5800-00. Department of Parks and Recreation

Minutes of the Board of Park Commissioners, 1890 to 1991. Includes information on parks improvements, use of Parks lands, and budget information.

Series contains 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 test of resolutions was included in the Board minutes.

Correspondence between the Board of Park Commissioners and the City's Law Department.

Material documenting agenda items at Park Board meetings.

Records relating to topics addressed at Park Commissioners meetings.

Early subject files of the Board of Park Commissioners.

Records and photographs relating to Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, 1876-1979, compiled by Don Sherwood.

Records and photographs compiled by Ben Evans, documenting history of recreation programs within the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation as well as the history and philosophy of recreation programs nationally.

Copies of Olmsted plans for selected Seattle parks, as well as microfilm reels containing job files.

Documents concerning the history of Fort Lawton and a reminiscence of a World War II German POW.

Documentation collected by the Parks Department about the historic ship Wawona in preparation for a Preservation Memorandum of Agreement to be signed by the City, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwest Seaport, and the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Records include photographs, drawings, video, and background information about the vessel.

Maps and drawings created primarily by the Olmsted Brothers, and also by the Seattle Parks Department. The maps illustrate work of the Olmsted Brothers on various parks in Seattle, including Greenlake, Volunteer Park, Woodland Park, Schmitz Park and Hiawatha playfield. Grading, planting, trails and roads are some of the characteristics included on the maps.

Slides, prints, and negatives have been created and collected by park staff and volunteers and document the landscape, public programs, habitats, naturalists and docents, and the flora and fauna of Discovery Park.

Sixty seven copy prints of Olmsted Brothers from the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site of parks projects in Seattle desposited at SMA by Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks. Prints have been digitized and added to the Photograph Index for online access.

Documents the carving and installation of totem poles that were erected near Pike Place Market.

Records related to the administration of the parks system and recreation programs.

Weekly reports documenting activities within the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.

Records documenting special events and programs at Seattle park facilities.

Film and video tape of activities in Seattle Parks and By groups associated with the Parks Department. Select items are viewable in Digital Collections.

Color slides depicting Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation activities and facilities.

Photographic prints, negatives, and slides related to parks, activities in parks, and Parks Department personnel.Images are arranged alphabetically by subject and are a mix of prints, negatives and slides. Some are undated. Ninety-three images are digitized and available online.

Includes incomplete 1955-2003 run of monthly employee newsletter containing internal departmental news; notices of employee activities, promotions, and retirements; and announcements of Park Department-sponsored events. Also includes other newsletters published by the department for the general public. Most newsletters from the zoo and aquarium are filed separately.

Slides and negatives of the Burke-Gilman Trail and other Seattle parks.

Brochures, guides, and flyers about the park system, programs, policies and specific parks and facilities. Also includes ephemera related to the Parks Department and its programs.

Contents include various parks and P-patches in Seattle.

Records of an employees association which sponsored social and recreational events.

Financial audits

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

Administrative records of the staff responsible for the Department of Parks and Recreation's cultural programs.

Records concerning theater programs sponsored by the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.

Records regarding City of Seattle's art education programs at Seward Park Art Studio and Pratt Fine Art center

Records concerning the management of Seattle's municipal golf courses.

Planning records for Seattle's annual Christmas ship which began sailing in 1949.

The Environmental Stewardship Unit Records document the activities and programs prepared and implemented by the Environmental Stewardship Coordinator (ESC). The ESC operated among a number of Seattle area parks, as well as the aquarium.

Records of a arts studio and school operated by the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.

Records concerning parks and playgrounds in South Seattle.

Files documenting the activities and programs developed by park staff within the Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center.

Records documenting the activites of the Carkeek Park Advisory Council.

Records of a Seattle visual arts school and studio.

Photographic prints and slides related to the Madrona Dance Studio, classroom activities, theatre productions, concerts, and craft classes. Also included are Dance Studio schedules, newsletters, correspondence, and draft brochures.

Digital images documenting community center and park openings.

Records of a citizens' committee which recommended areas for acquisition by the city.

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.

Correspondence, grant applications, project descriptions, and audit information related to the 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. Funds supplemented several programs such as Model City, Street Tree Planting, Green Triangle Development, and Forward Thrust, among others.

Visual materials related to Forward Thrust planning and projects.

Records of the Parks Department's Facilities Maintenance Division. The records document changes and improvements in Seattle parks as well as the planning, design, and construction of new parks.

Records documenting the acquisition of properties for park purposes.

Records regarding acquisition of greenbelt properties.

A project to plan trees in Seattle.

Records of Parks activities funded by Model City contracts.

Newsletter written by Aquarium staff to educate and inform the public about Aquarium exhibits, sea life and animals, and the Aquarium. Includes claendar of events, photographs, bibliographies, and staff lists. Published bimonthly 1977 to 1979 and quarterly from 1980 to 1985.

Public relations material regarding the Seattle Aquarium.

Weekly reports of WPA recreation programs, 1936-1940; include reports on Northern, Central, and Southern Division activities as well as city-wide programs.

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

Records concerning dance performances and dance instruction sponsored by the Department of Parks and Recreation.

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

Records of the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation relating to the Bumbershoot Festival. Includes paper records and photographs dating from 1974 to 1976.

Records from an entity involved in planning recreational programming for children and adults with disabilities.

Records concerning concerts sponsored by the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Music Advisory Council.

Newspaper clippings and typed reports of sports and recreational activities sponsored by the Parks Department at its playgrounds and playfields, and in its fieldhouses.

Meeting materials from a council advising the Seattle Parks Department on recreation programs for senior citizens.

Attendance reports for athletic and recreational activities at Seattle park facilities.

Records of citizen organizations that advised the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation regarding municipal golf courses and programs.

Records concerning Seattle's public golf courses.

Records from a committee overseeing Sand Point/Magnuson Park.

Records documenting the Seattle Parks Department's Open Space Program.

Records documenting the work of a committee considering updates to the Washington Park Arboretum.

Records of the public information officer for Seattle's Department of Parks and Recreation.

Operational and program records from Camp Long in West Seattle.

Maps and drawings of parks and park facilities.

Records of the Discovery Park Advisory Committee from 1983 to 2003.

Records relating to the acquisition and management of greenbelts in Seattle.

Records from advisory councils connected to the Queen Anne Community Center.

Slides of photos taken by Laurel Mercury depicting Seattle landmarks.

Records relating to capital projects from the Planning and Development Division of the Department of Parks and Recreation.