Madame Louise "Lou" Graham

Madame Louise "Lou" Graham (1861-1903[1]) was a head seamstress at a business she opened located in Pioneer Square in Seattle, Washington which is now only remembered as Lou Graham's Parlor. She would hire others who lived at the venue as seamstresses offering tailor services, a cover for sex workers at the time. Lou herself had a romantic relationship and partnership with another woman, Amber Delmas[2], 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[3]. Without citizenship nor heirs, all her property in Washington was acquired by the state through escheatment[4,5].

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

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Sources

1. Secretary of State, "King County Auditor, Death Records, 1891-1907"
2. Libbie Hawker, "Madam" (2018) Historical Note And Acknowledgements
3. University of Washington, "Port Townsend Daily Leader No. 219 (July 21, 1904)"
4. University of Washington, "Port Townsend Daily Leader (August 21, 1904)"
5. University of Washington, "Port Townsend Daily Leader (September 9, 1904)"
6. Photo courtesy of Paul Dorpat and HistoryLink.org "Madame Lou Graham arrives in Seattle in February 1888."