Madame Louise "Lou" Graham

Madame Louise "Lou" Graham (1861-1903[1,2]) owned a bordello located in Pioneer Square in Seattle, Washington (the area was known then as Whitechapel, "Tenderloin District", "Seattle's Tenderloin", or Red-Light District). Robert Abrams, a Territorial Legislator, sold land at a corner on Fourth and S. Washington, to who he believed was a man named Lou. Graham for $3000 in 1885[3]. After the Great Seattle Fire in 1889, Lou Graham rebuilt her business spending $25,000 to construct a three-story brick building[4], today known as the Washington Court Building at Third and S. Washington. Her business is only remembered as Lou Graham's Parlor. Madame Lou passed away in San Francisco in 1903.

Lou Graham would hire others who lived at her venue as seamstresses offering tailoring services, a cover for sex workers at the time. Lou herself had a romantic relationship and partnership with another woman, Amber Delmas[5], and she hired, possibly, transgender women who would be requested by clients as "the lady in the black dress". Lou Graham never became a citizen of the United States, a German immigrant, and had no known children while here[6,7]. Her possessions were challenged by relatives in Germany but, without citizenship, all her property in Washington could acquired by the state through escheatment. The matter was debated for years[8,9,10,11].

Lou Graham hired Chinese and Japanese servants as cooks and other laborers, two of which demanded unpaid wages in the breakup of her estate[12]. One of them also reported to have loaned her $800 which was never paid back.

Police Raids

In 1891, Lou was acquitted at an attempt to close the business but many police including the chief refused to testify against the character of the women or the home[13]. The business was subject to many raids and arrests[14,15]. Sometimes these were for charges of selling liquor without a license which were charges paid for by fines[16,17].

Other Stories

Lou Graham petitioned the city to widen the sidewalks at Fourth and Washington in 1890[18]. In 1894, she had a diamond necklace and other jewelry of such significant value that it was known to the point which robbers plotted to take but were unsuccessful and captured by police[19].

Gallery

Madame Lou Graham's Parlor and Seattle's "Seamstresses" (1888)

Madame Lou Graham (seated left), along with other "Seamstresses" at her parlor.

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Sources

1. Secretary of State, "King County Auditor, Death Records, 1891-1907"
2. Library of Congress, "The Seattle Republican, March 13, 1903, Image 3"
3. Library of Congress, "Seattle daily post-intelligencer, October 06, 1885, Image 2"
4. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, June 06, 1891, Page 12, Image 12": "Two Years After - What Has Been Accomplished Since the Great Fire"
5. Libbie Hawker, "Madam" (2018) Historical Note And Acknowledgements
6. Library of Congress, "The Evening statesman, July 22, 1904, Image 3"
7. University of Washington, "Port Townsend Daily Leader No. 219 (July 21, 1904)"
8. Library of Congress, "The Seattle Republican, August 26, 1904, Image 5"
9. Library of Congress, "The Seattle Republican., January 27, 1905, Image 2"
10. University of Washington, "Port Townsend Daily Leader (August 21, 1904)"
11. University of Washington, "Port Townsend Daily Leader (September 9, 1904)"
12. Library of Congress, "The Seattle star, April 24, 1903, Page 8, Image 8"
13. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, February 21, 1891, Image 2"
14. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, July 21, 1889, Image 8"
15. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, April 13, 1892, Page 8, Image 8"
16. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, January 13, 1891, Page 5, Image 5": "Illicit Liquor Selling"
17. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, June 07, 1890, Page 8, Image 8": "The Police Courts"
18. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, October 30, 1890, Page 8, Image 8"
19. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, February 20, 1894, Page 5, Image 5"
20. Photo courtesy of Paul Dorpat and HistoryLink.org "Madame Lou Graham arrives in Seattle in February 1888."

Other References

• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, April 12, 1890, Page 6, Image 6"
• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, October 06, 1890, Page 7, Image 7": "The Waterfront"
• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, November 01, 1890, Image 8": "Tax on Whitechapel"
• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, February 15, 1891, Page 8, Image 8": "After Bad Women"
• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, February 15, 1891, Page 8, Image 8": "The First Woman Tried"
• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, October 30, 1892, Page 3, Image 3"
• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, December 16, 1892, Page 5, Image 5"
• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, October 12, 1893, Page 8, Image 8"
• Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, May 01, 1898, Page 3, Image 3"