1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: You know what, one of the coolest things about traveling 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: is kind of stumbling onto a fascinating personal story of 3 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: someone you never even knew existed, but who played a 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: major role in their place and time. I was in 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: Seattle this past week and I took a tour through 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: the city's historic underground. We saw the leftovers of the 7 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: city after it had been destroyed by a massive fire 8 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: and then rebuilt twenty feet above the ruins. I'm Patty Steele, 9 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: a madam who ran Seattle's fanciest and biggest bordello, was 10 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: the city's financial savior. That's next on the backstory. The 11 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,559 Speaker 1: backstory is back. I love exploring the quirkier sides of 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,480 Speaker 1: history whenever I visit a new place, So last week 13 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: I happened to be in Seattle and I took one 14 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: of their underground tours. It tells the story of the 15 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: building of Seattle in the Pioneer District. All of the 16 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: buildings there were made of wood, since logging was the 17 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: major industry in those days. As you can imagine, and 18 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: a lot of wooden buildings crowded together in a somewhat 19 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: industrial town can lead to disaster. The Great Fire of 20 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty nine literally burned the entire city of Seattle 21 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: to the ground. When it came time to rebuild, nobody 22 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: was interested in lending the business owners any money, for 23 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: fear they'd never be able to pay it back. Enter 24 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: Lou Graham. No, not the lead singer of the band Foreigner. 25 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: This Lou Graham had been born in Germany in eighteen 26 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: fifty seven. By the age of sixteen, she found herself 27 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: in America alone, trying to make a living in a 28 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: very dangerous place for a young girl, New York City. 29 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: What she did there is kind of lost to history, 30 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: but by the time she was twenty seven she had 31 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: arrived in Seattle. She wanted to open a very classy, 32 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: very safe bordello. She would hire beautiful, intelligent young women 33 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: to do the sex work and make sure they could 34 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: engage their clients in scintillating conversation before taking them upstairs 35 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: for other types of scintillating activities. The place was a 36 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,959 Speaker 1: hit right off the bat. Lou knew how to take 37 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: care of her business, her clients, her employees, and her 38 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: growing investment portfolio. Within a few years, she was one 39 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: of the richest people in the Pacific Northwest and She 40 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: owned more property in Seattle than all but a handful 41 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: of men. She kept her building pristine and expensively decorated. 42 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: Her clients had the best food and alcohol available, and 43 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:38,119 Speaker 1: politicians were entertained there free of charge. The women who 44 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: worked for Lou were beautiful, young, healthy, and dressed in 45 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: the most gorgeous clothing. In addition, Lou insisted they get 46 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: an education, which she paid for. They could discuss art, history, 47 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: and politics, and Lou pushed the women to retire from 48 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,119 Speaker 1: the bordello after just three to five years. She gave 49 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,679 Speaker 1: them money to start their own businesses. Consequently, in the 50 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds and beyond, Seattle had one of the highest, 51 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: if not the highest, percentage of female owned businesses. She 52 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: also was the first to hire women of color as 53 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: well as trans women. She employed indigenous women, which was 54 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: actually illegal at the time, and numerous Chinese immigrants in 55 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: an arrow when anti Asian sentiment was so vicious and 56 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: often led to full on riots. On top of that, 57 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: Lu took in and cared for multiple children whose parents 58 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: abused alcohol or drugs or who had gone bust in 59 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: the Klondike gold Rush. Since a lot of them outfitted 60 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: for the rush in Seattle and left on ships headed 61 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: north from there to the Yukon. At the time, the 62 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: women who worked for her and other bordellos were sort 63 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: of euphemistically called seamstresses and said to be working in 64 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: the sowing district, but an investigation by very intrigued city 65 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:03,119 Speaker 1: council members found that the women had selling machines available. However, 66 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: the money was flooding in thanks to a city filled 67 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: with loggers and sailors, so the council decided to start 68 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: charging the seamstresses a licensing fee of ten bucks a month. 69 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: That money went to rebuild the city's terrible roadways, But 70 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: then disaster struck. In June of eighteen eighty nine, a 71 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: man making glue in a carpentry shop accidentally let the 72 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: pot boil over. He tried to put it out with water, 73 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: but it was made with animal fat. The gunk exploded 74 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,679 Speaker 1: into massive flames. Since the fire department relied on ocean 75 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: water and it was low tide, their hoses wouldn't reach. 76 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: All they could do was sit back and watch the 77 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: entire city again, all made of wooden buildings, completely burned 78 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: to the ground. Immediately, local businesses wanted to rebuild. New 79 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: laws were put in place, limiting buildings to brick and 80 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: stone construction. The city also mandated that all buildings had 81 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 1: to have first floors that were twenty feet above the 82 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: old height to solve tidal flooding problems, to give them 83 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: room to install new below the surface infrastructure that meant 84 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: raising the earth. It was a massive and very expensive plan, 85 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: and no local banks would risk the cash for the 86 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: needed rebuild. Again, enter Lou Graham, the town's savior. She 87 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: offered loans at a slightly higher rate, but said the 88 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: owners didn't need to pay her back until their businesses 89 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: were up and running again. Historians say she was instrumental 90 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 1: in the rebirth of the city, which quickly rebuilt bigger 91 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: and better than ever. Lou's own building was rebuilt as 92 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: a four story red brick building that still stands today 93 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: in the Pioneer District. Ironically, it's now the Union Gospel Mission, 94 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: which houses the homeless. On top of that, she used 95 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: a ton of her money for charity. In her day, 96 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: Lou contributed more moneyed to the public schools in Seattle 97 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: then all the other wealthy citizens combined, and when the 98 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: bank panic of eighteen ninety three hit. She deposited enough 99 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,919 Speaker 1: cash in several Seattle banks to keep them afloat until 100 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 1: the panic ended. In nineteen oh three. Lou died suddenly 101 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: at the age of just forty six, without having made 102 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,280 Speaker 1: a will. While we don't know her net worth, the 103 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: inheritance tax on her estate today would equal as much 104 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: as a million dollars After years of court battles by 105 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: relatives in Germany. A large portion of her estate went 106 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: to one of her favorite causes, the public schools of Seattle. 107 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: In her day, Lou Graham was never socially accepted by 108 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: Seattle society, but records show the majority of wealthy families 109 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: in town had relied on her for loans during tough times. 110 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: She was Seattle's savior financially and on so many other levels. 111 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,160 Speaker 1: Hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave 112 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: a review. I would love it if you would subscribe 113 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: war or follow for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, 114 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: and feel free to DM me if you have a 115 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty 116 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. 117 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis 118 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. 119 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday 120 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with 121 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty 122 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening 123 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history 124 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: you didn't know you needed to know.