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Tag: President Jimmy Carter

Unity Through Disaster: Yakima’s Cleanup after the Eruption of Mount St. Helens

Unity Through Disaster: Yakima’s Cleanup after the Eruption of Mount St. Helens

May 18, 1980, a day many Pacific Northwesterners vividly remember, was the infamous day Mount St. Helens erupted and left much of the state in complete darkness. This day was coined “Black Sunday,” and during the following week, nearly 200,000,000 cubic yards of soot and ash were dumped across Washington and covered nearly half the state.[1] The City of Yakima was in the direct path of the ash plume. To make matters worse, the volcano would continue to emit ash…

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35 years later, Mount St. Helens docs top Archives poll

35 years later, Mount St. Helens docs top Archives poll

The anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens is still a memorable date for many Washingtonians. It also helped propel the documents related to that iconic volcanic event to an easy win in the May Archives Treasures online poll. The St. Helens eruption docs, which include a letter from President Jimmy Carter to Gov. Dixy Lee Ray, gathered 49 percent of the votes. The 1975 Vietnamese refugee photos and documents finished second with 33 percent, followed by Seattle…

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May Archives Treasures: Let’s vote!

May Archives Treasures: Let’s vote!

We’ve launched this month’s Archives Treasures online poll, so it’s time to vote on your favorite among these three choices: Seattle pioneer David Denny’s powder horn, photos and documents from the 1975 arrival of Vietnamese refugees in Washington, and documents related to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Vote using our online poll below. The poll closes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, so don’t miss out on voting! Seattle pioneer David Denny’s powder horn 1975 Vietnamese refugee photos, documents…

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Archives Treasure #3: Mount St. Helens eruption docs

Archives Treasure #3: Mount St. Helens eruption docs

Monday marks the 35th anniversary of a tragic “where-were-you-when-it-happened” moment for many Washingtonians: the eruption of Mount St. Helens. On the morning of May 18, 1980, the cone-shaped volcano erupted violently, killing 57 people and thousands of animals, unleashing devastating mudslides, damaging or destroying more than 4 billion board feet of timber and sending an ash plume 12 miles into the sky and covering much of Eastern Washington with the gritty ash. The 1980 event was the deadliest and most…

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