Hazel Wolf (March 10, 1898 – January 19, 2000) was an

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

who lived in the

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area for most of her life. Born in 1898 to an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

mother and a

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father, she lived to see three centuries before her death at 101 years of age on January 19, 2000. As a member of the Communist Party, she was active in immigration issues and was at one point nearly deported herself. Though later, she was granted citizenship. During the later years of her life, she became known as an environmental activist and coalition builder across boundaries of race, gender, and class. Wolf also served as secretary for the

Seattle Audubon Society Birds Connect Seattle, formerly the Seattle Audubon Society, is a nonprofit environmental organization that advocates and organizes for cities where people and birds thrive. It is a chapter organization of the National Audubon Society, and is one ...

for 35 years.

Biography

Hazel Wolf was born in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. She grew up poor and her early years were largely dominated by class and poverty issues. Her father was a sergeant in the Canadian merchant marines and her mother was a native of Indiana. In 1901, her brother, named after her father but generally referred to as "Sonny," was born. In 1903, her sister Dorothy was born. Her father died in 1908. Hazel was formally trained as a social worker but felt most at home among her people. This led to her involvement in the Communist party, where she felt she was doing 'real' social work. By the time of

McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...

, Wolf was being targeted by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service as a subversive foreign national. Her deportation cases lasted from 1949-63. She later became a United States citizen but made no apologies for having been a member of the Communist Party. Her later years were largely dominated by her

environmental activism The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

, which led her to

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to lobby congress on issues that were important to her. She became nationally recognized and was awarded the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

's Medal of Excellence. On June 12, 1999, she was the guest speaker at the AILA Annual Conference.

Death

Hazel Wolf died on January 19, 2000, at 101 years of age. She commented in Studs Terkel's "Coming of Age", "I'm going to live till the year 2000, so I can have been in three centuries. Then I'm going."

Honors

* Founded in 1998, the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival ran for 10 years in Seattle, operated by the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Network. * In 1998,

King County, Washington King County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of counties in Washington, most populo ...

, renamed Eastside's Saddle Swamp the Hazel Wolf Wetland Preserve. * Hazel Wolf High School was a

Waldorf school Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its educational style is holistic, intended to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical ski ...

that opened in 1999 and merged with Seattle Waldorf School in 2007. * Originally the

Seattle Public Schools Seattle Public Schools is the largest Public school (government funded), public school district in the state of Washington (state), Washington. The school district serves almost all of Seattle. Additionally it includes sections of Boulevard Par ...

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860May 21, 1935) was an American Settlement movement, settlement activist, Social reform, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher, and author. She was a leader in the history of s ...

K-8, a new building was built, and the school renamed the Hazel Wolf K-8 E-STEM School.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Hazel 1898 births 2000 deaths American communists American environmentalists American women environmentalists American women centenarians