Walter Charles Crowley (June 20, 1947 – September 21, 2007) was an American historian and activist from

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. He first entered the public sphere in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

through his involvement with the social and political movements of the 1960s, especially the

underground press The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rece ...

. He later became more widely known as a local television personality and for his pioneering work as a local historian, including co-creating the website HistoryLink.org, which he considered to be his crowning achievement.

Life

Born in

Ferndale, Michigan Ferndale is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Ferndale borders Detroit to the north, roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a ...

, the only child of engineer and inventor Walter A. Crowley and Violet King (now Kilvinger), Walt lived in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

, the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

until 1961, when his father was hired by

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

and moved to

. Crowley graduated from Seattle's Nathan Hale High School, winning state honors as an artist, and briefly worked at Boeing as an illustrator. Entering the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, he became active in local socialist, antiwar, and civil rights campaigns. In 1967, he joined Paul Dorpat's

underground newspaper The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rece ...

Helix A helix (; ) is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring or the thread of a machine screw. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is for ...

'' as a cartoonist, writer, and editor. The following year he ran for the Washington State House of Representatives on the Peace & Freedom Party ticket. Facing possible conscription in 1967, the 20-year-old Crowley described his politics first as " Marxist-Leninist with

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

overtones, flavored with a pinch of

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

, a dash of Carmichael and a tablespoon of

Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...

," before qualifying that his "political disposition asfar more eclectic" than a description like that could account for, and ending a somewhat lengthy statement with, "you do not understand my philosophy because when you find out where it's at, it will already have moved." Crowley's service as mediator between the Seattle officials, local leaders, and the community's

street people Street people are people who live a public life on the streets of a city. Street people are frequently homeless, sometimes mentally ill, and often have a transient lifestyle. The delineation of street people is primarily determined by residential ...

led to the founding of a youth hostel and social service agency called the U District Center, which Crowley directed from 1970 to 1972. He later worked for the Seattle Model Cities Program and then for the city itself in various planning and outreach roles. He returned to private industry in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

. He had a variety of civic involvements afterwards, including serving as president of the venerable civic organization Allied Arts. In 1980, Crowley formed Crowley Associates, which publishes guides to Seattle and provides services for many local political campaigns. He was a columnist and commentator in many local forums, most notably having a seven-year run in a "Point-Counterpoint" format with conservative John Carlson on KIRO television. Crowley wrote several histories of local civic institutions, from the elite Rainier Club to the blue-collar Blue Moon Tavern. He led the campaign to save the Blue Moon from demolition, ran the task force that drafted new laws to restore historic

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

theaters, and served on numerous other civic projects.

HistoryLink.org

In 1997, Crowley discussed preparing a Seattle/ King County historical encyclopedia for the 2001 sesquicentennial of the Denny Party. His wife Marie suggested publishing the encyclopedia on the Internet. Alongside Paul Dorpat they incorporated History Ink on November 10, 1997, with seed money from Priscilla "Patsy" Collins, by birth a member of Seattle's wealthy and prominent Bullitt family. The prototype of HistoryLink.org debuted on May 1, 1998, and attracted additional funding for a formal launch in 1999. In 2003 HistoryLink.org expanded its content to cover

history. Meanwhile, History Ink continues, focusing on the production of history books. Crowley and HistoryLink.org have won many awards, including *The Pacific Northwest Historians Guild's 2007 History Award * The Washington State Historic Preservation Office's award for media in 2001 * The Association of King County Historical Organizations ** Award for best long-term project (2000) ** Award for best book (2005) (Alan Stein's history of the Fairmont Olympic Hotel)

Personal life

Walt Crowley married graphic designer and business associate Marie McCaffrey in 1982. In 2005, Crowley was diagnosed with

laryngeal cancer Laryngeal cancer is a kind of cancer that can develop in any part of the larynx (voice box). It is typically a squamous-cell carcinoma, reflecting its origin from the epithelium of the larynx. The prognosis is affected by the location of the tumo ...

and fought it with characteristic stubbornness; the night before his

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ (anatomy), organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal ...

was removed, he held a "Famous Last (Natural) Words" party. He died at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle on September 21, 2007, at the age of 60, after suffering a stroke following an operation for the cancer.

Bibliography

* ''Helix Drawings 1967-1970'' (Seattle: Medium Rare, 1977) * ''The Compleat Browser's Guide to Pioneer Square'' (Seattle: Pioneer Square Association, 1981) * ''The Continental Family'' (Seattle: Continental Mortgage and Savings Bank, 1997) * ''Forever Blue Moon: The Story of Seattle's Most (In)Famous Tavern'' (Seattle: Blue Moon Tavern, 1992) * ''Group Health Timeline'' (Seattle: HistoryLink for Group Health Cooperative, 1997) * ''Historic Photos of Seattle'' (Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing, 2006) * ''The National Trust Guide: Seattle'' (New York: National Trust for Historic Preservation/John Wiley & Sons, 1998) * ''The Rainier Club, 1888–1988'' (Seattle: Rainier Club, 1988) * ''Rites of Passage: A Memoir of the Sixties in Seattle'' (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995) * ''Routes: An Interpretative History of Public Transportation in Metropolitan Seattle'' (Seattle: Metro Transit, 1993) * ''The Seattle Aquarium's Guide to Life in the Sea'' (Seattle: City of Seattle, 1981) * ''Seattle & King County Timeline'' (Seattle: History Ink/University of Washington Press, 2001 & 2002) * ''Seattle University: A Century of Jesuit Education'' (Seattle: Seattle University, 1991) * ''The Woodland Park Zoo Guide'' (Seattle: Woodland Park Zoological Society, 1995) * ''To Serve the Greatest Number: A History of Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound'' (Seattle: University of Washington Press/Group Health Cooperative, 1996) * ''William J. Sullivan, S. J.: Twenty Years'' (Seattle: Seattle University, 1996)

Collaborations

* With Heather MacIntosh: ''The Story of Union Station in Seattle'' (Seattle: Sound Transit/History Ink, 1999) * With Kit Oldham: ''Moving Washington: A Timeline of the Washington State Department of Transportation, 1905-2004'' (Seattle: HistoryLink/University of Washington Press, 2005) * With Robert Courland: ''The Fairmont: The First Century of a San Francisco Landmark'' (HistoryLink for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, 2006)

References

External links

HistoryLink.org

Cancer Claims Radio Host's Voice

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, February 6, 2007, Crowley interviewed just before his larynx was removed.
Crowley interview
KUOW, July 29, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowley, Walt 1947 births 2007 deaths People from Ferndale, Michigan History of Washington (state) 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Peace and Freedom Party politicians 20th-century Washington (state) politicians Writers from Seattle Historians from Washington (state) American male non-fiction writers Historians from Michigan