From the desk of Mary Paynton Schaff

This past Saturday, Washington State Library staff, along with staff from the Office of the Secretary of State’s Washington State Archives, served as judges at the state contest for History Day.  History Day is a nationwide program that challenges young people to become expert historians and tell the story of an historical event using primary sources.  History Day is sponsored by the Washington State Historical Society, which has grown the Washington contest into one of the strongest programs in the country.  Last year, Washington State sent 36 projects to the national contest and of those, 24 went on to final there.  Based on the papers, websites, exhibits, documentaries, and performances we saw this weekend, Washington will have another strong showing at nationals in 2013.  Presented here are just several of the exhibits that are off to nationals this year.  Congratulations to all the winners, and remember that the State Library is a great place to hunt down those primary sources that will make next year’s projects shine!