The Center Of The Universe In Seattle
In 1994, residents of the Fremont neighborhood in northern Seattled proclaimed their community the "center of the universe" and adopted a motto "de libertas quirkas", the "freedom to be strange." The neighborhood also defined itself as the "Artists'Republic of Fremont"(ARF) or an "ImagiNation".
"Seattle's Fremont" (2006) tells the story of Fremont from its early days in the late 19th Century through the early 21st century. The book is part of the Images of America series of photographic histories of places in the United States. The author,Helen Divjak,came to Freemont to attend graduate school and quickly became part of the community. Her photograph with friends in a Fremont pub appears late in the book. Her enthusiasm for the community is contagious. Divjak subsequently went on to a career as a designer of exhibitions for museums which has taken her to many places in the world.
The book shows a community with a sense of continuity and cohesiveness which has persisted through changes and through good and bad times. Divjak presents her history through three chapters of images and commentary. The first chapter, "Bridging Freemont: the Construction of a Community" discusses the development of the community's infrastructure. The area is hilly and was heavily forested. The timber was cut and used to build homes in Seattle and elsewhere. A large mill provided noise, pollution, and employment to what became a blue collar community of homes on the hills. A large canal was dug to connect Fremont to Puget sound and businesses flourished on its sides. The community built two celebrated bridges, the Fremont Bridge and the George Washington Memorial Bridge which are designated historical landmarks. Streetcars and interurban railroads provided transportation. The book offers fascinating photographs of early urban development in Fremont.
The book's second chapter "Fremont's Faces: The Neighborhood Grows" shows the people and places of Fremont and the creation of a community. The chapter concentrates on churches and on how they came to form the backbone of Fremont life. Divjak also focuses on schools, community organizations, and the growing local business activity in this close-knit community. With the Great Depression, the community began to change as businesses moved away and many people became impoverished. By the 1930s, "Fremont wasn't a place for a young girl"; and by the 1950,s Divjak writes that Fremont "had lost its banks, its post office, and a large collection of other businesses that had once fueled its economy."
The book's final chapter, "Fremont's Revival: the Birth of an Imagination" shows how Freemont continued to change and reinvent itself. The neighborhood became home to artists, intellectuals, and activists who celebrated the community and helped restore its spirit. Fremont became home to unusual works of public art, such as the sculpture "Waiting for the Interurban" which captured a moment from Fremont's past, a sculpture of Lenin, and a troll. Fremont became home to a year-round series of fairs, markets, and festivals, including the annual Solstice Parade which features large puppets on floats and naked bicyclists. It draws people from all over. In recent years, Fremont has become home to high-tech companies making the modern neighborhood an eclectic mix of its blue-collar past, artists and students, and gentrification.
I have visited Seatlle but did not see Fremont. It was moving to learn about the community through this book. It reminded me again of the diverse, varied character of the American experience.
