Subud Greater Seattle webmaster (& brilliant Subud photographic historian) Rachman Cantrell has unearthed this bit of local history:
I found this article in an old Subud USA publication. It gives a bit of Subud Seattle history, written by Sebastian Tedrow around 1974. He describes the building which was formerly owned by the ‘Deaf Lutheran Church’ and goes on to say “Almost every member has seen the place and expressed joy at being in the building!” I hope we will keep continuing that feeling of joy for many years to come!
Seattle Subud House, Circa 1974
Note the date February 28. That was 1974. (Also note the address, which is wrong in the article. There is no “E.” It is 1101 15th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122.) I believe it is critical to note such dates. In 202, some of us will be just back from the next Subud World Congress in Kalimantan. (Inshallah.) What a wonderful opportunity for a 50th Anniversary of this house where Bapak once stayed and did Latihan!
Compare that photo with a more recent one:
Fast forward to May 16, 2021 and we have our latest member, Robert Westmoreland:
Sebastian Tedrow, Halstein Stralberg, Robert Westmoreland, Evan Padilla and Marston Gregory.
How do we celebrate achievements? Anniversaries? Special occasions? What is at the core of Subud culture? SICA-USA wants to hear from you as part of our Cultural Conversation. Feel free to make a comment below, which will need to be approved by a moderator if you have not been approved before. Should we celebrate these events? If we don’t tell our story, who will? Do you have a fond memory of an event in this historic Subud House?
Yours in Subud,
Paul E Nelson
SICA-USA Chair
there is much more to the history of Subud Seattle. It began when Joe Kyle and newly minted helpers came down from Vancouver BC in 1960 to open a small group of us. By now most of us have passed. Our first place for latihan was Robert Carr’s “The Center of Integration” in a lovely old Capitol Hill mansion. Several of us rented rooms in the place and the conviviality was great. Sometimes working on a thesis all night, a young lady would be available to type it up for me at the kitchen table. I had a room for awhile and then the carriage house became available for my young wife and fellow U of W student to rent. Apartment above and oversize carriage space below was perfect for my sculpture studio After a couple of years the property was sold and I found a place for us to do Latihan in an empty Capitol Hill store which we rented. I built a dividing wall in the center so we could do simultaneous latihans. Sometimes we would do latihans at midnight. The place was a bit tacky but they were very special times, Rasjad Hopkins
This is wonderful information, Rasjad. Thank you for reading and commenting.