(Image courtesy of Washington State Archives)

With the 125th anniversary of Washington reaching statehood just weeks away, our State Archives is getting into a festive mood by using the big birthday celebration as its Archives Month theme – “125 Years of Making History” — this year.

“It’s just a natural to tie in Archives Month to Washington’s 125th birthday as a state,” said State Archivist Steve Excell. “Washington has experienced so many historic moments and achievements since 1889, and the State Archives is proud to recognize the milestone as this year’s theme.”

As it does every year, the State Archives has a great-looking free poster to commemorate Archives Month. The poster (shown above) is available in the State Archives headquarters  in Olympia, the front desk of our Executive Office at the Capitol and at all regional Archives branches in Bellevue, Bellingham, Cheney and Ellensburg, as well as several local historical societies, universities with archives/library collections, museums and heritage centers. Get your poster while supplies last!

The poster was designed by Benjamin Helle of the State Archives.

Archives Month runs throughout October and features free workshops and open houses at the main Archives building in Olympia and the regional Archives branches. Go here  to see the schedule of events.

Here are scheduled events, by branch:

State Archives/Southwest Regional Branch (Olympia):
• Brown bag lunch sessions each Thursday from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Archives conference room. These sessions will feature records in the State Archives’ collections that may help attendees with their genealogical or historical research. Oct. 2: Penitentiary Records; Oct. 9: Brick Wall Session with the State Archivist; Oct. 16: Vital Records; Oct. 23: Land and Property Research; Oct. 30: Linda Hazzard, who was a holistic healer and charged with murder at the turn of the 20th century.

Central Regional Branch (Ellensburg):
• Oct. 4: Open House , 9 a.m. to noon.
• Oct. 11: Presentation by Central Regional Branch Archivist Brigid Clift at Genealogy Fair hosted by Yakima Genealogy Society (1901 S. 12th Ave. in Union Gap), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Eastern Regional Branch/Digital Archives (Cheney):
• Oct. 11: Open House, featuring tours and presentations on how to use the Digital Archives, what’s new at DA, and how to access Eastern Regional Archives records.

Northwest Regional Branch (Bellingham):
• Oct. 18: History Day Fall Workshop for Teachers, 9 a.m. to noon.
• Oct. 25: Archives Building Open House, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in conjunction with Western Washington University’s Fall Family Open House.
• Oct. 28: Basics of Personal Digital Archiving Workshop, 4 to 5 p.m., in conjunction with the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.

Puget Sound Regional Branch (Bellevue):
• Oct. 4: History Day Fall Teacher’s Workshops, 9 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., University of Washington Libraries, Seattle.
• Oct. 18: Basics of Historical Research, 9 a.m. to noon, Regional Branch office in Bellevue.