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Humptulips road map
The decisions behind naming Washington places

The decisions behind naming Washington places

Have you ever wondered why there’s a place called “Humptulips”? What about “Medical Lake”? If you’ve ever speculated why certain places in Washington are named the way they are, you’ll probably be interested in knowing more about the Washington Committee on Geographic Names and the role the Washington State Library plays on that committee. The Committee on Geographic Names reviews proposals submitted by the public to name geographic features in Washington State. It also works to standardize and clarify naming…

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Dogs in the library, normalizing life for inmates.

Dogs in the library, normalizing life for inmates.

From the desk of Jean Baker – Library Associate, Washington State Penitentiary I was sitting in the office yesterday and someone pointed to the hallway and said, “Look at all of the puppies”.  I went out in the hallway and found about a dozen puppies spilling out of a basket and climbing over each other.  Standing around in a circle were about 10 grown men some with tattoos and ponytails cuddling, petting and cooing at the little canines thus erasing the…

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March on Washington, a Washington State Perspective

March on Washington, a Washington State Perspective

From the desk of Rand Simmons As a boy of 12 living in “whitebread” rural Oregon I was little aware of the significance of Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this significant moment in history most commonly know as the March on Washington. National Public Radio’s Kat Chow wrote: “The summer of 1963 was bursting with drama and would become a pivotal moment of the Civil Rights movement. It was the year that Alabama governor George Wallace tried…

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