Category Archives: Immigrant heritage
The Fukano Family in Fremont
In Washington State in the year 1910, the census showed that one out of every four residents was foreign-born. Of the other three out of four, many were first-generation, born in the USA of immigrant parents, and having come to … Continue reading
Original Resources, Real History
Have you heard of Frederich Drumpf, a German immigrant who operated a restaurant in Seattle in the 1890s? Real historians use original documents and verify their sources, and in this essay by Seattle historian Rob Ketcherside, we see that getting … Continue reading
A Picardo Perspective
In the Spring of the year our thoughts turn to gardening.
Seattle’s Immigrant Photographer: Werner Lenggenhager
Werner Lenggenhager (1899-1988) was a Swiss immigrant who lived in Australia and California before coming to Seattle in 1939 at age 40. A trip home to Switzerland in 1949 made Lenggenhager realize that historic buildings are not always valued until … Continue reading
Wedgwood’s Immigrants: the Akahoshi Family
Census records of 1920 show that there were quite a few immigrants living in the northeast Seattle neighborhood of Wedgwood that year. Germans who built their own houses and settled in Wedgwood included John Herkenrath, Gustav Morris, and William Voss, … Continue reading
A Gift from the Past
When I was growing up in the 1950s in Seattle I was fascinated by the stories my elderly relatives told of “the olden days.” It doesn’t seem possible that I could have known people who were born in the 1880s, … Continue reading
Seattle’s Nordic Heritage
The Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle is the only museum in the United States which recognizes the contribution of immigrants from the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. It is particularly appropriate for the Museum to be … Continue reading
