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Now & Then Paul Dorpat

Living History

THROUGH THE FIRST quarter of the 20th century and more, the Webster and Stevens Photography Studio was the regular supplier of editorial photographs for The Seattle Times. Often they would visit a featured site — here, the Daughters of the American Revolution Rainier Chapter's then-new home, still standing on Capitol Hill — and take several photographs. Since their negatives were by modern standards over-sized (and sometimes glass), the quality of the imagery was often very good.

The historic view is one of eight Webster and Stevens scenes featured in The Seattle Daily Times Rotogravure Pictorial Section on May 31, 1925. (As an aside, The Times' Rotogravure section can be considered the predecessor for Pacific Northwest magazine.)

The 1925 caption for this image reads, in part, "The bright fire glowing upon the Colonial hearth reflects the cheer of the White House, for the fire set of old brass and copper did service for President Buchanan." While the caption does not identify the chapter members costumed for "Patriot's Day," they are named in another studio photograph. Mrs. Walter Warriner Reed is on the left, and Mrs. John F. Wagner is on the right. In a city directory from that time we discover that Mrs. Wagner has her own name, Laura. Her husband, John, was a dentist.

After giving a luncheon lecture recently to chapter members, I took the contemporary photograph on a spontaneous hunch. I posed the members before the hearth and took a prospect I felt was close to the one taken by The Times photographer in 1925. I was close, but my "now" misses the decorative scrollwork above the hearth in the "then." However, I have an excuse. It had been 16 years since I'd last seen a copy of the original.

Paul Dorpat specializes in historical photography and has published several books on early Seattle.

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