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Category: Legacy Project

A Senate surprise for Slade

A Senate surprise for Slade

Photo courtesy of Washington State Senate When former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton traveled south to Olympia, he assumed he was just coming to talk with state senators about the new legislative boundaries that he and the other State Redistricting Commission members finalized recently. But unbeknownst to Gorton, the Senate had a surprise in store for him – a resolution honoring him on his long and influential career in state and national politics. The bipartisan resolution, sponsored by Senate Republican Leader…

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Slade talks redistricting, 9/11, Senate and more

Slade talks redistricting, 9/11, Senate and more

John C. Hughes and former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton sign copies of the book that Hughes recently wrote about the longtime statesman. Former state Attorney General and U.S. Senator Slade Gorton was the featured guest at a forum and book signing Thursday in the Legislative Building’s State Reception Room. More than 50 attendees heard Gorton speak about his enduring and prominent career in state and national politics.  Gorton is the subject of a recent biography entitled “Slade Gorton A Half-Century…

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3, 2, 1…we have a book launch!

3, 2, 1…we have a book launch!

Our Legacy Project has produced some outstanding biographies and oral histories since it began in 2008, and Thursday night in Seattle saw the official launch of its latest offering. John C. Hughes, chief historian for The Legacy Project, has penned a new book about the long, influential political career of Slade Gorton. Entitled “Slade Gorton: A Half Century In Politics,” Hughes’ book goes back to the start of Gorton’s political career in Washington as a Republican state representative from Seattle…

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New Legacy Project feature “makes history”

New Legacy Project feature “makes history”

Several of our office’s divisions (namely, the State Archives, State Library and Legacy Project) specialize in digging up nuggets from Washington’s state and territorial history and highlighting them for the public to learn and enjoy. The latest example is a new feature called HistoryMakers. Our Legacy Project created it, and it’s found on our website. HistoryMakers is a free online biographical database of Washington elected officials and activists from territorial times to the present. There are about 300 entries so…

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Remembering former Sen. Hayner

Remembering former Sen. Hayner

Courtesy of Washington State Archives’ House photo collection People in our office received word Tuesday morning of the death of Jeannette Hayner, the longtime Walla Walla legislator who rose to Senate Republican Leader during the latter part of her career before retiring in 1993. Hayner, 91, died Friday in Walla Walla. Here is the obituary that ran in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. A few of us in this office knew Hayner, having either worked with her, for her, or having…

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Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – The Final Chapter

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – The Final Chapter

In 1910, Emma Smith DeVoe and May Arkwright Hutton led campaigns in Washington supporting the women’s suffrage amendment.  The ballot measure to amend Article VI of the Washington Constitution was on the 1910 General Election ballot and was passed by majority of 22,623, a favorable vote of nearly 2 to 1.  Washington State joined the western states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Idaho, that had already enacted women’s suffrage.  Washington was the first state in the 20th century to pass…

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Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 11

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 11

Image courtesy of Washington State Archives In 1889, Congress passed the Enabling Act, which “enabled” Washington to draft a state constitution and request admission to the Union.  During the Washington State Constitutional Convention, women petitioned the delegates to include women’s suffrage in the new state constitution.  The issue was presented to the voters as a separate amendment on the ballot.  In the ensuing vote, 16,527 voters voted to include the amendment granting women the right to vote, but 34,613 voted…

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Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 10

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 10

1887 and 1888 proved to be dark years for the women’s suffrage movement in Washington.  In the 1887 case of Harland v. Territory, the Territorial Supreme Court overturned the Women’s Suffrage Act of 1886 because it allowed women to serve on juries.  Justice George Turner (photo on left courtesy of Washington State Archives), who firmly believed that women were incapable of voting intelligently on public matters (tsk-tsk!), ruled that the title of the 1886 election law was defective and the…

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Lillian Walker, civil rights pioneer, honored

Lillian Walker, civil rights pioneer, honored

It was like a combination of birthday party, book-launch, political rally and roast for a revered old friend. Lillian Walker, who has just turned a feisty 97, was the honoree at a civic event sponsored by Secretary of State Sam Reed, the YWCA and Mrs. Walkers’ numerous friends, family and colleagues in the long struggle for equality for all. Well before Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were gaining fame, Mrs. Walker and her late husband James were organizing…

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Civil rights heroine book launch is Tuesday

Civil rights heroine book launch is Tuesday

Bremerton civil rights heroine Lillian Walker is being honored at a book launch. The event is at the County Commissioners’ Chambers in the Kitsap County Administration Building, located at 619 Division St. in Port Orchard. Doors open at 4 p.m., and the program starts at 4:45 and ends at 6. The book is called “Lillian Walker, Washington Civil Rights Pioneer,” written by John C. Hughes. It costs $20. Copies will be available for sale at tomorrow’s event, including signed ones….

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