More museum stories

I was excited when the Museum of History and Industry posted my second "finding aid" on the Northwest Digital Archives. Of course it's not really mine; the photo collection and document belong to MOAHI. But after all those hours of research and writing, it's hard not to feel just a little proprietary. You might remember I work at the Museum archive one afternoon a week, and each collection they give me becomes a little more challenging. The Fred Christensen collection was just a box full of unidentified construction photographs from 1962 World's Fair, so it required a fair amount of detective work. When my finding aid was finally finished, a few of the most interesting photos were scanned by the Museum staff and then cataloged (by me!) It's been a long time since I put my rusty cataloging skills to work.

Recognize this structure? If you live in Seattle, you might-- it's a construction photo of the Space Needle, viewed through the framework of a Science Center decorative arch. Both buildings were completed in the nick of time for the World's Fair in 1962. I like the blasted, surreal look of this landscape that eventually became the lush Seattle Center. This old photo is a masterpiece.


And here's a view of the Science Center under construction, or more correctly the United States Science Pavilion, as it was known during the Fair. This project was funded with federal dollars, and it was full of gee-whiz exhibits to show the rest of the world how technologically advanced we were in the "Space Age."

The scene below shows the Seattle Monorail support columns being hoisted into place. The concrete was poured into wood forms right along Fifth Ave. Four men and a crane. You get the feeling they really knew how to get things done fast in those days...

Click here for more pictures on the MOHAI website.