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Tag: Ralph Munro

Happy 75th birthday, Ralph Munro: New exhibit features longtime statesman

Happy 75th birthday, Ralph Munro: New exhibit features longtime statesman

Five-term Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro turns 75 on Monday, June 25, a milestone in a life of accomplishments that transcend his well-deserved political renown. A longtime advocate for humanitarian and environmental causes, Munro played a pioneering role in the disability rights movement. Inspired by a developmentally disabled boy, Munro became an advocate for the discounted and invisible people shunned by society. In 1968, Gov. Dan Evans appointed Munro, who was 25, to oversee a committee to promote volunteerism….

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Al Swift and Ralph Munro: How motor voter went national

Al Swift and Ralph Munro: How motor voter went national

Tacoma native and former U.S. Rep. Al Swift, who died April 20 at 82, was a national leader in expanding voter participation across the political spectrum. The motor-voter bill President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1993 was authored by Swift, as was the version that had been vetoed by President George Bush in 1992. In a career that also included the legislative victories of restored Amtrak service between Seattle and British Columbia and mandatory handicapped access to polling places,…

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Archives honors Washington History Day winners

Archives honors Washington History Day winners

Five Washington students recently showed they might have the stuff to be the next Ken Burns. The Washington State Historical Society coordinates Washington History Day, which features an annual contest for students in grades 6-12 throughout the state. The Washington State Archives supports History Day by having staff volunteer to serve as contest judges. The contest encourages students to become historians by developing research, analysis, presentation and social skills. Working individually or in groups, students select a topic related to…

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May Archives Treasures: Let’s vote!

May Archives Treasures: Let’s vote!

We’ve launched this month’s Archives Treasures online poll, so it’s time to vote on your favorite among these three choices: Seattle pioneer David Denny’s powder horn, photos and documents from the 1975 arrival of Vietnamese refugees in Washington, and documents related to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Vote using our online poll below. The poll closes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, so don’t miss out on voting! Seattle pioneer David Denny’s powder horn 1975 Vietnamese refugee photos, documents…

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Archives Treasure #2: 1975 Vietnamese refugee photos

Archives Treasure #2: 1975 Vietnamese refugee photos

Refugee leaders and their families listen as Gov. Evans welcomes them to Washington in 1975. (Photos courtesy of Washington State Archives) The second Archives Treasure for May marks a special anniversary for Dan Evans, Ralph Munro and thousands of Washingtonians who endured a long, difficult journey to reach our state four decades ago. As the Vietnam War ended with the fall of Saigon in April 1975, about 130,000 South Vietnamese fled their homeland and soon made their way to the…

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Remembering Olympia reporting legend Adele Ferguson

Remembering Olympia reporting legend Adele Ferguson

Adele Ferguson (Photo courtesy Legacy Washington) State Capitol veterans and Olympia political observers were saddened by news that Adele Ferguson, the longtime Olympia correspondent for The Bremerton Sun, passed away Monday after a short illness. Known by many throughout the Capitol simply as “A’-dele,” Ferguson was feared and respected by many, including legislators and other elected officials who were the occasional target of her often-biting weekly column in The Sun. After Ferguson retired as a reporter in 1993, she continued…

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Happy 25th birthday to our state ship!

Happy 25th birthday to our state ship!

First Lady Jean Gardner and Secretary of State Ralph Munro help launch Lady Washington in 1989. (Photos courtesy of Washington State Archives) As any fifth-grader knows (and the rest of us should know), Washington has plenty of state symbols, ranging from a tree (Western Hemlock)  and flower (Coast Rhododendron) to even a state vegetable (Walla Walla sweet onion). But do you know Washington has a state ship? The Legislature designated the Lady Washington as the official ship of our state…

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Secretaries of State Club

Secretaries of State Club

They don’t have a secret handshake (as far as we know), their roll call is rather short, and they seldom meet.  So when the four people who serve or once served as Washington’s Secretary of State do gather, it’s cause for celebration, or at least a blog post. The new officeholder, Kim Wyman, met with her three predecessors for lunch Tuesday in Olympia. No word on how much they talked shop or discussed whether Gonzaga will reach the Final Four….

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Great Scot!

Great Scot!

Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives Thousands attended the Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games July 30-31 in Enumclaw. The annual Scottish festival features colorful pipe bands, Highland dancers and Scottish athletes competing before judges of worldwide renown. The master of ceremonies was none other than former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, wearing his familiar kilt. No word if one of the attendees was Stuart Mackenzie, the occasionally loud (“HEAD! MOVE!!”) father in the 1993 Mike Myers comedy “So I Married…

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