A city revealed, the future imagined

MOHAI presents a major exhibit examining more than 150 years of Seattle history with compelling images, artifacts, films, and oral histories.

From the day Captain George Vancouver’s ship first sailed into Elliott Bay in 1792 to the present, Essential Seattle takes you on an illuminating journey through the key events that shaped the modern city, focusing on the fascinating and diverse people who shaped our unique region.

Some of the more interesting characters you meet in Essential Seattle are Manuel Lopes, a sailor and the first African-American man to live in Seattle, Aki Kurose, a Seattle Japanese-American teacher who was interned during WWII and later devoted her life to peace, and Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft.

The path of the exhibit takes visitors on a compelling journey through the core of the museum, allowing visitors to understand the interconnectedness of the events and people who made, and continue to make, history. Essential Seattle integrates current exhibits such as 1880s Boomtown!, and includes portals to other MOHAI permanent exhibits, linking the eras highlighted in the new exhibit to displays that explore important regional stories, such as The Great Seattle Fire of 1889 and Salmon Stakes, which looks at the turn-of-the-century fishing industry.

At the end of the exhibit, visitors have the opportunity to add their own perspectives to the exhibit by contributing what they believe are the key events of the last 20 years to a historical timeline.