Walt Crowley

Walter Charles Crowley (June 20, 1947 – September 21, 2007) was an American historian and activist from Washington state. He first entered the public sphere in Seattle through his involvement with the social and political movements of the 1960s, especially the underground press. He later became more widely known as a local television personality and for his pioneering work as a local historian, including co-creating the website HistoryLink.org, which he considered to be his crowning achievement.

Life Born in Ferndale, Michigan, the only child of engineer and inventor Walter A. Crowley and Violet King (now Kilvinger), Walt lived in Royal Oak, Michigan, Flint, Michigan, the Washington, D.C. area and Connecticut until 1961, when his father was hired by Boeing and moved to Seattle.

Crowley's service as mediator between the Seattle officials, local leaders, and the community's street people led to the founding of a youth hostel and social service agency called the U District Center, which Crowley directed from 1970 to 1972. He later worked for the Seattle Model Cities Program and then for the city itself in various planning and outreach roles.

He returned to private industry in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the Seattle City Council.

The prototype of HistoryLink.org debuted on May 1, 1998, and attracted additional funding for a formal launch in 1999. In 2003 HistoryLink.org expanded its content to cover Washington state history. Meanwhile, History Ink continues, focusing on the production of history books. He died at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle on September 21, 2007, at the age of 60, after suffering a stroke following an operation for the cancer.