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The Department of Parks and Recreation maintains the City's parks, shorelines, and boulevards; and administers community centers, public golf courses, and other athletic and cultural facilities. Seattle's first park was established in 1884 after David Denny donated land to the City for that purpose. At that time, a three-member park committee, with limited authority, was created to manage the nascent park system. A Board of Parks Commissioners was established in 1890 with control over all public parks and authority to appoint a Parks Superintendent. In 1896, the City Charter created the position of Superintendent of Streets, Sewers and Parks. The Parks Department became a separate entity in 1904. In 1967, a Charter amendment reconstituted the Parks Board as an advisory body and placed fiscal and administrative control of the parks under the Superintendent.

In 1902 the City hired the Olmsted Brothers, the country's premier landscape architects, to design a parks and boulevards system. Although not all of the plan was implemented, the Olmsted mark is evident in many of Seattle's parks and boulevards.

Proceedings of the Park Board. The Board acts in an advisory capacity to the Mayor, City Council, and Department of Parks and Recreation. Minutes were kept for 1890-1894 and 1902 to the present.

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Resolutions passed by the Commissioners authorizing the expenditure of funds, accepting donations of funds and gifts, expressing the Board's intent to undertake park improvements, granting permission for use of facilities, and conveying Board policy. Prior to 1922, the text of resolutions was included in the Board minutes.

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Long-time Parks employee Don Sherwood compiled this file containing historical materials relating to the Department and its facilities. Included are annual reports; Forward Thrust and Capital Improvement Program records; history files on parks, playgrounds, public beaches, community centers, and public golf courses; and correspondence from the Olmsted Brothers relating to their plans for Seattle parks. This collection also includes over 1,000 photographs arranged alphabetically by park name.

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Correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, brochures, recreation program schedules, and photographs related to the sports and recreation programs sponsored by the Parks Department. Includes materials covering Evans' professional activities in regional and national recreation associations. Evans, director of recreation for 43 years (1917-1960), compiled the bulk of these records during his tenure and following his retirement. A portion of the newspaper clippings were added to the collection in later years.

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Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and other materials related to the administration of the parks system and recreation programs. Records relate to the acquisition, improvement, and management of parks property and facilities; department rules and policies and procedures; development of special projects and programs; Forward Thrust project activities; and long-range planning.

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Annual narrative and statistical activity reports, including parks development, improvements, maintenance, and sports and recreation programs.

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Plans, programs, reports, studies, and environmental assessments writeen for or by the Department. Includes documents relating to the Woodland Park Zoo, the Aquarium, Seacrest Marina, Forward Thrust, Discovery Park, swimming pools, and open space , among others.

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Documents Catalog

Weekly activity reports by Department program and division directors. Includes both narrative and statistical recapitulations. Reports were distributed to the Mayor, Cioty Council, and all units with the Parks Department.

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Correspondence, memoranda, press releases, and news clippings related to publicitiy and marketing of Parks and Recreation Department programs and special events. Includes information about the Pro Parks Bond issue and non-Parks programs held at Department facilities.

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Newspaper and magazine clippings arranged by park facility or subject matter.

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Annual recapitulation of expenditures for acquisition, maintenance and operation, and improvements for parks, boulevards, playfields, bathing beaches, and recreation programs. Also includes notes on how property was acquired, type of funds used for expenditures, size of property, and total expenditures prior to 1909.

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Survey books provide the calculations used to update parks maps and plans. They contain detailed elevations, distances, and bearings from specific survey points. Includes Field Survey Books 62-384.

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Microfilm Log

Grant application files related to the acquisition of land through the Open Space Program. The program goal was to increase the useable unbuilt environment in Seattle. Includes grant applications to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, correspondence, legislation, and financial records related to acquisition and relocation of displaced residents and businesses.

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Correspondence, grant applications, project descriptions, and audit information related to city-wide beautification program. The program goal was to carefully design and construct public facilities and structures--from freeways to lamp posts--with an eye toward creating an aesthetically pleasing environment. Grant funds supplemented several programs, including Model Cities, Street Tree Planting, Green Triangle Development, and Forward Thrust, among others.

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Photographic prints, negatives, and slides related to Forward Thrust planning and projects. Includes aerial photographs and photographs of completed projects.

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Statistical and narrative weekly reports of recreation programs led by staff employed throught the Work Projects Administration's Division of Recreation and Education. Reports include names of leaders, number of participants, and observations by regional supervisors. The City was divided into the northern, southern and central recreation divisions; and included units responsible for city-wide recreation and music and drama programs.

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Correspondence, memoranda, brochures, and reports relating to the activities of the City's publicly owned golf courses. Includes statistics on the number of rounds of golf played, receipts, rates and fees, and concessions. Also included are photographs, diagrams of courses, materials on cooperative arrangements with public school golf teams, course regulations, and policies and procedures of the City's recreational golf program.

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Correspondence, press releases, promotional materials, contracts, dance programs and brochures, subscription records, and photographs related to the Discover Dance series. The series brought world renowned dance companies to Seattle to perform at the Opera House. Most of the records related to the Joffrey Ballet and the Royal Winnepeg Ballet.

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Brochures, recreation program schedules, and flyers for the department's swimming pools, sailing and water craft centers, theaters, cultural arts programs, tennis programs, adult and youth programs, nature programs, and special population activities. Arranged by community center or recreation facility.

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Correspondence, memoranda, budget materials, and newspaper clippings related to the Parks Department assistance and in-kind contributions to the Bumbershoot Festival. Also includes approximately 300 color slides of the festival.

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Correspondence, reports, class schedules, promotional materials, and attendance records for fine arts education and recreation program based at Seward Park in the southeast Seattle area.

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Correspondence, service contracts, block grant materials, attendance reports, and fee schedules for a fine arts program established in the late 1970s to serve the City's central area. It was created as part of a cultural arts complex based in the Yesler-Atlantic neighborhood and housed at the Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center.

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