Courtesy of Josh, Caricature The Beatles Cartoon Wallpaper Free desktop background wallpaper at wallarthd.com.

The Government Printing Office (GPO) in partnership with the Library of Congress just announce the release of the digital (online) availability of the Bound Congressional Record, 1961 – 1970 on govinfo.gov.  This means you can now search the Bound Congressional Record from 1961 to the present!

If you remember that era there is probably some iconic event that stays fresh in your mind such as the invasion of the Beatles and other British rock groups, the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy. Did you watch the 1969 U.S. landing on the moon on television? What about these (thanks to GPO for the list)?

• The Administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and the first two years of the Administration of President Richard M. Nixon
• The Civil Rights Era
• The Vietnam War
• Legislation of the Great Society and the War on Poverty, including:
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965
  • Fair Housing Act of 1968
  • Medicare and Medicaid
  • Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
  • Immigration Act of 1965
  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
  • Endangered Species Act of 1966
  • Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

Courtesy of the Government Publish Office

“This latest digital release of the Congressional Record now gives the public easy access to the historic debates of Congress from the 1960s via smartphones, tablets, laptops, and personal computers.” (GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks.)

Courtesy Library of Congress

Need more information or assistance in finding congressional information? We love to help! You can reach us by clicking here.

From the desk of Anna Nash

Every year I look forward to April because it’s National Poetry Month. It is my favorite time for programming in the Institutional Library Services branches. The talent I see each year is at time overwhelming. It is a labor of love. We arrange workshops, presentations, and open mics and in return we get to listen to and read truly amazing poetry.

I don’t think I can say it any better than I did in when we released our first collection of Percipience: A collection of poems from the Institutional Library Services Poetry Month April 2014. Below is the intro to that collection:

 Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air.

― Carl Sandburg

When I hosted my first poetry program two years ago I didn’t realize how powerful poetry could be. Poetry is many things to many people. Some may find comfort in hearing or reading poetry that expresses their feelings. Some may use it as a vehicle to express what might be otherwise inexpressible. It is, above all, expression. Language, verbal and written communication, can be frustratingly limiting. Poets are those who are able to use that frustration. They manipulate language; the words, the cadence, the pronunciation, and spelling to communicate what other can only think or feel.

I chose the title Percipience because it means good understanding of things; perceptiveness. The authors represented in this book have a good understanding of their subject. Hopefully the reader will experience their own understanding and perception of the works presented.

I have seen great talent in the events I have hosted in the institutional libraries. Performances, great performances, by some I have never heard talk before. Others who never stop talking have performed thoughtfully constructed subtle poetry that beautifully articulates love, or pain, or anger or all three. One of the greatest revelations I had was that we are surrounded by poets. Not people who write poetry, poets.

It was a great undertaking to transcribe nearly 150 poems from 11 institutional libraries. It gave me a chance to read and appreciate each one. I hope I have done all the poets around the state justice. Thank you to everyone, patrons and staff, who participated in the first Institutional Library Services Poetry Month. I look forward to seeing and hearing all the poetry our patrons produce in the future.

I want to once again thank the poets and artist from the prisons and state hospitals in Washington who have contributed in past years. Thank you for trusting us with your poetry and art work. I am so incredibly happy to announce that this year’s edition of Percipience will be published AND we will be expanding our collection of artwork from Eastern and Western State Hospitals!

We have copies of our two collections of Percipience the 2014 edition and the 2015/2016 edition in each of our branch libraries and available digitally right here. Print copies of Percipience will be available for purchase for the first time this year as well as a digital copy available for free. Stay tuned for more information on how and when to purchase your copy of Percipience 2017!

Disclaimer –we are unable to profit off of the sales of Percipience 2017. Our goal is to provide a platform to the artist and poets in our branch libraries. Your purchase and/or download of Percipience gives them an audience. Thank you!

From the desk of Rand Simmons

The meagre lighthouse all in white, haunting the seaboard, as if it were the ghost of an edifice that had once had colour and rotundity, dripped melancholy tears after its late buffeting by the waves. ~Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit

A lighthouse is … Although we often think of a tower with a bright light at the top, located on an important or dangerous waterway, lighthouses are quite varied in architecture. They had, and still have, two main purposes — to serve as navigational aids and to warn ships of dangerous areas.

Historical record tell us that one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Pharos located in Alexandria, Egypt, was the first lighthouse recorded in history, built around 280 BC and as tall as a 45-story building. An open fire at the top of the tower was the source of light.

(“Lighthouses: FAQ.” Fact Monster from Information Please, Sandbox Networks, Inc., Publishing as Fact Monster, www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0800631.html. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.)

Following Independence from England, the newly formed U.S. Congress created the Lighthouse Establishment as an administrative unit of the federal government on 7 August 1789.

Benjamin Franklin, a United States founding father, is sometimes attributed with having said, “Lighthouses are more useful than churches.”

What Franklin actually wrote to his wife after narrowly escaping a shipwreck was, “The bell ringing for church, we went thither immediately, and with hearts full of gratitude, returned sincere thanks to God for the mercies we had received: were I a Roman Catholic, perhaps I should on this occasion vow to build a chapel to some saint, but as I am not, if I were to vow at all, it should be to build a light-house.”

(“A Quote from Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin.” Goodreads, Inc. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.)

Not all safety/navigational lights are in lighthouses. There are signals, buoys, daymarks and light ships as well.

My own fascination with lighthouses began when as a child our family took short trips to the middle and southern Oregon coasts. We visited lighthouses on the Coquille River in Bandon; Umpqua River in Reedsport; and later, as an adult I explored the Yaquina Bay lighthouse in Newport.

So, recently when grubbing about among the State Library’s shelves of historic federal publications and coming across Light List Pacific Coast, United States, 1933 I naturally began leafing through the Oregon and Washington sections to see how many lighthouses I recognized.

(Light list including lights, fog signals, buoys, and daymarks. Pacific coast, United States, Canada, Hawaiian, and Samoan Islands / U.S. Department of Commerce, Lighthouse Service. Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 1933. Print: C 9.19:1933)

A short history

“The Aids to Navigation mission of the U. S. Coast Guard has a history dating back to the building and illumination of the first American lighthouse on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor in 1716. At first, because of the indifference of England, local or colonial governments had to shoulder the responsibility of making the waters safe for mariners.” Hence, the founding of the Lighthouse Establishment created by the U.S. Congress of the United States in 1789. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, was its first administrator.

(Strobridge, Truman R. “Chronology of Aids to Navigation.” Historic Light Stations, United State Coast Guard, 21 Dec. 2016, www.uscg.mil/history/articles/h_USLHSchron.asp. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.)

The first federal agency formally charged with responsibility for lighthouses was the Treasury Department.

• In 1852 Congress established the Lighthouse Board. The Lighthouse Board was responsible for issuing the List of lights and fog signals of the United States and the Dominion of Canada on the Pacific coast of North America, and of the United States on the Hawaiian, Midway, Guam, and Samoan Islands (titles vary) …
• In 1903 the Lighthouse Board was transferred to the newly created Department of Commerce and Labor where in June 1910 the Lighthouse Board was succeeded by the Bureau of Lighthouses.
• In 1939 the Bureau’s functions were transferred to the Coast Guard, a part of the Treasury Department, and now part of Homeland Security.

With each organizational shift the Light List continued to be published.

Currently, the Light List is published in 7 volumes each reflecting one of seven regions. The Pacific and Pacific Islands volume includes the eleventh (California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona), thirteenth (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana), fourteenth (Hawaii), and seventeenth (Alaska) districts. It contains a lists of lights, sound signals, buoys, day beacons, and other aids to navigation. As it has been from the beginning of The Light List, it is published by the Government Publishing Office, the official publisher of the federal government. Learn more.

Light List is available online: Pacific Coast and Pacific Islands. Contemporary issues may be available either in print or microfiche and since 2002 they have been distributed to federal depository libraries (like us) only in microfiche. Check with the State Library’s public services staff if you need assistance.

Washington Lighthouses

“Cape” Disappointment

There are eighteen active lighthouses in the state, one of which serves as a museum. In addition, three are standing but inactive (one of these is now a museum), three were supplanted by automated towers, and two have been completely demolished. The Cape Disappointment Light was the first lighthouse in the state (lit in 1856) and is still active. It sits where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean following its 1,243 mile journey.

(“List of Lighthouses in Washington.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lighthouses_in_Washington. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017.)

(The Lighthouses, Lighthouse Friends, Inc., lighthousefriends.com/pull-lights.asp. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017. Arranged by state.)

A list of Washington State lighthouses can also be found at “Historic Light Station Information & Photography.” on the U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office web site.

The history includes both active and deactivated lighthouses. Some entries point to photographs.

Washington Rural Heritage

The Washington State Library’s Washington Rural Heritage is a collaborative project that facilitates sharing of local history materials from libraries, museums, and private collections of citizens across Washington State. To date one hundred twenty-nine cultural institutions have participated in the project.

The Orcas Island Heritage Collection was a collaboration of the Orcas Island Public Library  Orcas Island Historical Museum. One of the interesting stories in the collection is about the Pole Pass Light. Search the collection and you will find 19 entries.

Pole Pass Light

Courtesy LighthouseFriends.com

“Pole Pass, is a narrow rocky pass in Deer Harbor between Orcas and Crane islands. In the late 1800s and early 1900s steamboats hired someone to hold a light if they had to go through at night. Finally about 1940 a permanent light was constructed.”

(Geoghegan, James T. “Pole Pass Light.” Orcas Island Heritage, Washington State Library, 11 June 1914, http://bit.ly/2nGKT2C. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017. )

(“History Corner [Newspaper Column].” Orcas Islander, bit.ly/2mR5Rb9 Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.)

Pole Pass (Washington) 1909. Photograph by J. A. McCormick [Public domain], via Wikimedia Common

Pole Pass Light. Geoghegan, James T., 1869-1953, Orcas Island Heritage — James T. Geoghegan Collection

Pole Pass Light. Used by permission, Cherie Christensen, Saltwater People Historical Society.

“Watching the blinkers on a dark night brings back many memories to the old settlers still living near Pole pass. They recall shipwrecks in the old days and have a warm place in their hearts at the thoughtfulness of the lightkeepers through the years. They are glad, too, for the progress that brings new lights as they are needed.”

(McLachlan, Edith. “1883 ❖ POLE PASS LIGHT ❖.” Saltwater People Log, Saltwater People Historical Society, http://bit.ly/2o13aEf. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017. Original source: They Named it Deer Harbor, McLachlan, Edith. 1970.)

Irene Barfoot O’Neill, daughter of the light keeper on Obstruction Island provides insight into life in a lighthouse:

“All of these lights were fueled by kerosene (coal oil). If the flame was not carefully adjusted, the chimney would be smoked and the light not seen clearly, thus endangering the lives of those traveling on the boats which depended upon the light being visible for the required distance.

The lamp itself was much the same as an ordinary household lamp and chimney, but the outer glass protection globe was thick because of the magnification in the manufacturing process. As I remember, the round globes were about 10″ high by 8″ in diameter. The oil tank held enough to last seven days, requiring a trip once a week to refill the tank and clean the lamps. If a storm seemed imminent, father wouldn’t wait, especially in winter.

The only weather forecasting was done by reading the sky and cloud formations. Of course, the wind and tides were a consideration, as the only power was by oars or perhaps a sail …

The pay for this work wasn’t generous, but many times the $13.00 per month pay was our only cash income.

One of the highlights of our year was the semiannual visit of the lighthouse tender “Heather”, which brought oil, towels, extra chimneys, and other supplies which were stored on an 8′ by 8′ white-painted “oil house” near the beach. Oil came in wooden cases, with two five-gallon tins in each. When empty, these sturdy boxes and tins served many uses around the farm. With the top cut off and the sharp edges neatly hammered down, two of these tins sat of the back of our wood stove as a supply of hot water for dishes or whatever.”

(O’Neill, Irene Barfoot. 125 Years Olga: Memories and Potlucks: Orcas Island Heritage, Washington State Library, 10 June 2008, Washington Rural Heritage Orcas Collection. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.)

Washington State Parks

Some lighthouses have become the property of and are managed by Washington State Parks:

• Cape Disappointment State Park (there are two lighthouses) Cape Disappointment Light and North Head Light
• Westport Light State Park (Westport Lighthouse or sometimes referred to as Grays Harbor Lighthouse)
• Lime Kiln Point State Park 
• Burrows Island Marine State Park see #9
• Point Wilson Light – Fort Worden Historical State Park
• Admiralty Head Lighthouse – Fort Casey Historical State Park
• Leadbetter Point State Park

Exploring Coastal Guardians at State Parks

In honor of National Lighthouse Day, August 7, 2016, Washington State Parks posted an article to their blog:

Exploring Coastal Guardians at State Parks | Adventure Awaits, WA, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, http://www.adventureawaits.com/201/Exploring-Coastal-Guardians-8-5-16. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.

Interior Lobby, North Head Lighthouse, Ilwaco, Washington

From our state agency documents collection

The Washington State Library is the depository of state agency publications published in many different formats. Publications from 1889 onward provide current and historical information about State government.  They are a resource for research into Washington’s past and they are a cornerstone for Washington’s future. The State Library also maintains a system of depository libraries geographically spread across the state.

McCroskey, Lauren. Washington State Parks Historic Properties Condition Assessment Phase Ii: Eastern Region. Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 2000. Print: WA 719.3 P231was s23 2000.

Conconully State Park; Dalles Mountain Ranch, Horsethief Lake State Park;  Northrup Canyon, Steamboat Rock State Park; Ohme Gardens State Park; Olmstead Place Park; Fort Simcoe State Park; Riverside State Park.

McCroskey, Lauren. Washington State Parks Historic Properties Condition Assessment Phase Ii: Northwest Region. Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 2000. Print: WA 719.3 P231was s22 2000.

Burrows Island lighthouse; Fort Casey State Park; Cowan Ranch, Hoko River State Park; Fort Flagler State Park; Lime Kiln Point State Park; Old Fort Townsend State Park; Patos Island lighthouse; Point Wilson lighthouse, Fort Worden State Park; O’Brien-Riggs property, Rockport State Park; Rothschild house. Burrows Island lighthouse; Fort Casey State Park; Cowan Ranch, Hoko River State Park; Fort Flagler State Park; Lime Kiln Point State Park; Old Fort Townsend State Park; Patos Island lighthouse; Point Wilson lighthouse, Fort Worden State Park; O’Brien-Riggs property, Rockport State Park; Rothschild house.

McCroskey, Lauren. Washington State Parks Historic Properties Condition Assessment Phase Ii: Southwest Region. Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 2000. Print: WA 719.3 P231was s28 2000.

Battleground Lake State Park; Fort Canby State Park; Fort Columbia State Park; Grays Harbor State Park; Pe Ell Section House; Siminiski House; Rainbow Falls State Park.

McCroskey, Lauren. Washington State Parks Historic Properties Condition Assessment Phase Ii: Technical Specifications & Technical Drawings. Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 2000. Print: WA 719.3 P231was s24 2000.

North Head Lighthouse: Established 1898. Olympia, WA: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 2000. Print: WA 719.3 P231nor h 2012.

Mukilteo Lighthouse by “Jon Zander(Digon3)” courtesy Wikimedia Commons

From our Northwest collection – a sampling of publications on lighthouses

The State Library preserves and provides access to a comprehensive collection of information on the geographic area we now know as Washington State and the other identified regions of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Idaho, and Western Montana. The collection also contains works on Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory to reflect our shared histories.

Aliberti, Ray. Lighthouses Northwest: The Designs of Carl Leick. Coupeville, Wa. (P.O. Box 827, Coupeville 98239-0827): Aliberti, 2000. Print: NW 387.155 ALIBERT 2000; Historic Research and Rare Collection copies available for in-library use only.

Bache, Hartman. Early West Coast Lighthouses: Eight Drawings and Paintings. San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1964. Print: Historic Research and Rare Collection copies for in library use only.

Ehlers, Chad, and Jim Gibbs. Sentinels of Solitude: West Coast Lighthouses. San Luis Obispo, CA: EZ Nature Books, 1989. Print: R 387.155 EHLERS 1981, in-library use only.

Groth, Karen N. Westport’s Masterpiece: Building the Grays Harbor Lighthouse, 1897-98. Portland, Or: Nicholson Press, 2010. Print: NW 387.155 GROTH 2010; Historic Research copy available for in-library use only.

Hanable, William S. Lighthouses and Lifesaving on Washington’s Outer Coast: 15 Historic Postcards. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub, 2009. Print: NW 387.155 HANABLE 2009; Historic Research copy available for in-library use only.

Leffingwell, Randy, and Pamela Welty. Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast: Your Guide to the Lighthouses of California, Oregon, and Washington. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press, 2010. Print: NW 387.155 LEFFING 2000; Historic Research copy available for in-library use only.

Lighthouses of the Northwest. Howes Cave, N.Y: Hartnett House Map Publishers, 2005. Print: NW 387.155 HARTNET 2000; Historic Research copy available for in-library use only.

Lucero, Donella J, and Nancy L. Hobbs. Guardian of the Columbia River: Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, 1856-2006. Long Beach, Wash.?: Willapa Communications, 2006. Print: NW 387.155 LUCERO 2006; Historic Research copy available for in-library use only.

Lucero, Donella J, and Nancy L. Hobbs. North Head Lighthouse. Long Beach, Wash.?: Willapa Communications, 2006. Print: NW 387.155 LUCERO 2006; Historic Research copy available for in-library use only.

McCurdy, James G. Cape Flattery and Its Light: Life on Tatoosh Island. Seattle: Shorey Book Store, 1966. Print: R OVERSIZ 387.155 MCCURDY 1966 in-library use only.

McDaniel, Nancy L. A Sound Defense: Military Sites, Lighthouses, and Memorials of Puget Sound. Chimacum, Wash: Nancy L. McDaniel, 2013. Print: NW 917.9704 MCDANIE 2013; Historic Research copy available for in-library use only.

Nelson, Sharlene P. Umbrella Guide to Washington Lighthouses. Friday Harbor, WA (PO Box 1460, Friday Harbor 98250-1460): Umbrella Books, 1990. Print: NW 387.155 NELSON 1990; Historic Research copy available for in-library use only.

Roberts, Bruce, and Ray Jones. Lighthouses of Washington: A Guidebook and Keepsake. Guilford, Conn: Insiders’ Guide, 2006. Print: NW 387.155 ROBERTS 2006

Roberts, Bruce, and Ray Jones. Pacific Northwest Lighthouses: Oregon to the Aleutians. Old Saybrook, Conn: Globe Pequot Press, 1997. Print: NW 387.155 ROBERTS 1997; In-library use only copy also available.

Survey Correspondence, Washington Territory: Records of the Bureau of Land Management. Washington? D.C.: The Bureau?, 1980. Microfilm: NW MICRO 333.16 SURVEY 188-?, 2 reels, for in-library use only.

Washington Lighthouses: Photographic Essay. Tacoma, WA: Smith-Western Co, 2000. Print: R 387.155 WASHING 200-?, in-library use only.

“Washington Secretary of State – Legacy Washington – Washington History: Historical Maps Detail.” Washington Secretary of State – Legacy Washington – Washington History: Historical Maps Detail, U.S. Corp of Engineers, 1881, www.sos.wa.gov/legacy/maps/maps_detail.aspx?m=22. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

In print: Symons, T. W. (Thomas William), 1849-1920. [Washington, D.C. : Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army], 1881. In library use only. Request ahead of time.

Symons, T. W. (Thomas William), 1849-1920. [Washington, D.C.] : Office of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, 1885. In library use only. Request ahead of time.

Other Resources

Society, Saltwater People Historical. “Saltwater People Log, Saltwater People Historical Society, 6 Nov. 2013, http://bit.ly/2n4v1UE. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

Strobridge, Truman R. “CHRONOLOGY OF AIDS TO NAVIGATION.” Historic Light Stations, United State Coast Guard, 21 Dec. 2016, www.uscg.mil/history/articles/h_USLHSchron.asp. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017. Excellent chronology and list of resources.

Just for Fun

How to purchase a lighthouse: “Coast Guard History.” USCG: Frequently Asked Questions, U.S. Coast Guard, Historian’s Office, www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/Lighthouse_Keepers.asp. Accessed 22 Mar. 2017.

How to become a lighthouse keeper: “Coast Guard History.” USCG: Frequently Asked Questions, U.S. Coast Guard, Historian’s Office, www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/Lighthouse_Keepers.asp. Accessed 22 Mar. 2017.

“Stay at a Washington Lighthouse.” Stay at a Washington Lighthouse, United States Lighthouse Society, www.stayatawashingtonlighthouse.org/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

Need assistance finding state or federal publications? Contact our Ask a Librarian service.

The following State Library staff contributed to this article: Sean Lanksbury, Pacific Northwest and Special Collections Librarian, Evan Robb, Digital Repository Librarian; Nikki Chiampa, Digital Projects Librarian.

Here at the State Library we love maps.  We have a large number of maps in our collection, some which have been digitized and many, many more in our stacks. In recent years we’ve fallen in love with something called Storymaps, which is a web platform that allows you to create maps to tell a story.  As our service area includes the entire state we’ve found it to be a fun and different way to tell the State Library’s story.  Many of the maps we have shared are about projects we’ve sponsored using funds from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

This year IMLS is celebrating its 20^th Anniversary.  IMLS is the branch of the federal government which supports libraries and museums around the country “to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development.” (1).  The IMLS funds that the State Library receives are transformed into grants and programs which support libraries all over Washington.  For IMLS’s 20^th anniversary we thought we’d re-share some of the maps we’ve made.

Click on each image to be taken to the corresponding Storymap. The first is really the mother-lode featuring eleven different programs.  Public, Academic, Special and Tribal libraries all show up in these maps.  Make sure that you click on the icons as they provide more information about each library.

The next map represents the outcome of a grant that we gave to 230 school libraries, sending each library an age appropriate treasure box of books related to the STEM subjects.

And finally we come to our traveling STEM kits.  The kids (and adults) think they are playing but in addition, we are helping Washington youth gain a comfort with everything from coding to engineering. This kits and more are still circulating around the state.

Courtesy Wikimedia commons

From the desk of Rand Simmons

Remember these?

• The Administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter
• Passage/ratification of the 26th Amendment (allowing 18-year-olds to vote)
• Watergate
• The end of the Vietnam War
• The US Bicentennial
• Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
• The Iran Hostage Crisis
• OPEC and the Oil Crises of the 1970s
• Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act

The 1970’s. Ugh! High gas prices, low mpg, and 55 mph speed limits! So what was going in Congress?

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) just announced that in partnership with the Library of Congress the have released the digital version of the bound Congressional Record from 1971-1980. You can search it on GPO’s govinfo. This release covers debates and proceedings of the 92nd through the 96th Congresses.

Courtesy Government Printing Off

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873, and is still published today. Click here to learn more.

Courtesy of the Library of   Congress

Issues dating from 1995 (beginning with the 104th Congress) are available online. Many federal depository libraries (like us) will have issues available in print. Current issues become available on Congress.gov shortly after they are published on GPO’s FDsys.

Need more information or assistance in finding congressional information? We love to help! You can reach us by clicking here.

From the desk of Kathryn Devine, from materials compiled in part by Judy Pitchford.

Have you seen the library’s Classics in Washington History page? It’s an online collection of full-text books on Washington History.

Topics include county and regional history, military history, women’s stories, and other special collections that “bring together rare, out of print titles for easy access by students, teachers, genealogists, and historians.”

In remembrance of the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, we’d like to highlight several documents from the Washington State Library’s federal collection on the Japanese internment camps.

Some are contemporary studies of life in the camps, and others contain testimony from survivors about the experience.

Contemporary Reports and Analysis

Community analysis notes

War Relocation Authority, Documents Section, Office of Reports

[Washington, D.C.] : War Relocation Authority, c1944-1945

These reports were compiled by staff of the War Relocation Authority, a civilian agency responsible for the relocation of evacuees. It includes many interviews with internees and their attitudes toward the U. S. because of the internment.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=134

Community analysis report

War Relocation Authority, Documents Section, Office of Reports

[Washington, D.C.] : War Relocation Authority, c1942-1946

These reports deal with issues of unrest in the camps, religion and labor unrest. It also explore attitudes in the surrounding communities on the possible return of the Japanese.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=133

 Project analysis series

War Relocation Authority, Documents Section, Office of Reports

[Washington, D.C.] : War Relocation Authority, c-1946

These reports cover the Tule Lake incident, questions of repatriation and community government.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=135

Trends in the relocation centers. III

War Relocation Authority, Community Analysis Section

[Washington, D.C.] : The Section, [1945]

This document addresses the concerns of evacuees about the closing of the relocation centers and how their needs were to be met re-entering society.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=282

Later Reports from Congressional Hearings

Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians act : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, second session, on S. 1647, March 18, 1980

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs

Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1980

Testimony before a commission investigating the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=264

Personal justice denied : report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians : report for the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs 

United States. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., 1992

A congressional committee report based on personal testimony and written documentation from witnesses who lived through the Japanese internment.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=263

Oral History from the Legacy Project

Robert Graham: Not-So-Simple Twists of Fate

An oral history from the Legacy Project, Office of the Secretary of State.

www.sos.wa.gov/legacyproject/oralhistories/RobertGraham/default.aspx

Mr. Graham relates his own experiences in World War II, including the fate of one of his Japanese-American friends, Perry Saito.

Looking for more information on the history of Executive Order 9066, Japanese internment, or any other aspect of Pacific Northwest history? Contact us through our Ask A Librarian service or make a research appointment to visit the Library.

Since taking the helm of the State Library on August 1, 2016 our new librarian Cindy Aden has been on the go!   While Cindy is a past president of WLA and has worked in Washington for many years, it’s been a while since she visited some of the more remote corners of the state.

Cindy set herself the ambitious goal of meeting every one of her employees before the year was out.  While most of the State Library staff is in the Olympia area, the institutional libraries are scattered all over the state, from Walla Walla to Clallam Bay and many spots between. Using this as a springboard, her travels began.  We thought it would be fun to document her journey around the state to give all of us a bit of a ringside seat and peek into the large and small, the public, academic, special and school libraries that provide service to all of Washington.  This Storymap captures the first few months, but we will continue to add tour points.  What interesting thing will Cindy learn when she visits your library?

Cue the Carmen Sandiego song…

Click the picture to go to the full, interactive map.

From the desk of Nikki Chiampa

The Centralia Daily Hub began as an Independent newspaper on September 29, 1913 with editor George A. Dew and publisher Madison “Elsy” Ellsworth Cue at the helm. The other publisher of the paper was the Hub Printing Company, Inc., an enterprise of which Cue was president. The Daily Hub was issued every afternoon with the exception of Sundays, reporting on both international and local news. Within a year of its inception, circulation of the paper had risen to approximately 1,141 issues, with distribution in Centralia and surrounding towns. During this time, Dew left his post at the paper and was succeeded by Victor Jackson. When Jackson left the paper in 1915, Cue ended up taking on the editorial role as well.

Significant events, including WW1, Women’s Suffrage, and Prohibition initially appeared as headlines on the front page. As time wore on, however, the newspaper shifted its focus to cover more socially inclined news on a local scale. The Daily Hub often took on a moral stance and eschewed objective reporting in its articles. When referring to the “drys,” those fighting for Prohibition, the paper describes the group as the “better element of this city.” In contrast, it berates the “clique” of local bankers and businessmen, declaring that these men defrauded the city during Centralia’s financial crisis of 1914. The Daily Hub remained righteous even when the topic was not political, expressing outrage at provocative movie posters on display at a local theater. The paper claims that “those whose mission it is to uplift, protest, and help to a better living” were being careless and slothful with their duties.

By its third year of publication, The Daily Hub was boasting of its “clear conscience” and the enemies it has gained, labeling their opponents as the “lawless and predatory” populace of Centralia. However, staff of The Daily Hub were not immune to the consequences of their antagonism. In one case, Vera Reynolds, a staff writer, was arraigned in court for libel. She alleged in one of her articles that prosecuting attorney Chester Alan Studebaker and Sheriff Thomas C. Foster were “laid out” by Frank Nehring, whom they were attempting to arrest. Even The Daily Hub’s publisher, M.E. Cue, was tried in court multiple times and charged in 1916 for throwing a pig of linotype metal at Joe Lucas, a local theater manager.

After only five years and with 2,228 papers in circulation, The Daily Hub officially ceased publication on March 30, 1918. It was succeeded by The Centralia Evening Hub, which ran for the month of April that same year. Immediately thereafter, it transformed into the Republican paper, The Centralia Daily Hub, which was issued from May 1, 1918 until publication was suspended on April 10, 1919. During these rapid changes, M.E. Cue and his company remained as publishers up to the final issue of the paper’s demise. Although the Centralia Daily Hub announced plans to return from its “sabbatical,” it had no successors.

The Centralia Daily Hub along with many other early Washington newspapers can be found on our Washington Digital Newspapers website.

The Washington State Library (WSL) has compiled fact sheets to illustrate funding and support from WSL to libraries across the state. We do this annually organized by legislative and congressional district. Our Congressional District fact sheets are now available online and we expect to have Legislative District fact sheets posted on our website by the end of February.

The Washington State Library is the only agency in Washington that is specifically designated by law to assist libraries and to ensure that residents of the entire state have access to library and information services. WSL achieves these goals using federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. We offer numerous projects supporting the enhancement of library services. We provide consulting services on a variety of topics, and provide grants, subsidies and training to libraries.

Local libraries support the educational and lifelong learning needs of the people in their communities. Their staff participate in statewide projects sponsored by the Washington State Library.  While the Congressional Fact Sheets reflect the projects that are funded by LSTA, the State Library offers much more to Washington residents.

Our Central Library Service is a research library which specializes in Washington State and Pacific Northwest history, culture and government.  Historians and genealogists find our resources invaluable as we have information that is unavailable anywhere else. As mandated by State Law [(RCW) 40.06.010 (4)], the Washington State Library collects publications published by all Washington State agencies that are intended for distribution to the state government of the public in print and electronic format. State publications provide current and historical information about State government.  They are a resource for research into Washington’s past and they are a cornerstone for Washington’s future.

WSL is the only state library that has branch libraries in prisons.  There are libraries and librarians in nine prisons and two state hospitals.  These libraries are a lifeline for the patients and inmates providing a small island of normalcy in their lives.  Inmates find not only recreational materials at the library; many use their time to further their education.  The State Library is partnering with the Department of Corrections and local libraries to help prisoners achieve a successful re-entry.

The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL) provides a comprehensive, statewide library service for Washington residents unable to read standard print material due to blindness, a visual impairment, deaf-blindness, a physical disability that makes it difficult to hold a book or turn a page, or a reading disability. Books and magazines are available in audio and braille and sent free by mail or downloaded from the website or app. WTBBL offers materials in Spanish, a youth services program, local book production, and more.

WSL offers several digital collections from its many historical resources, including books, maps, newspapers and manuscripts. These collections will continue to grow as more of our resources are scanned, providing a multitude of information to students, teachers, historians and genealogists on Washington’s rich heritage.

All of these services are offered statewide, and each one impacts your community in both small and large ways. For a more detailed analysis of our work in your community return here in a few weeks to find the newly minted Legislative Fact Sheets.

We received this message from Jamie Allwine, the Library Manager at Timberland’s Winlock Library.  It was such a great story that we asked her permission to share it.  Thanks Jamie, you’ve made our day.

The Winlock Library’s ascent into STEM really started with a WSL workshop that Joe Olayvar and Evelyn Lindberg put on at Timberland’s Service Center.  I had never touched a programmable robot but I left that day KNOWING that the kids (all ages) of Winlock would love them.  On my way out the door, I ran the idea by my supervisor and the director and they both gave me the green light to pursue robotics.  I contacted my Friends group and they enthusiastically funded the purchase of two Legos Mindstorms EV3 Core kits.  We now own four of the Core kits and three expansion sets.  Although we routinely hold formal “Robots Rock” programs, all of our equipment is available on demand.  Kids (often families) can come in any time and ask to use the “toys”, and we happily get them out.

Why am I so committed to STEM?  When I was a kid, we needed to learn the 3 R’s.  But kids today also need a strong foundation in a new language–coding.  As with all languages, the earlier that a child is exposed, the easier they pick it up.  Although there are many schools who provide STEM programs, most are still focused on the teaching and testing of the original 3 R’s.  I read a study that said only 10% of school aged kids have access to STEM programming, and that is often on a limited basis and sometimes not until high school.  For many kids, we are really missing that ideal window of opportunity to introduce coding, construction, robotics, etc.  I believe that through the public library system, we can help bridge that gap.

Winlock currently offers programming with the Legos EV3s, Dash & Dot, Ozobots, Snap Circuits, Code-a-pillars, Eggbots and a wide variety of building toys, such as Legos, Lincoln Logs, K’nex, and Erector sets.  We participated in the Hour of Code™ during Computer Science Education Week.  We have borrowed the Legos We-Do 2.0 kits from our service center and the Roominate kits from the Washington State Library.  Our kids have loved them all!