Meanwhile, Obama's mother, whose parents Madelyn and Stanley Dunham had moved here from Kansas a decade earlier, left Mercer Island in 1960. But she returned to live in Seattle around 1962, after Barack was born in August 1961, leaving her husband, Kenya-born Barack Sr., and his newborn namesake in Hawaii. She lived on Capitol Hill and enrolled at the University of Washington.
Then Mary's name pops up in an interview in Alaska before she knew anything about her babysitting adventure:
September 25, 2008 · Campaign propaganda disappears from central peninsula yards, roadsides
Then Charlette LeFevre gets into the act, she has someone called 'LIEF' ask a question on December 14on the SEATTLE CHAT website:
Ann Dunham's apartment Leif 14 Dec 2008, 07:54
Hi, does anyone happen to know where the apartment is/was where B. Obama's mother lived on Capitol Hill? I'm really interested in Seattle history and have been striking out on the exact address. Apparently, before the C. Hill apt. she lived at a "Laurelhurst dormitory" near UW, but I don't know exactly where that is either, or if it still exists.
Reply | Options Unfold Ann Dunham's apartment by Leif, 14 Dec 2008, 07:54 Fold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment Charlette 2 Jan 2009, 17:09
Hi Leif,
Interesting inquiry. If Stanley Ann Dunham was living on Capitol Hill that means our next President Barack Obama also lived on Capitol Hill as an infant. (Interesting he is going from Capitol Hill to Capitol Hill). If the time period was from around March 1962 to at least September 1962 then Barack Obama would have been around 7 months old.
There is a possiblity if Ann signed on with UW as a student that UW Housing may have records.
Reply | Options Unfold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment by Charlette, 2 Jan 2009, 17:09 Fold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment
Charlette 7 Jan 2009, 18:16 Confirmed Barack Obama lived here on Capitol Hill. Document and photos to be posted soon.
Reply | Options Unfold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment by Charlette, 7 Jan 2009, 18:16 Fold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment Charlette 10 Jan 2009, 19:06
Here you go,
Capitol Hill Times has now posted the article and photos. Barack Obama: From Capitol Hill to Capitol Hill
Reply | Options Unfold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment by Charlette, 10 Jan 2009, 19:06 Fold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment
Charlette 13 Jan 2009, 19:34 To be exact the plot of land was lot 9. It was mentioned by a former resident it was the second house in from the Mercer Republican corner.
Last edited on 28 Jan 2009, 12:50 by Charlette + Show more Reply | Options Unfold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment by Charlette, 13 Jan 2009, 19:34 Fold Re: Ann Dunham's apartment Charlette 31 Jan 2009, 19:42
Babysitter of Barack was Mary Toutonghi who now lives in Alaska. She lived right below Ann and Barack. The name Toutonghi is listed in the city directory as residents of 516 13th Ave E, an address which is also confirmed by the Univ. of WA as the residence given by Ann Dunham Obama when she registered.
-----------------------------------------
Althought the article Charlette refers to in the above communication is now no longer accessible, here's how it starts on her Seattle Museum of the Mysteries website:
From Capitol Hill to Capitol Hill Confirmation that Barack Obama lived on Capitol Hill - Seattle by Charlette LeFevre 1/6/09
Very little has been written about President Barack Obama¹s mother Stanley Ann Dunham¹s time here in Seattle. Brief articles and even briefer accounts from schoolmates make the person who was the ³most influential² person in Barack¹s life all the more intriguing. A single mother who enrolled in the University of Washington in 1961 and 1962 extension program she likely came across many social prejudices in the predominantly all white campus. Perhaps Anna Obama felt more at ease in the diverse neighborhood of Capitol Hill which housed many students from the neighboring colleges. Recently located was a listing for Stanley Ann Obama in the 1961 Polk directory at the Seattle Public Library : "Obama Anna Mrs studt h516 13th av E apt. 2"
I think it's obvious from all of that, Rick Anderson was the first to mention that there was a woman living in Seattle who he thought was Stanley Ann Dunham, but he doesn't supply an address, and doesn't say how he came across the information. LIEF appears to bring up the question, because he would not have been able to find her under the name in the Rick Anderson article. But Charlette pulls the strings together, she locates the ANNA OBAMA entry, jumps to the conclusion she's found where the POTUS was living as a baby, now she can include that address in her Walking Tours of Seattle...
Mary wouldn't have been hard to find, she's recently been interviewed in Alaska, and the reverse directory shows the name - so she telephones Mary and Mary says, yes, well fancy that, I did baby-sit for Anna when my daughter who was born in July 1959 was 18 months old...and there you go...all you need to do is add one and one and come out with five or six or seven, LOL.
I can imagine the screaming; Eeek! They found ANNA!
I think I remember seeing this before. (and most/much of the other things only perhaps not all at once.) I have two questions.
1. Where did info in the initial entry in the Oct.22 2008 newspaper article come from?
2. How did anyone get the idea that the baby was left in HI? Or was that part accurate?
Amazing how every teensy bit of info always leads to MORE questions...
“Babysitter of Barack was Mary Toutonghi who now lives in Alaska. She lived right below Ann and Barack. The name Toutonghi is listed in the city directory as residents of 516 13th Ave E, an address which is also confirmed by the Univ. of WA as the residence given by Ann Dunham Obama when she registered.”
“Recently located was a listing for Stanley Ann Obama in the 1961 Polk directory at the Seattle Public Library : ‘Obama Anna Mrs studt h516 13th av E apt. 2’”
This, FReepers, is what is called contemporaneous corroboration! Mrs. Anna Obama, student, at this address is the same Stanley Ann Obama registered as a student at U of WA giving that same address.
Mary Toutonghi stated up front in her interview that her 50-year-old memory might be faulty...and it was!