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Seattle in the Great Depression

Bruce A. Ramsey
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1930s
A01=Bruce A. Ramsey
Adolph Linden
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Author_Bruce A. Ramsey
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBJ
Category=HBJK
Category=KCU
Category=KCVS
Category=NHK
Category=WQH
Clarence Martin
COP=United States
Dave Beck
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depression
downturn
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eq_business-finance-law
eq_history
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eq_nobargain
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hard times
Hooverville
Language_English
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poverty
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Forthcoming
Seattle
Seattle business
Seattle business history
Seattle economic history
softlaunch
union
Vic Meyers

Product details

  • ISBN 9780874224320
  • Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 30 Jun 2025
  • Publisher: Washington State University Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Paperback
  • Language: English
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Description
Captured from Great Depression-era Seattle newspapers, this narrative history of the city's business, labour, and political life traces a turbulent decade that scarred a generation and defined years of policy and culture. Underlying themes include the idea that the Depression was an economic consequence of World War I, intensified by reckless lending and restrictions on trade; that the New Deal helped people get through the Depression but could not end it; that the radical left made big gains in the 1930s but was ultimately rejected; and that, after the war, private economy revived but was not fundamentally altered.

These are stories many Seattleites have never heard. They begin with the end of the office tower development boom, the real estate depression that followed, and the failure of two large savings and loans. Investment banker Ben Ehrlichman emerges as a fascinating figure. As the economy worsens, articles consider the growth of the waterfront "Hooverville," one woman's desperate search for work, political fights over controlling help for the unemployed, the debate whether to require work in exchange for food, and the rise of a union for the unemployed.

Labour-related accounts cover the 1934 longshore strike, a 1936 newspaper strike, and the reign of pugnacious Teamster leader Dave Beck. Ramsey offers new, nuanced insights into Beck's climb and his influence over Mayor John Dore. Political pieces document the rise of the left, its domination by the Communist Party, resistance from non-Communist progressives, and its collapse following the Hitler-Stalin pact. Business coverage returns with the intense rivalry between City Light and Puget Power, Black Ball ferries' unsuccessful struggle to remain private, and Boeing's risky gamble on a four-engine aircraft. The final chapter highlights unions' and the Democratic Party's long-term rise, the scattering of the radicals, and the revival of private business.
About Bruce A. Ramsey
Bruce A. Ramsey holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Washington and studied graduate level journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. His journalism career includes stints at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Seattle Times. He has two other books, both published by Caxton Press.

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