1/9/2009 4:02:00 PM Barack Obama: from Capitol Hill to Capitol Hill
The president-elect's Seattle residence in 1961. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Archives, Puget Sound Branch, King County Assessor Property Record Card collection photograph (1937).
By Charlette LeFevre
Very little has been written about President-elect Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham's time here in Seattle. Brief articles and even briefer accounts from schoolmates make the person who was the most influential person in Obama's life all the more intriguing. A single mother who enrolled in the University of Washington in 1961 and signed up for 1962 extension program, she likely came across many social prejudices in the predominantly all-white campus.
Perhaps Ann Obama felt more at ease in the diverse neighborhood of Capitol Hill, which housed many students from the neighboring colleges.
Recently located was a listing for Stanley Ann Obama in the 1961 Polk directory at the Seattle Public Library: "Obama Anna Mrs studt h516 13th Ave. E. apt. 2"
So it seems there is no denying the fact that the next president of the United States' had a residence here in Seattle on Capitol Hill Seattle, albeit as a diapered infant.
The apartment house was in the 500 block of 13th Avenue East between East Republican and Mercer streets, but it no longer exists.
This 1937 photo of the apartment house shows a three-story, 21-room house. Stanley Ann Obama and an infant Barack, it is believed, lived on the second floor.
Of note, Roy Olmstead, 76 ¬¬- Seattle's famous bootlegger - lived just up the block at 535 13th Ave. E. And Bruce Lee was then attending the University of Washington at the same time as Stanley Ann Obama.
So drive by and take a look at the neighborhood and when you pass by an infant, stop and say hello. You never know, one of these kids could grow up to be the next president of the United States.
Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Article comment by:
Joanna Cullen
