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History Café

- EDUCATION IN THE COMMUNITY
History Café
A free monthly event that brings historians face-to-face with the general public in Greater Seattle.
History Café Video Archive
Seattle at the Movies
April 2013 - MOHAI Seattle, WA
Robert Horton, curator of MOHAI’s exhibit Celluloid Seattle, moderates a discussion, with Richard Jameson, about how the experience of going to see a movie in Seattle has changed over the decades.
Watch: Seattle at the Movies
Civil War in Washington Territory
March 2013 - MOHAI Seattle, WA
MOHAI’s public historian Dr. Lorraine McConaghy will share her research into how this major national event impacted Washington Territory.
Watch: Civil War in Washington Territory
Archaeology and the Alaskan Way Viaduct
February 2013 - MOHAI Seattle, WA
Cultural resource specialists involved with the viaduct replacement work site in SODO and Pioneer Square spoke about the role of archaeologists during construction.
Watch: Archaeology and the Alaskan Way Viaduct
Beat Poets
January 2013 - MOHAI Seattle, WA
A discussion of the history of beat poets in Washington state, with author of Kerouac in Seattle, Jim Jones. Also includes a screening of a short KCTS 9 documentary, Desolation Adventure.
Watch: Beat Poets
Port of Seattle
November 2012 - Seattle, WA
Join Kit Oldham and historian Jennifer Ott as they talk about our unique system of ports, their effects on our landscape, our waterfront, and our economy.
Watch: Port of Seattle
Elections
October 2012 - Seattle, WA
Join us for a conversation about election and voting history in Washington State.
Watch: Elections
South Lake Union
September 2012 - Seattle, WA
MOHAI's public historian, Dr. Lorraine McConaghy, shares stories about Lake Union and its surrounding areas.
Watch: South Lake Union
Public Transportation
August 2012 - Seattle, WA
Join in a discussion about the past and present of Seattle’s street railways with Capitol Hill Seattle blog-writer Robert Ketcherside and Seattle Transit Blog editor Martin H. Duke.
Watch: Public Transportation
Seattle Icons
July 2012 - Seattle, WA
Seattle has its share of iconic sites. Find out how these sites came to be and how they've come to represent Seattle.
Watch: Seattle Icons
Seattle Rock History
June 2012 - Seattle, WA
Seattle rocks! We look at rock music in Seattle with the EMP Museum's Senior Curator Jacob McMurray, and Kathy Fennessy, who was the music director for KCMU (now KEXP) in the late 80s and early 90s.
Watch: Seattle Rock History
Celluloid Seattle
May 2012 - Seattle, WA
We learn about about the history of film and film-going in Seattle. Then we screen winning films from MOHAI's second annual History Is ____ Film Competition.
Watch: Celluloid Seattle
Century 21: The Future Remembered
April 2012 - Seattle, WA
Join HistoryLink.org's Paula Becker and Alan Stein, authors of the book "The Future Remembered," as they share stories about Century 21: the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.
Coffee House Culture
December 2011 - Seattle, WA
We take a look at the ways in which coffee and cafés have transformed history.
Watch: Coffee House Culture
Haunted Seattle
October 2011 - Seattle, WA
Seattle's rough-and-tumble past is full of colorful characters who -– according to some -– continue to frequent the city's alley-ways, corridors, and basements. In this History Café, learn about some of our city's most notorious specters.
Seattle World's Fair
August 2011 - Seattle, WA
The spring of 1962 was a pivotal moment for the city of Seattle: the Space Needle, the monorail, Elvis. Filmmaker John Gordon Hill discusses KCTS 9's 1962 World's Fair documentary "When Seattle Invented the Future."
Watch: Seattle World's Fair
History of the Duwamish River
July 2011 - Seattle, WA
The Duwamish River is one of Seattle's most vital waterways. The river has long served human needs and been shaped by those who have lived and worked along it. Come learn about the river's transformation and how human interactions with it have reflected changing attitudes toward nature.
Then and Now
June 2011 - Seattle, WA
Repeat photography is the process of taking photos from the same vantage point many years apart. What can we learn by comparing current and historic views of the same block, building, or landmark? Join us for a discussion with Seattle’s master of repeat photography, Paul Dorpat.
Watch: Then and Now
History Is______
May 2011 - Seattle, WA
History is... inventive, dangerous and always changing. Join us to watch the winning films of MOHAI’s break-through History Is______ film competition, and see the ways in which history is (or isn’t) relevant to your everyday life.
Watch: History Is______
Seattle Civil Rights
April 2011 - Seattle, WA
Jean Durning and Joan Singler, co-authors of "Seattle in Black and White", talk about their experience in CORE (Congress of Racial Equality).
Watch: Seattle Civil Rights in the 1960s
Surviving the Dust Bowl
November 2009 - Seattle, WA
Peter Blecha and Cassandra Tate talk about the dust bowl of the 1930s.
Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition
October 2009 - Seattle, WA
Paula Becker and Alan Stein tell stories from the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition and discuss the significance of the event for Seattle.
The Civilian Conservation Corps
September 2009 - Seattle, WA
Jacilee Wray, Olympic National Park Network Anthropologist, discuss the development and impact of the Civilian Conversation Corps.
About History Café
History Café brings local historians face-to-face with the general public at MOHAI at their new location in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood. All History Café events are free to the public, open to all ages, and no history background is required.
Contact Us
For more information about History Café, please contact KCTS 9's History Café Coordinator:
Maria Meyer
MMeyer@KCTS9.org
206.443.6686
Upcoming History Cafés
-
MOHAI
May 16, 2013
Seattle Public Utilities
Speaker: Jennifer Ott and Kit Oldham -

MOHAI
June 20, 2013
Fremont
Speaker: TBD -
MOHAI
July 18, 2013
Maritime History
Speaker: TBD