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Tag: federal government

Archives Spotlight: The top secret Hanford Project

Archives Spotlight: The top secret Hanford Project

More than 51,000 people worked at the Hanford site between 1943 and 1945. Less than 500 knew what they were making. Plutonium is a radioactive element derived from uranium, and was discovered at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1941. Scientist Glenn Seaborg wrote a detailed description of plutonium and its potential uses. It could be a plentiful energy source, or used as a component in a major explosive weapon, he wrote. Of course, the creative insights fell upon deaf…

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American Battle Monuments

American Battle Monuments

From the desk of Mary Paynton Schaff In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, the Washington State Library is featuring “American Battle Monuments,” edited by Elizabeth Nishiura. This guide provides detailed descriptions of battle monuments honoring soldiers from World War I, World War II, and other conflicts. Each monument’s entry includes its location, hours, a description of the site, and a history of its development.  Specific names of soldiers are not included in this guide, but genealogists can track those down using sites like…

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Gary Locke … and the `family secret’

Gary Locke … and the `family secret’

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke,  the country’s first Chinese-American governor when he served Washington state from 1997 to 2005, has long treasured his roots and made his “Great American Dream” a major storyline in his campaigns.  Now in a column in the New York Times by Seattle’s own Tim Egan, Locke talks about his grandfather’s apparently illegal entry into the USA all those years ago. Here’s the piece.