The Invisible Histories podcast unearths lost Pacifc NW stories, hidden histories, and forgotten places, and viscerally connects the public to experiences from the past. The monthly episodes unearth some cool, creepy and hopefully meaningful connections for people alive today.
We are always looking for “invisible histories” of the Pacific NW so if you have a good story idea please reach out at invisiblehistoriespnw@gmail.com.
Recorded at Works Progress Cooperative www.worksprogress.coop
Welcome to our April episode: Cairn Canine Detection and the Case of the Snohomish Pioneer Cemetery!
Have you ever wondered how dogs could help locate unmarked graves? Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of canine detection and its role in uncovering the hidden histories of historic cemeteries. In this episode, we share our experience with Suzanne Elshult and June Mansfield and their team from Cairn Canine Detection, who use specially trained dogs to locate human remains in historic burial areas. Discover the science behind their methods, the challenges they face, and the stories of the Snohomish Pioneer Cemetery, including its connections to the early settlers of the region.
Don't miss the second part of this episode on April 28th, where we’ll reveal the findings of Cairn Canine Detection at the Duwamish Cemetery, also known as the "lost" Potter's Field.
Recorded at Snohomish Pioneer Cemetery and WorksProgress.
Production Coordinator and Researcher: Jacob Neville.
Cover image: Design by Cari Simson
Music: Yoga Dogs by All Good Folks by Uppbeat.io
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
Welcome to our March episode: Voices from the Archives!
Join us for an insightful conversation with Stephanie Johnson Toliver, the Executive Director of Black Heritage Society of WA for the past 7 years, and a longtime advocate for historic preservation, community-building and storytelling. In this episode, we explore the vital role of community archives in preserving the stories of African Americans in Washington, from early settlers who shaped the early towns and communitites, to the impactful photography of Al Smith.
Stephanie shares her journey from horticulturist to archivist, detailing her passion for uncovering and sharing the histories that shape our communities.
We discuss the challenges posed by gentrification and the importance of historic preservation, particularly in the Central District, where significant sites like the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA are at risk.
Stephanie highlights exciting upcoming events, including collaborations with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the unveiling of new digital projects to make history more accessible. Engage with the past and consider how we can all contribute to preserving these invaluable narratives for future generations.
Today we had the pleasure to host a virtual interview with author Hanna Brooks Olsen about her recently published book, “Notoriously Bad Character: the true story of Lou Graham and the Immigrants and Sex Workers who built Seattle." The book is available through her webpage, www.hannabrooksolsen.com
Lou reigned supreme in what we now know as the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle in the late 1800s. Today, on Seattle’s Underground Tour and other guided history walks, the story of Lou Graham is often full of errors and exaggerations, and so we are grateful for Hanna’s research to bring the true stories of Lou to light, and inspire other researchers to try and find out more. So grab your favorite beverage, sink into your comfy chaise lounge and transport yourself to when the mysterious German immigrant Dorothea Ohben had just arrived in Seattle.
Madam Lou Graham arrives in Seattle in February 1888: https://www.historylink.org/File/2762
Image: Purported sex workers, Seattle ca. 1900, courtesy of Paul Dorpat.
A Return to the Potter's Field
Season 2 · Episode 1
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 • Duration 42:35
Welcome to Invisible Histories!
Tonight we bring you a special show like no other. If you've listened to the first three episodes -- and if not go back to Episode #1 -- we come to this podcast with a deep curiosity about the people who lived in this time period, how they died, and how they ended up being buried in the Potter’s Field between 1876-1912.
Elke and I wanted to transport you to where the Potter’s Field used to be, on a windy point of land in what is known today as the neighborhood of Georgetown in Seattle, WA.
We took a little field trip to 500 South Myrtle Street, deep in the side streets of Georgetown’s industrial area. We thought maybe by visiting in person, on a quiet full moon night, we perhaps could feel something there, and get some answers? ...We were definitely not trying to open a portal …..!
Listen now to hear the spirits of Madame Victoria, Coroner Charles E. Hoye, Thomas Hamilton Blanck, Mary Dugan, Millie Schiller, Lewis Jones, Fred Boalt, Joseph Miller, and Effie Lassen.
Please subscribe and keep listening wherever you get your podcasts!
We are always looking for “invisible histories” of the Pacific NW so if you have a good story idea please reach out at invisiblehistoriespnw@gmail.com -
Check out our landing page at www.invisible-histories.com
Our Instagram account will share images from each episode, @invisiblehistoriespnw
"No Rest for The Unwept Dead" The Seattle Times, June 15, 1904, p. 9
Credits:
How Can the Rolland Denny Mansion be Saved?
Season 2 · Episode 1
Tuesday, April 9, 2024 • Duration 01:30:00
March 2024 was wild! We suffered technical issues in the form of a broken computer, which prevented us from getting this episode out in a timely manner. Thank goodness we are up and running again!
Thank you to our listeners, the dedicated hundreds! Subscribe, share, give us a review wherever you listen to podcasts!
Check out our Instagram for images related to this episode.
Today, we interviewed Jean Sherrard and Clay Eals, and explored a wide-ranging conversation that includes their work with Paul Dorpat, the “Now and Then” column in the Seattle Times, the pending Rolland Denny Mansion sale, historic preservation, and zooming in on old timey large format photographs.
Stay tuned for our theatrical episode about the Potter’s Field - Featuring: Clayton Ballard, Patti Amundson, Pat Dolan, Andy Bookwalter, Brian Dougherty, and Sarah Sherman
In this podcast we explore lost stories of marginalized people, hidden histories of forgotten places, and generally unearth some cool, creepy and hopefully meaningful connections for people living and working in the Seattle area and beyond.
In this episode, we share some important cultural information regarding Indigenous death practices of the Coast Salish people, to answer the question, 'could the Potter's Field have previously been an Indian Burial Ground' as described on Findagrave.com? We include interviews from Johnny Moses and Pamela Bond Seamoster who each share the cultural practices of their families.
We also explore how someone would end up in the Potter's Field in the early 1900s, and more information about the King County Hospital and Poor Farm, which was also host to a Tuberculosis sanitorium through 1911. We also share the stories of over 10 individuals whose remains were interred at the Duwamish Cemetery, aka the Potter's Field, including Ingo Singh, Mary Lake, James Carter, Thomas Hamilton Blanck, and a sad story of an infant secretly buried by her parents in the dead of night.
Subscribe and keep listening wherever you get your podcasts.
We are always looking for “invisible histories” of the Pacific NW so if you have a good story idea please reach out at invisiblehistoriespnw@gmail.com.
In this podcast we explore lost stories of marginalized people, hidden histories of forgotten places, and generally unearth some cool, creepy and hopefully meaningful connections for people living and working in the Seattle area and beyond.
In this episode we go way back in time, to share the perspective of a character that rarely gets to tell its story — the land itself — how the cemetery removal was an example of forced industrialization and this progress at all costs mentality; contextualizing the land in Georgetown, and the existing death and burial practices of the time, as well as how there was an evolution of infrastructure as Seattle became what we like to think of as modern city in the early 1900s.
Unearth the history of the land around the Potter’s Field with us and explore a glimpse of the old Seattle. This formerly out-of-the-way place that held the dead from the early days of Washington Territory up through Statehood in 1887, was erased from maps and memories as Seattle entered the Modern era.
Featuring Elizabeth Davis PhD and music by Kevin MacLeod in a special introduction.
Subscribe and keep listening wherever you get your podcasts.
We are always looking for “invisible histories” of the Pacific NW so if you have a good story idea please reach out at invisiblehistoriespnw@gmail.com.
Hello -- and welcome to “Invisible Histories” exploring Seattle’s lost stories, with Cari and Elke - Episode #1
In this podcast we explore lost stories of marginalized people, hidden histories of forgotten places, and generally unearth some cool, creepy and hopefully meaningful connections for people living and working in the Seattle area and beyond.
In our first series we explore the ‘lost’ Potter’s Field, also known as the Duwamish Cemetery established in 1876 on land next to the King County Poor Farm and Hospital in what is now the Georgetown neighborhood. In just over 30 years over 3,260 people were buried there; people who due to lack of money, family or other connections had nowhere else to go when they died.
In 1912 the Army Corps of Engineers embarked on the ambitious “Duwamish Canal,” turning the river’s meandering curves into a 5-mile shipping channel and turning “useless mudflats” into industrial land. The Duwamish Cemetery aka “Potter’s Field” was erased from maps and memories, all 3260 human remains were exhumed and cremated, and covered with industrial businesses .
In Episode #1 Elke and Cari share their research experiences, and why this story of finding the lost cemetery is connected to many aspects of Seattle's growth and development.
Subscribe and keep listening where you get your podcasts
Our podcast music is from Samuel Coleridge Taylor's
Introducing "Invisible Histories"
Season 1
Friday, December 29, 2023 • Duration 03:00
Welcome to “Invisible Histories” exploring Seattle’s lost stories. In this podcast we explore lost stories of marginalized people, hidden histories of forgotten places, and generally unearth some cool, creepy and hopefully meaningful connections for people living and working in the Seattle area and beyond.
In our first series we explore the ‘lost’ Potter’s Field, a cemetery established in 1876 on land next to the King County Poor Farm and Hospital in what is now the Georgetown neighborhood. In just over 30 years over 3,260 people were buried there; people who due to lack of money, family or other connections had nowhere else to go when they died. In 1912 the Army Corps of Engineers embarked on the ambitious “Duwamish Canal,” turning the river’s meandering curves into a 5-mile shipping channel and turning “useless mudflats” into industrial land. The Duwamish Cemetery aka “Potter’s Field” was erased from maps and memories, covered with industrial businesses and all 3260 human remains were exhumed and cremated. Find out about who was buried there and what happened to their ashes.
Subscribe and keep listening wherever you get your podcasts.
We are always looking for “invisible histories” of the Pacific NW so if you have a good story idea please reach out at invisiblehistoriespnw@gmail.com.
Recorded at Works Progress Cooperative www.worksprogress.coop
Edited by Elke Hautala
2023
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places.
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
Music: Music from Library of Congress: Wohlauf noch getrunken (To Wake Up Still Drunk) 1904 https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-714492/
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
Including USC Cinema Archival Sound FX from 1930s-1960s (Craig Smith)
Juskiddink_waves-caves2
Bennstir_door-slam-1
Yin_Yang_Jake007_water-splash
Theknave_coins-into-tin-cup-2
Cueckermann_womans-harmonics-gasps
AlesiaDavina_a-sirens-song
Timbre_stretched-theremin-01
zabuhailo__hippodromewarm-up-horses
aarrnnoo__woman-crying
martina_leitschuh__people_laughing_outdoors_002
robertcrosley__elbow-river-rivulet-220602-t020
Music from FreeSound.org 1906 Marvel Player Piano from San Francisco
rtb45__mm-project-3-old-marvel-player-piano
Characters played by Elke Hautala, Clayton Ballard, Brian Dougherty, Patti Amundson, Sarah Sherman, Pat Dolan, and Andy Bookwalter.
Interviews by Cari Simson. Based on actual historical research with touches of speculative fiction here and there!
Recorded at Works Progress Cooperative in Seattle WA - Seattle’s only cooperatively run coworking space - www.worksprogress.coop
Audio edited by Elke Hautala
April 2024
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
Clay Eals' historic preservation examples: two brief TV newsstories from Jan. 29, 1989, featuring Paul when the community first picketed the Admiral Theater’s closing, leading to the landmarking of it that summer.
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
History of Seattle neighborhoods of SODO and Harbor Island, and King County's sewer system history - starting research about this important and very hidden history.
Music: Junkman Rag by Fred Van Eps, an African American composer/musician.
Image: Seattle Municipal Archives: Duwamish Sanitary Fill [workers laying pipe] February 18 1914
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
Cari Simson and Elke Hautala formed Invisible Histories to visually and viscerally connect the public to experiences from the past. Their Invisible Histories podcast unearths diverse local stories and forgotten places. www.invisible-histories.com
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