{"id":395,"date":"2023-02-23T14:19:31","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T14:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esustage.wpengine.com\/kansas-city\/?page_id=395"},"modified":"2025-06-03T16:28:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T16:28:15","slug":"esu-seattle-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/","title":{"rendered":"ESU Seattle History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n
\n
\n\n \n
\n A Brief History of the Seattle Branch of the ESU <\/div>\n \n \n
\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Seattle<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 1920, the English-Speaking Union of the United States was founded to foster international understanding and cultural exchange through the shared language of English, and t<\/span>he Seattle Branch was established in 1929. It shares the ESU’s overall mission is to promote communication and goodwill between people of different cultures, including providing educational opportunities and cultural programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our list of past presidents includes five OBE winners, a bishop, A British RAF flight lieutenant, a major general,  and two judges.<\/p>\n

Deceased member James Raisbeck started Raisbeck Aviation High School in Seattle, among other achievements.  His wife, Sherry, an active member, is an accomplished artist and continues to be a major philanthropist throughout the region.<\/p>\n

The Seattle branch currently boasts five professors emeriti, several published authors, and a winner of the Navy Cross. In addition, one of our past presidents, Loveday Conquest was a recipient of the Princess Anne Award from the ESU. <\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

Key aspects of the Seattle Branch’s history include:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
    \n
  • \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    Founding and Purpose:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
    \n

    The ESU, including the Seattle Branch, was founded to maintain and strengthen the personal and national ties forged during World War I. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    Educational Mission:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
    \n

    The ESU’s educational mission is carried out through various activities, including events and programs designed to facilitate personal contact between people at all levels. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    Ongoing Activities:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
    \n

    The Seattle Branch continues to host a range of activities, including speaker series, events, and connections with the national ESU. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    Notable Events:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
    \n

    The Seattle Branch hosted a formal dinner in 1962 to honor Prince Phillip, who was in Seattle for the Century 21 Exposition. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    Membership and Community:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
    \n

    The ESU’s activities are coordinated by a director-general, with the support of members and branches across the country. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    Cultural Exchange:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
    The ESU promotes cultural exchange by providing opportunities for individuals and groups to connect with people from different countries and cultures. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n\n \n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n
    \n\n
    \n
    \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":16,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-395","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nESU Seattle History - Seattle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the history of the ESU Seattle Branch. Over the years, it has sponsored many programs to foster understanding around the globe.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ESU Seattle History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore the history of the ESU Seattle Branch. Over the years, it has sponsored many programs to foster understanding around the globe.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Seattle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-03T16:28:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/\",\"name\":\"ESU Seattle History - Seattle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-23T14:19:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-03T16:28:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Explore the history of the ESU Seattle Branch. Over the years, it has sponsored many programs to foster understanding around the globe.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Who We Are\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"ESU Seattle History\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/\",\"name\":\"Seattle\",\"description\":\"The English Speaking Union of the USA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ESU Seattle History - Seattle","description":"Explore the history of the ESU Seattle Branch. Over the years, it has sponsored many programs to foster understanding around the globe.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ESU Seattle History","og_description":"Explore the history of the ESU Seattle Branch. Over the years, it has sponsored many programs to foster understanding around the globe.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/","og_site_name":"Seattle","article_modified_time":"2025-06-03T16:28:15+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/","name":"ESU Seattle History - Seattle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-02-23T14:19:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-03T16:28:15+00:00","description":"Explore the history of the ESU Seattle Branch. Over the years, it has sponsored many programs to foster understanding around the globe.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/esu-seattle-history\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Who We Are","item":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/seattle-branch\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"ESU Seattle History"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/","name":"Seattle","description":"The English Speaking Union of the USA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/blog\/author\/esudevdev\/","display_name":"esudevdev"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 10 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 23, 2023","modified":"Updated on June 3, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 23, 2023 2:19 pm","modified":"Updated on June 3, 2025 4:28 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_img":false,"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/395\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/seattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}