Digital Collections
Spokane – Wide Open Town?
From the desk of Marlys Rudeen. While looking through issues of the Newport Miner for 1907, I came across the following quote - “Poor old Spokane has had to bow to the inevitable, and beginning next Sunday the lid will be jammed down so hard that visitors will hardly recognize the town.
William Gohl – Not a Nice Man
From the desk of Marlys Rudeen One of the most notorious citizens of Aberdeen in the early 20th century was William Gohl. While he might have listed his occupation as agent for the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, his real job included such duties as graft, theft, extortion, arson, and murder.
Yakima Herald – During the year of Statehood
From the desk of Marlys Rudeen The year is 1889 and Washington Territory is on its way to becoming Washington State. There’s a great deal of enthusiasm for the process, and a great deal of regional competition as a constitutional convention is held along with fierce debate about which city should be the capital of the new state. While all this is going on the residents of Yakima are also devouring news from back East, local comings and goings and, judging from the ads, a lively commercial sector. I’ve skipped through several issues and found some entertaining stories.
Life in Colville 1907-08
From the desk of Marlys Rudeen: A sampling of the local news from the Colville Examiner from Oct. 31, 1907-Jan. 1908 provides a vivid view of life in the north half of Stevens County. One thing that stands out is that the Colvillians were a traveling bunch. They visited and were visited on a regular basis, travelling to family and friends in other small towns, the big city of Spokane, and relatives in the Midwest or eastern states.
Spotlight on Staff: Judy Pitchford
“Judy is my bulldog.
The West Shore – Enticing settlers to the late 19th century Pacific Northwest
From the desk of Marlys Rudeen, Deputy State Librarian A recent addition to the State Library’s digital collections is the lavishly illustrated West Shore. This literary and general interest magazine was published from Aug. 1875-Mar. 1891.
Pioneer Queens of Upper Kittitas County
From the desk of Evan Robb
Since 1969, residents of the Central Washington towns of Roslyn and Cle Elum have named an annual Pioneer Queen--a woman whose life and contributions to the community embody the history of Upper Kittitas County.
Erin Krake, librarian at the Roslyn Public Library, wanted to shine a light of the story of these women, "who built [our] town from the grown up, just as their men did so from the coal mines beneath it." Beginning in 2012, Krake, and a team of local volunteers began digitizing the documentary evidence of these lives, by directly interviewing surviv
"Veritable Hermit Discovered Living in the Heart of the Olympics"
From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library.
The following article was found at random in the Sept.
Linking the Past with the Present
Ever since the advent of Web 2.0 people are finding creative ways to harness the power of the web to learn about and share their passions. Resources are shared and discovered; connections are made between people. Here at the Washington State Library we have a mission to collect, preserve and make accessible materials about the history and culture of Washington State.