About Us

A Short History of the Magnolia Historical Society​

 

The Magnolia Historical Society had its beginnings when an eager but untested team of volunteer writers first came together to write a neighborhood history book. The Magnolia Community Club (now Magnolia Community Council) asked Monica Wooton, then chair of the Historical Committee, to write a new history of Magnolia. Previously, the MCC had commissioned Aleua Frare to produce a volume of homespun, anecdotal history, Magnolia: Yesterday and Today, for the U.S. Bicentennial Celebration of 1976. 

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In accepting the new assignment, Wooton decided to design a neighborhood history writing process for memoir and academically-researched history using volunteer writers, most unpublished. It incorporated a peer editor model, an educational "how to write history" packet, and broad outreach to the Magnolia community’s potential first-person narrators and research writers. The first call for volunteers began with Wooton passing out flyers for "The Magnolia Essay Project I" from an antique decorated card table at Summerfest in 1998. 

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A fearless group of thirteen writers quickly stepped up and the process began. The Magnolia Branch of the Seattle Public Library was the official headquarters and meeting place. With a City of Seattle Department of Neighborhood Matching Grant, this team began a yearlong journey together: reading, researching, writing, and rewriting. Together, they sought out and studied family scrapbooks, connected and interviewed the early movers and shakers of Magnolia, researched and raided every archive in the City of Seattle for anything “Magnolia." They also wrote down their own memories. 

 

Paul Dorpat, columnist and local historian, and Charles Payton, then Heritage Lead/Community Museum Advisor at 4Culture/King County Cultural Resources, provided inspiration, resources, and cheerleading for the team and book. The writers became a true chorus of voices—compatriots consulting maps, finding archival photos, and peer editing each other’s work into what became a beautiful, coffee-table style book of neighborhood history and images. Published in 2000, Magnolia: Memories & Milestones won the Virginia Marie Folkins award for best history book in King County. 

 

In 2001, most of the thirteen original writers reunited and founded the Magnolia Historical Society (MHS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. And the rest, as they say, is history! 

 

MHS developed a mission:

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Initiate interest in Magnolia history, protecting it for future generations. 

Inspire the Magnolia community to help us gather acquisitions for our photo and document archives at UW Special Collections.

Invest in community historical research and writing of Magnolia history that facilitates historic projects and events.

Encourage a more accurate “sense of place” through our work preserving the stories and images of Magnolia.

  

Writing history, sponsoring historical events, and collecting archival materials to be cataloged at University of Washington Special Collections has become a specialty of MHS. In its nearly 25 years of existence, MHS has produced the MHS News Quarterly, taught free memoir writing workshops, and researched history for other community organizations. 

 

MHS was responsible for a local history column in the Queen Anne & Magnolia News, contributed to guidelines for the Fort Lawton Historic District, helped with the 125th Anniversary Celebration of the West Point Light, and participated in planning the 50th Anniversary of Discovery Park. MHS also created the Magnolia Historic Person of the Year Award, highlighting individuals who have made significant contributions to neighborhood history or preservation, and commissioned a public sculpture for Magnolia Village by  artist John Leglar.

 

In 2005, MHS began work on Book II, a sequel to Magnolia: Memories & Milestones, focused on the 1920s-1940s. The work of thirty-two volunteers resulted in the 2007 award-nominated Magnolia: Making More Memories. When the call went out for Book III in 2018, the focus was on the fabulous 1950s and turbulent 1960s. Over 60 Magnolians took on that writing challenge, culminating in Magnolia: Midcentury Memories, published in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

Each book depended wholly on volunteer writers and peer editors, steady project management, "how to write history" packets, the Department of Neighborhood matching grants, the Magnolia Branch of the Seattle Public Library, a talented book designer, and a great grant manager and bookkeeper. Knowledgeable librarians and archivists, local historians, and fellow local history groups supported MHS in this process. Each book team brought its own brand of infectious excitement and unique voices as they wrote “their” Magnolia book. Yes, the rewriting was a never-ending process—as were the frequent celebrations and the notable book launches. All the history was academically-researched, all the writers were Magnolians, all the memoirs first-person narratives.

 

Once again, MHS is getting back to its historical writing origins. Magnolia: More Memories & Milestones, an online, ongoing collection, continues the nearly quarter-century tradition of written history by Magnolians. As Books I-III are now Kindle editions, this new publication serves as the place where Magnolians can bring their local history to life. Peer editors and "how to write history" materials are still part of the process. We would love your memorabilia, photos, memories, and story ideas. We look forward to Magnolians making MORE Memories & Milestones. And, to the next 25 years of the Magnolia Historical Society!

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