As we enter, what will no doubt be, another intense fire season in Washington State, it is comforting to know that technology and modern methods are in place to spot and stop wildfires quickly. But it also brings to mind a reflection on how fires were managed in the early 20th century. One answer was a chain of fire lookout stations, many built by the CCC in the 1930’s. “Back in the 1930s the still-growing lookout system seemed like a stable…
From the desk of Evan Robb The National Park Service turns 100 on August 25, 2016. In honor of that centennial celebration, the Port Angeles Public Library—located right on the footsteps of Olympic National Park—recently interviewed a number of its patrons about their experiences visiting, living in, and working at national parks throughout the U.S. These audio recordings are now accessible online at: http://sos.wa.gov/q/listenup. We especially enjoyed ranger Dean Butterworth’s story of guiding troubled teens on a snowshoeing trip in…
From the desk of Maura Walsh, WSL’s Grant Manager Washington State Library has the task of helping distribute funds. We’re accepting applications for four different grants right now. We’d love to help your library share in this funding. Look at the programs below. Each title is a link to more information and applications. Please contact [email protected] if you have more questions. Digital Literacy Help your community find and use quality information. We support projects to help your library users get…
From the desk of Evan Robb The Washington Rural Heritage project was recently featured in a piece by OCLC—the company behind CONTENTdm. The piece highlights our use of interactive maps, geo-referenced digital objects, and timelines, using free tools from Northwestern University’s Knight Labs. Read more here: http://www.oclc.org/en-US/news/announcements/2016/CONTENTdm-news-item-January-2016.html
From the desk of Evan Robb Washington Rural Heritage staff hit the road recently to help the Ellensburg Public Library digitize unique works by New Deal-era artist Ernest R. Norling. Known most widely for his important 1939 book on drawing, “Perspective Made Easy,” Norling also made a significant contribution to documenting Washington’s industry and history in the wake of the Great Depression. His murals depicting early pioneers, agricultural workers, Northwest logging crews, or CCC men at work, grace a great…
The almost-completed Nesset family barn in 1919. (Photo courtesy Washington Rural Heritage) Thanks in part to a grant from the Washington Rural Heritage program, a great new collection of digitized photos shows viewers what life was like a century ago on a family farm in Whatcom County. A blog post on our Washington State Library’s webpage tells more: The Nesset Family Farm Collection tells the story of a Norwegian immigrant homesteaders who settled on the South Fork Nooksack River in…
From the desk of Evan Robb The Washington Rural Heritage Program is pleased to announce a new digital collection from the Deming Library (Whatcom County Library System). The Nesset Family Farm Collection tells the story of a Norwegian immigrant homesteaders who settled on the South Fork Nooksack River in 1902, and for decades worked tirelessly to coax a living from the land, raise five children, and run a small dairy. In the meantime, they documented the many pleasures of settler…
This is the time of year where our thoughts turn to family and celebration. As we ask our neighbor to feed the cat, stop the mail for a week, pack our cars for a trip over the mountains, or head towards the airport it’s easy to forget the challenges of travel in the early days of our state’s history. With winter travel in mind we’ve compiled photographs from the collection; pictures of snowy travel by sleigh, train and automobile. So…
From the desk of Evan Robb Wanda Alderman, Friend and volunteer for Whitman County Library recently received an Outstanding Volunteer Award from The Washington State Genealogical Society recognizing her efforts to preserve important historic images and records for a number of agencies and projects including Washington Rural Heritage, the State Library’s local history digitization program. Volunteering for the library for nearly 7 years, Wanda has been the public face of the local project, tracking down hidden collections, interviewing contributors, documenting…
From the desk of Evan Robb A new digital collection from our Washington Rural Heritage program tells the story of Medical Lake—the inland Northwest’s first destination resort and spa community. This collection of historical documents, photos, and cultural objects was digitized in 2014-2015 by the Medical Lake Library (Spokane County Library District) in partnership with the Medical Lake Historical Society. Located 15 miles southwest of Spokane, Washington, Medical Lake was once lauded for its curative properties. The lake’s mineral waters…