Mr. and Mrs. Judson on their 50th Anniversary, June 20, 1899.

In 1853, the enterprising Judson family set out from Ohio to start a new life in the Washington Territory. They first settled in Grand Mound, followed by a stint in Olympia, where Holden Judson served in the Territorial Legislature. Eventually, they made their way north to the Nooksack River and founded the town of Lynden, Washington, described by Phoebe Judson (aka the “Mother of Lynden”) as a “goodly land” near “Mount Baker’s frosted dome,” in her account of their journey through the Territory, A Pioneer’s Search for an Ideal Home : A Personal Memoir, part of the library’s digital collections.

On the cusp of the 4th of July, it seems appropriate to highlight a passage describing one of the first Independence Day celebrations in the Territory:

Here all the settlers within a radius of ten to twenty miles had gathered. The company was not so large but I could count them all, for I have not forgotten their names or faces, but we found a good time did not depend upon numbers; for never was festal day spent more joyously than this, our first Fourth of July celebration in the territory–showing our patriotism by unfurling the Stars and Stripes to the breeze and saluting it by hearty cheers that made the sunlit air ring with the music of peace and joy–a more fitting tribute than the deafening roar of the cannon, which speaks of carnage, and the awful desolation and woe that follow in the train of war.

Sadly, this peaceful celebration was soon followed by an outbreak of war, as conflicts heightened between the Territorial Government and local Indian tribes. Read more about the day, and sample many more slices of Territorial life lovingly chronicled in Phoebe Goodell Judson’s memoir.

On June 15, 1859, Lyman Cutlar, an American settler on San Juan Island, shot a pig he found rummaging through his vegetable garden.  That pig happened to belong to the British settlers of Hudson’s Bay Company, and they were none too pleased to hear the news. Tensions were already riding high, and this squabble ignited a 10-year dispute aptly named the Pig War. Washington State Library’s historic newspapers collection has some excellent firsthand accounts of the shooting and events surrounding the dispute, including this one from Olympia’s Pioneer and Democrat of August 5, 1859. If you enjoy this, you can find more on our Moments in History page.

Pioneer and Democrat, 8/5/1859

As National Poetry Month draws to a close, we stumbled upon a quaint obituary poem in our Digital Collections. Annals of old Angeline : “Mika Yahoos delate klosch!,” was written by Bertha Piper Venen in 1903 to honor a beloved icon of early Seattle.

Princess Angeline, originally named Kikisoblu, was the eldest daughter of Chief Seattle.  She was also one of the few natives who stayed in Seattle after most relocated to the Port Madison Reservation in the mid-1800s.  Angeline worked as a laundress and basket weaver, and she was a dear friend to many early pioneers, including Henry Yesler and Doc and Catherine Maynard.

Venen’s poem recounts Angeline’s days living on the Seattle waterfront, peddling her wares to passers-by. The rambling narrative contains anecdotes about several of her prominent friends, and describes her grand, well-attended funeral. The poem itself might be a bit sentimental and simplistic for modern sensibilities, but be sure to flip through the pages to view some stellar photographs of  Seattle and its mid-19th century inhabitants.

If you’d like to see more evidence of Angeline’s celebrity (she was photographed by many of the city’s prominent photographers), take a look at the University of Washington’s Princess Angeline Photograph and Postcard Collection.

A brief, factual biography of Angeline and Chief Seattle can also be found here in our Digital Collections.

In addition to digitizing historic materials, we collect and preserve Washington State publications in electronic formats as part of our State Depository Program. We crawl state agency websites for all kinds of publications. Whenever possible, we create and monitor RSS feeds with an aggregator which notifies us when new publications are available.  We find documents outlining proposed legislation, the latest research conducted by various agencies, handy informational guides produced for the public, and much more.

Recently, I came across these surveys of Historic Theaters and Heritage Barns produced by the Department of Archeaology & Historic Preservation, and squealed with delight. It is heartening to see the research dedicated to recognizing and preserving our state’s cultural history. The beautiful color pictures in these surveys got me itching to hit the road to see some of the structures in person.  Start planning your own summer road trips at Experience Washington, the official Washington State Tourism website. You’ll find tons of travel ideas, along with the most scenic ways to reach your destinations.

You can find many more state publications on a slew of subjects by searching our catalog (be sure to check Washington State Publications under “Search Special Collections” before you click the search button). If you are interested in current events, browse some of the library’s Documents in the News feature, which highlights important stories and contains links to  government publications.

Continuing our discussion of newspaper digitization, we have arrived at the scanning stage.  The pioneer newspaper project scans in-house while the NDNP project will be outsourcing their scanning. Let’s talk about in-house scanning first:

Pioneer Newspaper Project scanning (in-house):

This project focuses on newspapers from the territorial period of the state starting with the Columbian (the state’s first newspaper) in 1852 through Washington’s Statehood (1889). Much of this film is older and was created before microfilming standards so we take more time during scanning and processing. While the in-house method can be a much slower and more tedious process, it gives us more control over the output, we can adjust the scan to the differing qualities of each page of the paper.

The scanner: We use a Nikon Super CoolScan 9000 ED film scanner. Though it is equivalent to a high-end consumer-grade film scanner, it is not a dedicated commercial-grade microfilm scanner. For example, the film doesn’t roll during scanning and the optical resolution of 4000 ppi only allows us to scan pages reduced up to 13x to ensure at least 300 ppi output (4000 ppi divided by a 300 ppi minimum = 13.33 reduction ratio). However, this project has been a great foray into microfilm digitization and an example of how one scanner and dedicated volunteers can accomplish a great deal.

Evaluation: Before we order duplicates negatives of the film we evaluate the positive film for legibility, contrast, filming errors, and digital collation. The metadata created during this process is the basis from which we scan.

Duplication: We then order a duplicate of the microfilm reel, preferably a silver halide negative copy, or second generation master.  We cut the film into strips to fit in the film scanner (eek! some purists might say but don’t worry, it’s just a copy).

Scanning: During scanning we adjust levels for optimal legibility and tonal range. This is done on a page by page basis. While it would be nice to have a baseline image setting to calibrate our scanner, the film is too varied. We end up with an image which best suits each page. Impediments to speed can become assets to quality. Some call this “boutique” scanning. We call it “avoiding the hand scans.” The result being such that when we work with such varied film, we can take our time, adjust our scanning and improve legibility during post-processing (something we’ll talk about in a later post).

Next, Laura will talk about the process of outsourcing scanning in the context of our NDNP grant.

This week, Gordon Russ, another longtime volunteer, shares his impressions of early pioneer newspapers.

Early Gunnison, Colorado residents read newspapers inside their short walled canvas tent. Photo Courtesy of Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library

Since starting as a Washington State Library volunteer in 2006, I have come across numerous interesting historical discoveries.  One surprise was the amount of space devoted to government publications.  Papers often published local or national laws, town council minutes, legislative records, and speeches in their entirety.

In these papers you can read the “Proceedings of the Territory Convention” in The Columbian (December 11^th, 1852, Column 4), and the “Washington Legislature: First Session” in the Pioneer and Democrat (March 18^th, 1854, Column 3).  They were often published in full, a marked contrast to today’s emphasis on brief summaries and television sound bites.

One of my favorites is the published Audit of the U.S. Army for the Indian Wars of 1855 and 1856. The “Third Auditor’s Report,” Puget Sound Herald (June 17^th, 1859, Column 1), lists the contractors who provided the Army with various supplies.  The report also names individuals who claimed, sometimes falsely, that they joined the Army during that period and wanted to be paid.  These claims sparked great controversy. Letters to the Editor and Editorials confirming or rebuking the report surround the article.  The report was long awaited by the people of Puget Sound.

These articles suggest that political matters were of great interest to early settlers.  While they lacked many of the mass communication options available to us in the present, the pioneers were well-informed of current events.  The printing of these documents might also point to the limitations of early editors.  Not having a staff of reporters, it was easier to get a copy of the minutes, reports, speeches and just print them in full.  Whatever the reasons, the citizens of the territorial era were well-versed in the machinations of government, even before Washington gained statehood.

Photograph of Lincoln taken by Alexander Gardner, 1863.

On this Inauguration Day, and in anticipation of Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial in February, we thought it appropriate to revisit Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, one of the great speeches of American history. The text of the speech is found in the Congressional Globe (1865, pages 1424-1425), which is housed in Washington State Library’s federal collection.

President Lincoln delivering his inaugural address on the east portico of the U.S. Capitol, March 4, 1865. Image via LOC.

A second digitized version can be viewed in our Historic Newspaper Online Project from the Walla Walla Statesman of March 17, 1865, (Page 2, Column 3). Interestingly enough, the wording in the newspaper account differs somewhat from the Congressional Globe version. We surmise that this was editorial license at work.

If you would also like to see Lincoln’s own handwritten draft of the address, visit the Abraham Lincoln Papers digitized by the Library of Congress.

Hey everybody, it’s resolution time! I’ve decided to brush up on my scanning procedures, photoshop skills, and general digitization knowledge. I often find myself in the middle of doing a job wondering if there are more efficient ways to go about it.  I flip through manuals looking for answers, but they usually gloss over the advanced features, or they fail to discuss some of the most rudimentary functions.  I’ve turned to other sources for information, and have found some great sites.

The Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), has a list of useful digitization resources. I highly recommend subscribing to the IMAGELIB listserv. I subscribed to it two weeks ago, and I have already read many informative posts on color management, a subject I realize I need to learn much more about. Digitization 101, written by digitization consultant Jill Hurst-Wahl, is one of my favorite blogs.  She focuses on many library-specific issues.

I think it is terribly important for those of us working in the field to share information. Technology and standards change so quickly that it can be difficult to stay current.  We all deal with budget constraints, time management issues, and staffing limitations.  Communicating with other organizations is a great way to prevent stagnation, and to keep the projects rolling. I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage comments from our readers.

What projects are you working on? Have you received any grants recently? What equipment do you use? Have you come across specific problems you’d like to work through? What are your frustrations? Have you had any rewarding collaborations with other institutions?

If we find certain commonalities, it might be worthwhile to continue a discussion in another forum.

We use a Zeutschel Omniscan 5000TT for grayscale images, an Epson GT-20000 for color scans, and a Nikon Supercool Scan 9000ED for microfilm. Each has advantages and disadvantages, which I may discuss in-depth at a later date. For now, I’m hoping to get some feedback to see where we should go from here.

Happy new year!

When digitizing historical newspapers here at the Washington State Library, advertisements are an endless source of amusement. We find baroquely phrased and lovingly illustrated ads for cure-all potions, fancy frocks, watering holes, and the latest entertainments. I will share some of the standouts in future blog entries to give you a taste of some of 19th century Washingtonian’s preoccupations. Today, I will begin with one of America’s most beloved and derided traditions: the circus.

If you do a basic search for the word circus from our online pioneer newspaper page, you will find many articles announcing the arrival of new troupes with bombastic names: Bartholomew’s Great Western Circus Company, McMahon’s New United Shows, J.B. Shaw’s Great Silver Plate Combination. As you scroll through the pages of the newspapers, you’ll also find charming ads announcing the greatest! the newest! the most exciting attraction yet!

While some of the reviews suggest that the entertainment was rather stale and repetitive, most embrace the arrival of any circus troupe as an escape from small town monotony. A writer in the Spokane Falls Review (click the link, and see Column 5 for the article “Circus Day”) states in 1883, “There is one point in favor of shows coming to the Falls and that is that heretofore amusements of any kind have been so few that the people are willing to sacrifice themselves by patronizing even a poor performance in order to encourage traveling troupes to stop here.” Maybe the acts didn’t quite live up to the hype, but the ads still tantalize.

Click the image above to see the advertisement in its original context.

For further exploration:

Books

The Circus Age: Culture and Society Under the American Big Top – Janet M. Davis

The American Circus – John Culhane

Web Resources

Circus World

International Circus Hall of Fame

Ringling Museum of Art

The Ronald G. Becker Collection of Charles Eisenmann Photographs

Washington State Library Resources

Read more about WSL’s newspaper project here.

Explore the pioneer newspaper collection here.