Frank Nowell was the official photographer of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle. This book draws on the extensive collection of his photographs held by the University of Washington Libraries.

This richly illustrated and well-researched volume recounts in detail the history of the fair that brought Seattle and Washington into the national spotlight. The A-Y-P Exposition, held in Seattle in 1909 on the future site of the University of Washington, welcomed 3.7 million visitors and was the first world's fair to make a profit.

Containing many pictures of Alaska and photographs of the vast Yukon Territory, with picturesque and descriptive articles about the resources of the wonderful Pacific country, in addition to sketches and views of the Exposition now being held in Seattle.

In 1912, Shoki Kayamori and his box camera arrived in a small Tlingit village in southeast Alaska. At a time when Asian immigrants were forbidden to own property and faced intense racial pressure, the Japanese-born Kayamori put down roots and became part of the Yakutat community. For three decades he photographed daily life in the village, turning his lens on locals and migrants alike, and gaining the nickname “Picture Man.” But as World War II drew near, his passion for photography turned dangerous, as government officials called out Kayamori as a potential spy. Despondent, Kayamori committed suicide, leaving behind an enigmatic photographic legacy. In Picture Man, Margaret Thomas views Kayamori’s life through multiple lenses. Using Kayamori’s original photos, she explores the economic and political realities that sent Kayamori and thousands like him out of Japan toward opportunity and adventure in the United States, especially the Pacific Northwest. She reveals the tensions around Asian immigrants on the West Coast and the racism that sent many young men north to work in the canneries of Alaska. And she illuminates the intersecting—and at times conflicting—lives of villagers and migrants in a time of enormous change. Part history, part biography, part photographic showcase, Picture Man offers a fascinating new view of Alaska history.

To mark the end of the 20th century, Picturing the Century selects 200 photographs from one of the world's largest photographic archives, the vast collections of the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC, regional records facilities, and Presidential libraries. The photographs depict momentous events, illustrate changes in American society, capture the hopes and fears of the American people. At the same time, they demonstrate the role of government photography in the United States. Photographs from the vast collections of the National Archives and Records Administration, including the Presidential libraries, depict momentous events & capture the hopes and fears of the American people throughout the 20th century. Includes work by Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lane, Walter Lubken, Lewis Hine, George Ackerman, Charles Fenno Jacobs, Yoichi Okamoto, & Dany Lyon.

Inspired by Chicago’s successful 1893 World Columbian Exposition, the cities of Portland, Seattle, San Diego, and San Francisco all held fairs between 1905 and 1915. From the start of the Lewis and Clark Exposition to the close of the Panama-California Exposition a decade later, millions of Americans visited exhibits, watched live demonstrations and performances, and wandered amusement zones. Millions more thumbed through brochures or read news articles. Fair publicity directors embraced the emerging science of consumer marketing. Conceived to attract new citizens, showcase communities, and highlight farming and industrial opportunities, the four expositions’ promotional campaigns and vendor and exhibit choices offer a unique opportunity to examine western leaders’ perceptions of their city and region, as well as their future goals and how they both fed and tried to mitigate misconceptions of a wild, wooly West. They also expose biased attitudes toward Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Filipinos, and others. Boosting a New West explores the fairs’ cultural and social meaning by focusing on and comparing the promotions that surrounded them. It details their origins and describes why each city chose to host, conveying the expected economic, social, and cultural benefits. It also shows how organizers articulated their significance to urban, regional, and national audiences, and how they attempted to shape a new western identity.