The Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme for 2024 was Many Voices, celebrating our diverse and rich history. Gallewski Kaufman was a German Jewish immigrant, arriving in Olympia in the mid-1880s. He and his brother-in-law Ferdinand Toklas established the Toklas and Kaufman mercantile store, now the Mottman Building at Fourth Avenue and Capitol Way.
1891 Olympia Tribune Souvenir Edition, Washington State Library
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
The Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme for 2024 was Many Voices, celebrating our diverse and rich history. John Grace was a cherished member of Olympia’s music-loving community. Blind from early childhood, Grace operated a piano tuning service for over five decades. He is shown here in this Daily Olympian article from 1964, early in his career.
Daily Olympian Photograph, 1964, courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1986.43.64.7.23.3.1
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
The Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme for 2024 was Many Voices, celebrating our diverse and rich history. Harriet Speckart, shown here, was a niece of Olympia Brewing Company founder Leopold Schmidt. In 1905 she met Doctor Marie Equi, beginning a long relationship, including a jointly adopted daughter. Harriet’s mother and uncle then unsuccessfully attempted to deny Harriet access to a large inheritance, based on the “unnatural” relationship with Dr. Equi. Harriet and Marie are buried together in Portland, Oregon.
Photograph (of Harriet as a young girl) courtesy Oregon Historical Society
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
The Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme for 2024 was Many Voices, celebrating our diverse and rich history. Looking Back’s theme for 2024 is Many Voices, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Gustav Rosenthal was a very early Olympia merchant, arriving with his wife Katti here in 1863. The Rosenthals were among the Jewish families who settled here in early Territorial days. His store at the core of downtown Olympia at Fourth and Main (now Capitol) was described as “one of the best known in Southwest Washington.”
1891 photo, Olympia Tribune Souvenir Issue
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
The Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme for 2024 was Many Voices, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Pictured here is James Mars, African-American proprietor of the Our House restaurant on Fourth Avenue. Mars was born in New York and spent many years as a seafarer. He and his wife Mary Jane, neé Thomas, arrived in Olympia in 1870 and opened their restaurant, described as “a place where one can feel at home and enjoy home cooking.”
Image from 1891 Olympia Tribune Souvenir Issue
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. The Bigelow neighborhood, Bigelow Park, and Bigelow Street are named for an early settler family. Pictured here is Ann Elizabeth White, who married Olympia attorney Daniel Bigelow in 1854. The Bigelows erected their home on the east side of Olympia around 1860. It is one of the oldest surviving residences in Olympia, currently operated as the Bigelow House Museum.
Photograph Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum collection
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Like BBC period dramas, Olympia had its “upstairs and downstairs” residents. Pictured here is the home of Dr. Waughop on Main Street (now Capitol Way). Barely visible below the ground level is the family’s servant, Augusta Sherwood. Miss Sherwood was the daughter of Mason County millwright Joseph Sherwood and his wife Mary, a member of the Skokomish Tribe.
Courtesy Washington State Historical Society, State Capital Museum collection, catalog C1982.18.30.11
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. According to a 1964 article in the Olympian, Ernest Cheeka, Jr., was installed that year as Makah hereditary chief, after he reached adulthood. Cheeka, then a resident of Olympia, took the Indian name of Kolchote. He is pictured here with a ceremonial mask, in preparation for his installation. Cheeka was a Vietnam veteran, accomplished artist, and supporter of Native American rights and traditions. He died in 2011.
Daily Olympian photo, 1964, State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1986.43.64.12.4.1
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. William Owen Bush, son of settlers Isabella James Bush and mixed-race George Bush, made his mark in many arenas in early Washington Territory and State. He was a noted agriculturist, served as the first African American member of the Washington Territorial Legislature, and helped found Washington State University.
Photograph about 1890, Courtesy Washington State Historical Society, catalog 2015.0.75
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. In 1988 Olympia voters helped make history when they elected local community organizer Cora Pinson, pictured here, to the City Council. She was the first African American woman to hold such a position in Washington State. Pinson served on the Olympia City Council from 1987 to 1991.
Photo courtesy Thelma Jackson.
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympia 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 is Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history Barbara O’Neill was a commanding presence in our area for many years. While operating a soul food restaurant on Fourth Avenue, she instituted a practice of providing free holiday meals for those in need. The tradition continued after her death, with the annual Barb’s Family and Friends program, led by her children and numerous volunteers and supporters.
Photo courtesy City of Olympia
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Jacob Bean immigrated to Olympia from Russia in 1902, bringing with him his family’s Torah (first five books of the Hebrew Bible). He, his wife Mollie, and their son Earl owned the business now known as Olympia Supply, still in existence in downtown Olympia. Jacob, Mollie, and their son Earl are pictured here around 1907. The Bean family’s involvement with the business spans three generations.
Photograph around 1907, courtesy Washington State Historical Society, State Capital Museum collection, catalog C1950.1326.1
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. In March 1964, Marlon Brando arrived in our area to support Native American tribes as they challenged the state’s interpretation of fishing treaty rights. He was arrested for his efforts. He’s shown here in the Thurston County Courthouse, consulting with Puyallup tribe member and codefendant Robert Satiacum.
Daily Olympian photo, 1964, State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1986.43.64.3.2.6.1
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Chinese Americans have a long history in our community. Many Chinese immigrants lived and worked in areas of downtown informally dubbed “Chinatown,” although the location of these quarters changed over the years. Shown here is the back of Chinatown as it existed in 1941, at 5th Avenue and Water Street.
Olympia Fire Department collection, Washington State Archives, iimage SW-540-3-6-ph000001
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympia 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Thomas Park, shown here, was born in Bermuda and a bricklayer by trade. He was a long-time family associate of early settlers Robert and Mary Louisa Frost and family. He is buried in the Frost family cemetery lot at the Masonic Memorial Park.
Unknown Photographer, late 1800s, Courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1950.3.77
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Nisqually Tribal elder William Frank, Sr., father of activist Billy Frank Jr., poles a canoe on the Nisqually River. This photograph from 1962 accompanied a Daily Olympian profile of Frank, Sr., in which he lamented the struggles of the Nisqually Tribe and the fisheries resource it traditionally relied on for sustenance.
The Olympian photo, 1962, Courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1986.43.62.3.21.5.1
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Margaret Whyte was responsible for bringing the concept of a Continuing Care Retirement Community to the developers of the Panorama retirement community developers. She and her life-long companion Marie Lauenroth were also among the first residents. In this 1969 photo, Margaret displays her skill as a “Rockhound.”
Courtesy Panorama Resident Archives
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating our rich history. Scandinavians began arriving in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1800s, with many working in logging, lumber, and construction industries. In 1921, Swedish-born Ed Westman, pictured here, founded the Olympia Veneer Company, which was a revolutionary experiment in cooperative ownership as well as innovator in the veneer industry.
Courtesy American Plywood Association, 1969
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024
Looking Back’s theme for 2024 was Many Streams, celebrating