HistoryLink Celebrates 25 Years, Welcomes New Executive Director

by Julia Park

Former HistoryLink Executive Director Marie McCaffrey had been training her successor for six years to take her place.

"If the institution cannot survive the founder, it is not successful," McCaffrey said. "So I really had my eye on that."

The online encyclopedia with over 8,000 articles covering various topics in Washington State history is used by journalists, educators, students, politicians, and even real estate agents. Formally launched in 1999 by McCaffrey, her husband Walt Crowley, and historian Paul Dorpat, the organization just celebrated its 25th anniversary as McCaffrey hands the reins over to her assistant director of over six years, Jennifer Ott.

From facing Crowley's death in 2007 to keeping up with advances in technology, HistoryLink has weathered several changes that reflect an ongoing commitment to making local history relevant and publicly accessible.

In the absence of centralized, reliable, and accurate information at the time, the three founders decided to launch their own website with meticulously sourced information about local history. At the time of HistoryLink's founding, the last comprehensive history resource on King County had been published in the 1920s, according to a HistoryLink article about McCaffrey written by Jim Kershner.

Thanks to McCaffrey's suggestion, the founders agreed to jump on what was then the early form of the Internet, amassing 300 articles on Seattle and King County history for the initial launch of the online encyclopedia in 1999, the article explains.

"I mean, on the downside and on the upside, you don't have any guide posts, you know," McCaffrey said. "You don't have an example of how this should work. And that's really exciting, you know, when you're in the beginning of something."

McCaffrey picked up the reins after her husband's death and carried on the vision that he first shared with her in a bar when she asked him what he would do if he could do anything in the world: create an encyclopedia of Seattle and King County history.

Crowley wasn't a historian by trade, McCaffrey said. He was a "public historian" who wrote a lot about the issues that people were voting on and making decisions in light of what has worked or not worked in the past.

"Really, it was the uses of history that interested him, and that was how understanding the place that you live and the history of it not only makes your life richer, which it really, really does, but it makes you make better decisions in your community," McCaffrey said.

Crowley left a "just-in-case" letter to Marie not long before he died that shared his wishes for her to take his place as executive director. Gaining the trust of the writers and editors took time, as she wasn't a historian or writer herself. As it turned out, McCaffrey's gift for fundraising and nonprofit management strengthened HistoryLink and helped the organization pull through the 2008 recession.

As of 2024, HistoryLink has published over 8,200 articles and sees an average of 4,500 visitors to the site daily. The organization has also published 29 books, including titles on the 1962 Seattle World Fair, public transportation in the Puget Sound, and locally significant businesses and institutions including Bartell Drugs and Seattle Children's Hospital.

As Ott steps into her new role, she said one of HistoryLink's priorities will be continuing to make the site more accessible and in-tune with users, including by adding different search features and taking advantage of the site's capabilities for geographic information systems (GIS), audio, and video that HistoryLink's early builders had the foresight to build into the site.

"I think of it as not only providing tools that people can use to access the information, but also in the sense of meeting people where they are, of how they engage with history and what they know already or don't know," Ott said. "And so how can we help them find their point of connection with the stories that we have?"

Another area of growth will be strengthening partnerships with communities across Washington State. Though HistoryLink started out by detailing the history of Seattle and King County, it has since expanded to cover stories from places all across the state. The team's approximately 60 writers hail from a range of areas, including the San Juan Islands, Snohomish County, and Pierce County, making it more practical to host some of their meetings on Zoom rather than in person.

Inviting writers to pursue stories that interest them and listening to local communities is part of HistoryLink's model of making the documentation of history a public endeavor.

As a writer of the natural history of Seattle, David B. Williams said he appreciates that HistoryLink takes a broad view of history.

"For many, history is simply about people," Williams said. "And they recognize … that the nature of this place is essential to the story of Seattle and the rest of the state."

Ott has been involved in building relationships with local Indigenous tribes so they can share their stories for the site. In 2021, she moderated a panel discussion for an episode of a podcast called "Indigenous Voices," which brought together members of the Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Steilacoom, and Squaxin Island tribes to talk about Northwest history.

"We have sort of a vision list of things that we know we want to do," Ott said. "But we also know that there's lots of things that we don't even know the question to ask, right. And so when we talk with people and engage with our community, then we can learn what those will be."

Author and historian Paula Becker, who has been involved in HistoryLink since 2001, said that the leadership transition is a healthy indicator of the organization's maturity.

"HistoryLink as a website is the farthest thing from static," Becker said. "It has always been an evolving, growing, responsive approach to history and writing the history of the region."

Editors' Note: South Seattle Emerald Managing Editor Rosette Royale is a frequent HistoryLink contributor and has emceed several HistoryLink fundraisers.

📸 Featured Image: Jennifer Ott (left) and Marie McCaffrey (right) prepare for a leadership transition as McCaffrey steps down from her position as executive director of HistoryLink. (Photo courtesy of HistoryLink)