Kristin Giordano at Blackwater Cafe
Friday evening is an artist reception for photographer Kristin Giordano at Blackwater Cafe. Kristin’s work uses toy cameras to “eerily portray empty spaces, ordinary houses, flooded orchards, and flying birds.” We’ve always had a thing for toy cameras and cheap plastic cameras. There’s something intriguing about the soft images that result from plastic lenses, a fixed focal length, and light leaks.
What: Photography Exhibit and Artist Reception – Music by Super-8
When: Friday, September 29th from 7:00 to 10:00 pm
Where: Blackwater Cafe, 747 South Fawcett
The show runs through Saturday, November 15th.
5 comments
T Tim Smith September 20, 2010
I really enjoy this. The little stories are often the best. The “vigilantes” story evenutally ended with a complete change in our form of City government.
C captiveyak September 20, 2010
Thanks Tim! How did the change come about?
T Tim Smith September 20, 2010
I’ll clip from the Tacoma PD history page. Its probably the closest thing to a coup in Washington State history. The end result of this vigilante cop raid was that the COT became the first major city in WA to adopt the City Manager form of government. Snip follows:
TACOMA AROMA
O, they say that in Tacoma, Washington
A Policeman’s lot is not a happy one
If he rashly does his duty
Interfering with the booty
Of Higher ups
His brief career is done.
In Tacoma Politicians are as raw
As Chicago in worst days ever saw;
And a copper with ambition
Is predestined to perdition
If he undertakes enforcement of the law.
If he goes out on his own and makes a pinch
Of a felon caught red handed its a cinch
He’ll be banished to the sticks,
To Patrol the paving bricks,
While he listens to the meadowlark or finch.
O, a copper in Tacoma, Washington
Leads a life that’s almost anything but fun;
For the horrible aroma,
That is reeking in Tacoma,
Is a stench a young policeman ought to shun.
On April 1, 1947, officers made raids on two locations after giving warning to Commissioner Robert Temme. One place was closed, and the other had no illegal activity. In response, Chief William Farrar dismissed four of the officers, calling them “Tools of the underworld interests.” On June 1, 1947, Constables Clive Buttermere of Steilacoom, and Cecil Brightman of Roy, along with some of the dismissed Tacoma officers, raided the “Star Social Club” in Fife, just across the Sea-Tac bridge from Tacoma. They arrested 67 people and shipped them by bus to the town of Roy, where they each posted $25 bail for being in a place where gambling was being conducted.
By July 27, 1947, the four dismissed patrolmen were reinstated with back pay, and the raids ceased. But the reverberations continued to be felt throughout city hall. A succession of police chiefs, some lasting as little as three months began. Between March 1946, when the first “Vigilante” raids were made, to July 1953, when the department was reorganized, eight men served as police chief. These included a police sergeant, a police detective, a former FBI agent, and a man who ran an automobile repair shop!
The commissioner form of government continued until 1953, and so did the problems with the police department. Since the commissioner was, in effect, a de-facto police chief, political interference in police operations was inescapable. In addition, with very few exceptions, the commissioners knew little about law enforcement. One commissioner celebrated his election in a brothel and, when later questioned about this, replied that he was on “an inspection trip.”
In November 1951, a committee of state legislators under the chairmanship of Senator Albert Rosellini held public hearings in the Tacoma Armory as part of a statewide investigation into crime and vice. Accusations were made that the police were taking payoffs to protect vice operations, and eventually one officer went to federal prison as a result of his grafting. While little was proved conclusively, the hearings forced the citizens of Tacoma to take a hard look at their city. Meanwhile, the American Social Hygiene Association gave Tacoma a bad rating, and the Army threatened to put Tacoma ‘off-limits’ to soldiers. Something had to be done, as Tacoma’s reputation for vice was known nationwide.
On November 4th, 1952, Tacoma adopted the council-manager form of government; the first large city in the state to do so. The new city manager selected Roy D. Kerr, an experienced police officer with impeccable credentials, as his police chief. Chief Kerr assumed office on July 9, 1953 and that day marked the beginning of a new era for the Tacoma Police Department. Chief Kerr was the first “professional” police chief, having previously served as Chief of Topeka, Kansas, as well as a Deputy Sheriff and Deputy U.S. Marshal. He was also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
A artifacts September 21, 2010
Great summary of a dark and facinating time Tim. Have you ever followed up on the circumstances around Clive Buttermere’s death in December 1948. Needless to say he made a few enemies in the Tacoma Police Department, became a private detective with the Acme Detective Agency and was found dead next to his overturned car on 96th. I know it sounds like a dime novel but real life rumors went on for years that he was killed in revenge.
T tom waits September 22, 2010
American Social Hygiene Association is now the American Social Health Association….but I prefer its former name.
It was spawned (pun intended) from some other progressive movements with even better names – National Vigilance Committee, American Purity Alliance, and my personal favorite – the American Federation for Sex Hygiene.