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Tag: John C. Hughes

Major Gen. Nam Pyo Park
Korea 65 exhibit profiles: Nam Pyo Park and Johnathon Kupka

Korea 65 exhibit profiles: Nam Pyo Park and Johnathon Kupka

Last Thursday’s launch for the new Legacy Washington exhibit, “Korea 65: The Forgotten War Remembered,” was a great event that brought a large crowd to the Capitol. You can watch TVW’s coverage of the exhibit launch here. The exhibit explores the stories of 13 Washingtonians who experienced the Korean War in different ways, from U.S. soldiers who fought in the war, to a nurse who worked in a MASH unit, to Korean Americans who grew up in Korea during or…

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Former Gov. John Spellman visits Capitol.
Former Gov. Spellman visits WA Capitol

Former Gov. Spellman visits WA Capitol

More than three decades after serving as Washington’s governor, John Spellman returned to Olympia to tour the Governor’s Mansion and Capitol and meet with current Gov. Jay Inslee. Before seeing the governor, 90-year-old Spellman, along with two of his sons, a grandson and a granddaughter, stopped by our office to meet with staff, including two alumni from Spellman’s gubernatorial staff – State Archivist Steve Excell, who served as Spellman’s chief of staff, and Patrick McDonald, who was an intern and…

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Historic Washington women: Adele Ferguson and Nancy Evans

Historic Washington women: Adele Ferguson and Nancy Evans

One was so well-known (and feared) by lawmakers and others around the Capitol Campus that you could refer to her by just her first name. The other became the youngest first lady in state history, and is credited with resurrecting a “drafty old” Governor’s Mansion. They are legendary Bremerton Sun reporter and columnist Adele Ferguson and beloved former first lady Nancy Evans, wife of three-term Gov. Dan Evans. Both women were subjects of Legacy Washington biographies and oral histories written…

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Historic Washington women: Jennifer Dunn and Jolene Unsoeld

Historic Washington women: Jennifer Dunn and Jolene Unsoeld

Harley Soltes / The Seattle Times But Jennifer Dunn and Jolene Unsoeld shared something in common. Each one, in her own way, influenced Washington’s political landscape before even taking office in Congress. In 1981, Dunn became the first female chair of the Washington State Republican Party, a position she held for 11 years before being elected to the 8th Congressional District seat in 1992. During her time in D.C., Dunn became the highest-ranking woman in Congress as vice chair of…

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Latest “Who are we?” profile: Disability activist Duane French

Latest “Who are we?” profile: Disability activist Duane French

Secretary of State Kim Wyman’s Legacy Washington program has released the second profile in its “Who are we?” series. It’s the powerful story of Duane French, a resilient quadriplegic who remade his life and fought for the rights of the terminally ill. The profile on French, written by Legacy Washington Chief Historian John C. Hughes. The profile can be viewed here. “Who are we?” is a historical project that documents the lives of a diverse group of Washingtonians. It includes…

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New video focuses on Wenatchee newspaper family

New video focuses on Wenatchee newspaper family

Rufus (left) and Wilfred Woods inside the Wenatchee World’s press room. (Photo courtesy of Wenatchee World) One of two Washington newspaper families featured in a terrific Legacy Washington-produced book is the subject of a new video that will be on our YouTube channel. The 12-minute video, called “Kings of The World,” focuses on the Woods family, which has owned and operated the Wenatchee World for more than a century. It includes interviews with 96-year-old Wilfred Woods, the former publisher and…

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Latest WWII profile on our own`Rosie the Riveter’

Latest WWII profile on our own`Rosie the Riveter’

The latest World War II profile by our Legacy Washington team focuses on a 92-year-old Olympia resident who is one of the last of about 15,000 women who worked in Boeing’s Seattle factories during the war. Regina Sawina Tollfeldt worked eight hours a day, seven days a week during the peak of the war, wriggling through the wing jigs for the B-17s leaving Plant No. 2 at a rate of a dozen a day. Tollfeldt’s job was to drill the…

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Historian/journalist John Hughes honored by state

Historian/journalist John Hughes honored by state

After being praised by Secretary Wyman (left), John C. Hughes addresses the crowd at a reception honoring him in Wyman’s office. (Photo courtesy of Laura Mott)  John C. Hughes was honored by the state Senate and Secretary of State Kim Wyman on Tuesday for his robust 50-year career in journalism and doing critically acclaimed oral history for Legacy Washington. A large delegation from Grays Harbor and dignitaries, colleagues and friends from Olympia filled the ornate Senate gallery as Sens. Jim…

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Remembering Olympia reporting legend Adele Ferguson

Remembering Olympia reporting legend Adele Ferguson

Adele Ferguson (Photo courtesy Legacy Washington) State Capitol veterans and Olympia political observers were saddened by news that Adele Ferguson, the longtime Olympia correspondent for The Bremerton Sun, passed away Monday after a short illness. Known by many throughout the Capitol simply as “A’-dele,” Ferguson was feared and respected by many, including legislators and other elected officials who were the occasional target of her often-biting weekly column in The Sun. After Ferguson retired as a reporter in 1993, she continued…

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Wyman at “Pressing On” launch: “We need accurate, informative news”

Wyman at “Pressing On” launch: “We need accurate, informative news”

Secretary Wyman applauds as Rowland Thompson (in bow tie) shakes hands with Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen (second from left). Also standing (from left) are Yakima Herald-Republic general manager Rob Blethen, Seattle Times assistant managing editor Ryan Blethen and Wenatchee World publisher Rufus Woods. (Photo courtesy of Patrick McDonald) Few family-owned newspapers remain in Washington, or in the U.S. Two of them are continuing to make their mark with their brand of community-based journalism. The Seattle Times and The Wenatchee…

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