Archives

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More than 51,000 people worked at the Hanford site between 1943 and 1945.

Former Washington State First Lady Lois Spellman died Thursday, January 25th, just days after the passing of her husband, former Washington State Governor John D. Spellman. Lois Elizabeth Murphy was born in 1927 in Havre, Montana. She and her husband prayed the Rosary together every night before bed for all 63 years of their marriage.

The Jan. 16 death of former Gov. John D. Spellman at 91 prompted personal reminiscences from several staffers in the Office of the Secretary of State who knew Spellman during and after his 1981-85 time in state office. State Archivist Steve Excell, who served as Gov. Spellman’s chief of staff, said in a television interview with KING-5 that Spellman had changed his life, as well as those of countless Washingtonians. “He was a true statesman,” Excell said.

Just over 50 years ago, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin unleashed their Bigfoot video, better known as the Patterson-Gimlin film, on the world.

The Washington State Archives is celebrating its annual Archives Month in October by making “Strange Washington” this year’s theme. Three events related to Archives Month will be held in Olympia over the coming weeks:

Over the years, many former elected officials in Washington have given their papers and other documents to the State Archives for safekeeping and making them available for public viewing. The latest former official to turn over papers to Archives is one of my predecessors, Bruce Chapman, who served as Secretary of State from 1975 to 1980. Bruce’s papers cover his years on the Seattle City Council, as Secretary of State, and when he was U.S.

If you’re into genealogy or just like contests, you’ll want to take part in this new one run by our State Archives. The State Digital Archives has nearly 196 million records, and it will reach the 200 million mark in the near future. With the record milestone approaching, the State Archives has started a contest in which the first person to guess the correct, exact date when Digital Archives reaches the 200 millionth record will win an AncestryDNA kit. Don’t miss out!