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From Digital Archives: photos of 1889 Seattle Fire

From Digital Archives: photos of 1889 Seattle Fire

When you ask the historical significance of June 6, most people think of the anniversary of D-Day. But June 6 also marks a horrific event in Seattle history. On that date in 1889, a fire destroyed much of Seattle, which was then a timber town and many years from becoming a world-famous city. Our Legacy Washington program’s exhibit on the year when Washington reached statehood, “Washington 1889: Blazes, Rails and Year of Statehood,” includes a section on the 1889 Great…

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The Sea Runners: A Novel, by Ivan Doig.

The Sea Runners: A Novel, by Ivan Doig.

The Sea Runners: A Novel. By Ivan Doig. (New York: Atheneum, 1982. 279 pp. Map.) Recommendation submitted by: Will Stuivenga, Cooperative Projects Manager, Washington State Library, Tumwater, WA. There exists an actual letter-to-the-editor published in the Oregon Weekly Times, mentioning three Scandinavians who had managed to travel by canoe from Russian Alaska to Shoalwater (now named Willapa) Bay in 1852/53. Doig’s novel imagines what their trek must have been like, full of trepidations and tribulations, all the way up to and including…

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From the Archives: Marlon Brando and the “fish-ins”

From the Archives: Marlon Brando and the “fish-ins”

Seattle P-I story in March 1964 about Marlon Brando being arrested on charges of illegal fishing. (Image courtesy of Washington State Archives) Many people associate Marlon Brando for starring in movie classics like ”A Streetcar Named Desire” and ”The Godfather.” But many Native Americans and followers of the Northwest “fish wars” from the 1960s and ‘70s remember Brando for standing alongside tribal leaders to protest the denial of their treaty rights for fishing. It was 50 years ago this week…

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Remembering Boldt Decision 40 years later

Remembering Boldt Decision 40 years later

Judge Boldt (Photo courtesy of Washington State Historical Society) Wednesday marks the 40th anniversary of a landmark tribal fishing rights ruling by a federal judge that pleased Native Americans and shocked and angered non-Indian fishermen around the Northwest. The polarizing decision unleashed both celebrations and protests on Washington rivers. Major court opinions rarely carry the name of the judge, but the case U.S. v. Washington is commonly known as the Boldt Decision, after George Hugo Boldt (right), a federal district…

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WSL Special Collections featured on C-SPAN 2’s Book TV

WSL Special Collections featured on C-SPAN 2’s Book TV

This weekend, C-SPAN Cities will be featuring a block of programming on the history and the literary culture of Olympia on its American History TV and Book TV specials. The State Library’s Territorial Collection is highlighted. Also featured are visits to local museums, businesses and exhibitions, and talks with local authors, historians, and political figures such as NWIFC Chairman Billy Frank, Jr., Secretary of State Kim Wyman, and Governor Jay Inslee.

Three New Titles Added to Washington Classics

Three New Titles Added to Washington Classics

From the desk of Judy Pitchford Digital Collections has added 3 more titles to our Classics in Washington History. Under Native Americans – Indian myths of the Northwest by William Lyman. This book attempts to cite original sources for Indian Myths. It also identifies the scholars and investigators of the myths that Mr. Lyman felt were reliable. Under Natural History – Some hydroids from Puget Sound by Gary Calkins A paper from the Proceedings of the Boston society of natural…

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Farewell to Native exhibit, hello to Quilts of Valor

Farewell to Native exhibit, hello to Quilts of Valor

Staff carefully remove panels from the Native Indian tribe exhibit. The Office of the Secretary of State has packed up the Northwest Indian tribe exhibit and soon will be hanging the new exhibit, “Quilts of Valor,” honoring our veterans. The Northwest Indian tribe exhibit, created by the Washington State Heritage Center, part of the Office of the Secretary of State, will continue to be displayed throughout Washington state. Starting in August, the exhibit, “We’re Still, Here, The Survival of Washington…

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Native American exhibit leaving Capitol after June 14

Native American exhibit leaving Capitol after June 14

The first exhibit on Northwest Indian tribes ever displayed at the Capitol will be coming down after June 14, but will soon appear elsewhere in Washington for all to see. The exhibit about Washington’s Native Americans has been on display in the front lobby of the Office of Secretary of State for the past year. The free and privately funded exhibit, called “We’re Still Here, The Survival of Washington Indians,” can be seen weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m….

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More Classics in Washington History

More Classics in Washington History

From the desk of Judy Pitchford Digital Collections has been busy adding more titles to our Classics in Washington History. Here’s what we have added this week: Under Native Americans – The Indian captive : a narrative of the adventures and sufferings of Matthew Brayton, in his thirty-four years of captivity among the Indians of north-western America by J.H.A. Bone Brayton’s narrative was recounted to J.H.A. Bone, editor of the Cleveland Daily Herald, who is presumed to have composed the…

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New Billy Frank Jr. Biography from the Washington State Legacy Project

New Billy Frank Jr. Biography from the Washington State Legacy Project

Drawing from oral history interviews with Billy and those best acquainted with him, Legacy Project Director Trova Heffernan traces Billy’s development from angry young man on the banks of the Nisqually to passionate elder statesman and chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. The book is filled with photographs and contains an extensive family tree.