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Category: Legacy Project

`Booth Who?’ book rollout honors Governor Gardner

`Booth Who?’ book rollout honors Governor Gardner

“Booth Who?” was the slogan that puckish campaign aides famously used for Booth Gardner’s early campaign buttons and yardsigns back when he wasn’t exactly a household name yet.  He eventually hit the political version of a Grand Slam, serving in the state Senate, Pierce County Executive and as the two-term governor. His story is now told in a new Legacy Project book called, naturally enough,  “Booth Who?”  It’s available free online and in print form ($25 softcover, $35 for limited…

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A book? A paper-type book?

A book? A paper-type book?

Yes, it’s true. We’re all bloggy, electronic-book-reading, texters these days, but some of us still dig books.   Real dead-tree paper books with purty pictures. For months now, our re-booted oral history program, called the Legacy Project, has exclusively published oral history-biographies electronically – as in posted free  on our website.  Tons of people have clicked on and some, like the one that got written up in Rolling Stone (the material on rocker-civic activist Krist Novoselic), were very popular indeed….

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5 Questions about the new Nancy Evans book

5 Questions about the new Nancy Evans book

One of the Legacy Project’s oral histories has become the program’s first printed book. The biography and oral history of Nancy Evans, Washington’s remarkable former first lady, is now available for purchase. John Hughes, the Legacy Project’s chief oral historian, wrote the biography and conducted the oral history interviews with Mrs. Evans. Here’s his take on this fascinating project: 1) Why would the average person want to pick up this book? In other words, what’s in it for me? Nancy Evans…

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Oscar time: Booth’s ‘last campaign’ film nominated

Oscar time: Booth’s ‘last campaign’ film nominated

It’s a story well known in Washington state, and now the subject of a short documentary that’s up for an Academy Award Sunday evening.  It’s called “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner,” a reference to the popular former governor’s debilitating battle with Parkinson’s and his crusade to legalize physician-assisted suicide. This “last campaign” is also recounted in a Legacy Project biography now nearing completion. It’s called “Booth Who?” and is written by chief historian John Hughes. It will be…

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Free and fun: E-biography of trailblazer Jennifer Dunn

Free and fun: E-biography of trailblazer Jennifer Dunn

The price is right – like, zero – and the storyline is darned interesting.  The oral-history folks at The Legacy Project have just e-published the ninth in a series about fascinating folks who have made a difference in Washington.  The late Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn is the subject of the latest biography. Family and friends of Dunn’s gathered in Bellevue Tuesday night for a sentimental ceremony rolling out the new e-publication.  Guests ranged from high school classmates and GOP officials she worked with…

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Talking Ruddells, riddles and more

Talking Ruddells, riddles and more

Part Ruddell family reunion and part a series of workshops on how to research your own family’s history, our “Ruddell Riddle” event attracted more than 100 people last Saturday. The event was held at the General Administration Building and hosted by the Office of Secretary of State. About two-thirds of the attendees were Ruddell descendants who came from several Washington communities, as well as Oregon, Idaho, California and Nevada. Another 35 or so in the crowd were there to learn…

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Nancy Evans: She did it all

Nancy Evans: She did it all

This afternoon the Governor’s Mansion was packed with all sorts of guests – including its former lady of the house. Nancy Evans, the youngest Washington first lady in state history and advocate for saving the mansion from demolition, was the guest of honor at today’s reception celebrating the launch of her oral history as part of the Office of Secretary of State’s Legacy Project. The oral history explains how the first lady saved a landmark, served as her governor-husband’s not-so-secret-weapon,…

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Legacy Project honors space hero

Legacy Project honors space hero

Washington’s first and only woman astronaut, Bonnie Dunbar, is the most recent subject of the Office of Secretary of State’s Legacy Project.  In her oral history, you can read about how this extraordinary engineer reached for the stars – and made it there. Secretary Reed and the Legacy Project team held a reception in her honor on Tuesday at the Museum of Flight in Seattle to celebrate her story and contribution to Washington State. You can read Dr. Dunbar’s oral history…

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Legacy Project honors civil rights pioneer

Legacy Project honors civil rights pioneer

Lillian Walker, who has been fighting for civil rights ever since the early 1940s in Bremerton, is the most recent subject of the Office of Secretary of State’s Legacy Project.  Secretary Reed and the Legacy Project team held a reception in her honor on Tuesday to celebrate her story and contribution to Washington State. Read Lillian Walker’s oral history and biography online now for free.

From Grunge icon to involved citizen

From Grunge icon to involved citizen

Former Nirvana bassist-turned-political activist Krist Novoselic regaled a Capitol audience today with stories of how he went from being a member of arguably the most influential rock band in the 1990s to his current involvement with politics and the Grange. Krist, who flew his airplane up to Olympia for the hour-long chat, explained how issues like teen dance ordinances in Seattle prompted him to get involved in politics in the ‘90s. (Nowadays, he’s the master of the Grays River Grange…

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