September 14-20
September 14, 1899
On this day, the Washington State Good Roads Association was organized in Spokane by Sam Hill, a Seattle and Goldendale businessman, and 13 other men.
The Washington State Good Roads Association met annually and lobbied for a state highway system built, maintained, and managed by state officers.
September 14, 2001
On this day, more than 2,000 citizens converged on downtown Seattle’s Westlake Park as part of a national “Day of Remembrance” and participated in a worldwide moment of silence following the terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York City, which killed more than 3,000 people on September 11, 2001.
September 15, 1934
On this day, the Philippine-American Chronicle published its first issue. With the statement “For Truth, Freedom, and Justice, We Champion the Cause of Labor” emblazoned on the front page of several of its issues, the biweekly publication contained articles both tracing the Filipino American experience specific to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest and reflecting a broad range of obstacles and accomplishments felt nationally and internationally.
September 20, 1967
On this day, Professor Eunice Faber filed a discrimination complaint against Western Washington State College in Bellingham. Her complaint to the Washington State Board Against Discrimination introduced evidence that, while the college had fired her because she lacked a doctorate degree, there were at least three men in her department who were tenured without doctorates.
Following an investigation by the Washington State Board Against Discrimination, Faber was rehired in May 1968 by a 4-1 vote of the college’s board of regents, but school officials continued to deny any discriminatory acts or other wrongdoing.
September 20, 1971
On this day, John Singer (later Faygele benMiriam) and Paul Barwick walked into the King County auditor’s office and demanded a marriage license. Their request was denied, and they later filed one of the first same-sex marriage lawsuits in the United States. The courts rejected their discrimination claims, but decades later, Washington became one of the first states to approve marriage equality by popular vote.
This post is in partnership with HistoryLink, and Warren Seyler, former chairman Spokane Tribe of Indians, the Black Muse Resource Center, and the Living Arts Cultural Heritage.
We encourage you to engage in further research through your local historic societies, museums, archives, and community.
