.  With the intent to evade American taxes, Van Valkenburg was encouraged by Netherland investors to reorganize his mortgage company, creating the Northwestern and Pacific Hypotheekbank.  Unfortunately for the masses in Spokane after the Panic of 1893, many of those with mortgages were unable to pay their debts.  Many notable Spokanite property owners went bankrupt as well during this economic depression.  Property was forfeited and farms were seized all over the city.

As many people lost their property, others were obliged to take the opportunities to buy real estate at depressed prices.  The Great Fire of 1889 in Spokane, many investors were wary of Spokane investments.  But the Dutch held many of the mortgages that were lost during the depression.  These mortgages were sold to up-and-coming developers and real estate investors for nominal prices, thus paving the way for such neighborhoods as the Manito and Rockwood Districts.  Zachary Wnek's Spokane Historical tour titled "Dutch" Jake Goetz and Harry Baer, embodies the development and fortune made my wealthy investors during the depression.  As Wnek tells, it was during this time that the extravagant Coeur d' Alene Hotel was built and was referred to as the "greatest place" by many wealthy businessmen.  Fahey's article can be difficult to follow along with without understanding financial terminology, but it clearly depicts how the Dutch helped develop the Spokane landscape into what it is today. 

Jay P. Graves (1859-1948); Developed Manito and Rockwood Districts after the Great Fire of 1889
Courtesy Whitworth College

Kyvig and Marty help public historians survey these cultural landscapes, such as Spokane.  In Chapter 9, the cycle of the landscape changing over time is discussed.  The cycle begins with construction and continues with abandonment, conversion, abandonment, demolition and new construction.   These cycles help historians study and understand changes over time in the cultural landscapes such as “migration patterns, the opening and closing of transportation routes, evolving architectural fashions and changing tastes in living space, and the displacement of older commercial districts by new shopping centers and big-box stores (Pg. 177).”  Chapter 10 examines historic preservation and its ever changing roles in heritage conservation, and the benefits of the preservation movement.  Four routes can be taken in dealing with historic properties: Preservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration or Reconstruction.  Both chapters 9 and 10 lend insight into the analytical understanding of the Spokane landscape.

Emphasized in Chapter 11 of Nearby History, to analyze these landscapes the public historian needs to develop their research and writing skills so that they may leave an accurate record of their investigation.  In addition, preservation techniques and responsibilities are discussed within the chapter.  The final chapter encourages public historians to recognize different approaches to studying history.  Once history was composed of narratives of the lives of the famous and elite, however, public historians are now emphasizing the lives of the every-day citizens.  Frederick Jackson Turner impacted modern historical thought by concentrating on local history and “had a profound impact on American Historical Thought (Pg. 232).”  Kyvig and Marty offer thorough insight into the techniques most often implemented by local historians in the preservation of materials, each one as useful as the next. 

   

William Cronon's How to Read a Landscape implores readers to read landscapes more in depth.  One of the intriguing ideas from this article is to use all of one's senses in observing landscapes.  The idea is to shut your eyes, and then make observations based on sound, smell, taste and touch.  In addition, learning ecology will be a key asset to understanding the landscapes around us.  Cronon goes on to include cemeteries in his 'Special Places' section.  I was not aware of the fact that different religious headstones vary from one another by any other means that religious symbols.  Not only will the information on cemetery analysis assist our projects, but the entire article teaches readers to take in the whole picture of the cemetery, and not just the information from the grave markers   I read through more of Cronon's website and find his work to be very in-sync with my own historical interests.  More can be seen through his website: www.williamcronon.net.

The Artifacts of a Hometown Past

Public historians look to the future just as they do the past.  What was once common occurrences of routine and somewhat ordinarily lives, in now part of an ongoing struggle to decipher the valuable historical pieces from a plethora of artifacts, for the enjoyment of future generations.  Two of these pieces, as described in Kyvig and Marty’s Nearby History: Exploring the Past Around You, Chapters 7 and 8, are visual documents, namely photographs and videos, as well as physical artifacts.  Both visual documents and artifacts lend insight and understanding in the daily activities of local residents, some more than others.  Historians painstakingly sort through hundreds of thousands of photographs, videos, household items, clothing, etc. in order to preserve the knowledge of the past.  Kyvig and Marty stress the importance of locating more discerning visual documents and artifacts from others in hopes that these pieces will help the present day and future historians understand local history more fittingly, and thus the larger context of the historical narrative.  Though this read, just as most manuals do, lack any type of liveliness, I appreciate the information and took very diligent notes on the preservation process, knowing this manual will be highly applicable to my career as a public historian.

The Art of Preserving Artifacts, Photo Courtesy of: The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts

Just as Kyvig and Marty share insight on how to preserve history, Thrush’s Chapters 7 and 8 in Native Seattle: Historians from the Crossing-Over Place, and Chapters 7 and 9 in Spokane & The Inland Empire: An Interior Pacific Northwest Anthology give framework to the development of communities, where visual documents and artifacts are “produced.”  The two place-stories of Seattle, as told first by the Tilikums, then by the pioneers, contrast in their perceptions of storytelling; just as the Tilikums aimed “to drum up attention in the noisy marketplace of civic public relations” the pioneers were determined “to preserve local heritage and revisit fading memories.”  Both of these groups intended to tell stories of Seattle’s Indian past in order to give shape to the history of the city for their own benefit, but contrasted sharply in their modes of doing so.  Together these groups left historians an abundance of visual documents as well as artifacts in order for historians to retell the place-story of Seattle.  Unlike the Tilikums and the pioneers, historians face challenges of presenting history not as independent and profiting entities, but to benefit the community and to frame the historical narrative with no biases or judgments, allowing the public to harness their own analytical and critical thinking skills about the implications of historical events.  

So much can be inferred from the built environment, these are some of the largest artifacts left for historians and the community.  Author Henry Mathews, in unfolding the works of Spokane renowned architect Kirkland Cutter, narrates the social, political and economic happenings between the end of the nineteenth century and first quarter of the twentieth century.  This was by far the most interesting read for me not only in this book, but from all other books read this quarter.  The history of Cutter's architecture can also be found at a blog dedicated to depicting Cutter's work in a "then and now" presentation, here.  Along with architecture contributing to the historical narrative, J. William T. Youngs also describes local events with the intent to define a place-story.  The 1974 World’s Fair Expo in Spokane, with the theme of environmentalism, defines a community that was dedicated to urban renewal.  This exposition, as eloquently described, encouraged citizens to “think globally and act locally.”  This new mindset for Spokane catapulted the community into a history of ecological awareness, far from James N. Glover’s vision of fully exploiting the falls for his economic gain.  There are numerous artifacts from the construction on the 74' World Expo still present for all of Spokane to enjoy, most notably the entire Riverfront Park.  

A photographic timeline for the Davenport Restaurant, 1) 1906 Drawing, 2) 1908 Photograph, 3) 2008 Photograph Photos Courtesy of: 1) archive.worldhistoria.com, 2) loc.gov, 3) oregonlive.com 

Many cities are following in the footsteps of the host city to the 74’ World Expo, especially with historical preservation awareness.  Many every day citizens are taking it upon themselves in documenting historically significant artifacts, whether they are for the purpose of preserving the environment-such as in the work the National Park Service organizes- or just to preserve their heritage past.  San Francisco residents are collaborating on ghost sign projects all throughout the city.  These residents are collectively gathering ghost sign artifacts, consisting of visual images, and locations in order to build a database of San Francisco ghost signs, before they are lost to “awkward paint jobs;” and go unnoticed by the majority of residents.  I am thrilled these citizens are pooling their knowledge and resources, and look forward to my ghost sign artifact contributions within the City of Spokane in Dr. Cebula’s Hometown History course.      

The Microhistory of the Pacific Northwest

Birds Eye View of Seattle by E.S. Glover in 1878.  Photo courtesy of pauldorpat.com

Graduate students in history do not merely study history, or solely remember places, people and dates; instead, history graduate students and history professionals study new ways of perceiving and employing revisionist theory to their historical studies and research.  In Francesca Mari's The Microhistorian, the works of microhistorian Jill Lepore are discussed.  Lepore, after realizing that her post-undergraduate career was not going in the direction she wanted,  enrolled in graduate school where she approached history as many modern day social science students do, with the bottom-up methodology.  In this system, it is not the elite, powerful or famous that is analyzed, but in their place the everyday citizen of a community is interpreted as being the nucleus of historical events in which we research and try and understand.  In other words, in order to understand the impact of a war, the famous key players in history-war generals, political officials, allies, and nemeses offer little insight in the relationship and daily actions of those effected most by war, soldiers, their families and the community awaiting their return.  In addition, it is the small players that lend insight in the causes, influences and repercussions of war inflicted areas.  But how do historians gather material that will showcase the microhistorian argument?  

Kyvig and Marty in their collaborative Nearby History, suggest published documents as primary resources, but are very keen to push unpublished documents as well.  These unpublished documents can be found in two places: archives and personal manuscript collections.  Archives hold an abundance of information such as births, marriages and deaths certificates, but also tax records, employment records and health records, though many of these records are federally protected for everyone as to safeguard privacy.

Many noted historians utilize these unpublished documents in order to gather a greater breadth of understanding their research topics.  In Ruth Barnes Moynihan’s Let Women Vote: Abigail Scott Duniway in Washington Territory, the endeavors of Abigail Scott are meticulously communicated through the utilization of diaries and letters, obtained through personal collections.  The same can be said of Wayne D. Rasmussen’s A Century of Farming in the Inland Empire and Carlos A. Schwantes’ Spokane and the Wageworkers’ Frontier:  A Labor History to World War I.     All of these stories, manifested from unpublished and published traces, depict the lives of ordinary citizens, from labor union organizers, agricultural workers, suffrage proponents and opponents, lending much insight in the workings of the fight for women’s voting rights, a hundred years of agricultural history and labor history.

Thrush continues our anecdotal accounts applying microhistory as a framework for understanding local histories, particularly in the case of Seattle.  Thrush details the stories of indigenous people being dispossessed from their native lands, unable to compete with the urban sprawl, ending in disaster for the Native people who tried to live in traditional ways.  These and similar detailed accounts are widely taught throughout elementary and secondary education in the United States.  However, Thrush also describes other Indians engaging in migrating patterns to the Puget Sound area.  The Seattle area was growing and diversifying in many ways, “Nowhere is this clearer than in the record of all but the most invisible lives: the federal census (69).”  Studying the microhistory of Seattle in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries allows us to understand the actual occurrences within that local population and in turn, the political and social climate of the period; this process can be applied to any community in any time and place. 

Microhistory, as a relatively new and emerging approach to studying history, allows historians, both graduate students and professionals, to better understand the circumstances of past events and better suit our understanding of how they are effecting us today, as well as how to avoid adverse costs from current parallel circumstances.