The Washington Rural Heritage team has been criss-crossing the state consulting with project participants, meeting with potential contributors and scanning, scanning, and scanning some more. In the last month, we’ve seen three out of four corners of this state — and a few spots in between — and though we’re a little road-weary, we can’t wait to feature these incredible historic finds on our site.

We started the month of July on Lummi Island, capturing some large reef-netting maps and historic fishing gear like cedar buoys and anchor stones once used by Lummi Indians.

The next week, we were off to the grassy plains of Garfield County, where we set up shop at the Eastern Washington Agricultural Museum to scan some incredibly-restored farming implements and equipment. We were psyched to have the opportunity to capture our largest item to date: a fully-restored, horse-drawn 36-foot Harris pull combine.

After that, we met with the Sedro-Woolley librarian and representatives from the Sedro-Woolley Museum to discuss a future project scanning some of their incredible holdings (including 97 glass lantern slides, ca. 1910, documenting a real shoot-em-up robbery!).

And finally, we drove almost eight hours to get up to Metaline Falls in Pend Oreille County, where we scanned almost 600 century-old photographs portraying life in this tiny community surrounded by the Colville National Forest. You’ll see scenes from a bear bbq, many shots of construction of the Box Canyon Bridge and Dam, and, of course, Black Beauty in all her glory (blogged about here).

Check back for more collections soon!

Every day, thousands of motorists make their way along Interstate-90 as it winds through Snoqualmie Pass before sloping gracefully to the Columbia Plateau. This often-traveled highway affords beautiful views of central Washington: from rugged, snow-capped mountain peaks to rolling, golden fields. Most cars fly past Roslyn, a tiny mountain town a few miles north of Cle Elum, without realizing that it is home to a fascinating, one-of-a-kind cemetery; the state’s oldest continually operated bar; and was the setting of a popular 1990s television show. Most notoriously, however, it boasts some of the state’s richest mining history.

Roslyn was settled in the late nineteenth century by miners and their families, recruited by the Northwest Improvement Company to tunnel underground and exhume the deposits of coal that would be tapped for more than half a century. These founding families hailed from dozens of countries, and together they forged a home and a community. Though mining activities have gradually halted, this rich blend of languages, cultures and traditions is still evident in today’s citizens.

Washington Rural Heritage worked with Erin Krake, Roslyn’s librarian, to digitize and preserve a fading set of Ektachrome slides showing many facets of early Roslyn life. She tapped several townspeople to lend vivid descriptions of these images, telling the story behind the story. Many of these volunteer catalogers, sons and daughters of miners, recall hearing firsthand accounts of the events in the photographs.

Our favorites include a chilling portrait of women widowed by the 1892 mine explosion; a snapshot of a young couple giving a backyard concert; and a 22-ton chunk of coal, destined for greatness at the Chicago World Fair in 1893.

We’ve also included a lecture series by local historian David H.A. Browitt, who gives explicitly detailed accounts of the role that mining played in the town’s development. You’ll hear, for example, about mining methodology; the corporate decisions that brought in African-American strikebreakers; and the events leading up to and surrounding the mine explosions that rocked this sleepy community.

View the collection online at: http://www.washingtonruralheritage.org/roslyn/

I’ve been tracking news and posts about digital newspapers and came across this post (from the  E-media Tidbits blog at PoynterOnline): First Electronic Daily Newspaper Published in 1939?

image from lightningfield.com allowed under a Creative Commons License

The transmittal of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch over the radio to output on a “home facsimile receiver” required 15 minutes to transmit one page! The price of the receivers was about $260. Sounds a lot like the current model of subscribing to newspapers via a wireless e-reader. However, unlike the radio dispatch, now there is no paper involved and the process is much faster and cheaper (though some could argue the ‘cheaper’ aspect).

It’s interesting to see things evolve. Hopefully the evolution of the newspaper will mean the answer to its continuing existence – though I’m not sure how long the term ‘newspaper’ will be around. I think one thing that makes this evolution different than the experiment from 1939 is that readers can be larger participants – rather than passive subscribers. Take, for example, the online radio channel launched by The Journal newspaper in the UK. This raises fascinating questions about how libraries and archives will need to not only capture and preserve digital news content, but also the comments and “radio shows” that are created as a direct result of such content. Imagine not just reading an old newspaper article but being able to read and hear what people thought about it.

Sara Medlicott, an intern from the Evergreen State College,  shares her impressions of one of the clippings she indexed from the Emma Smith DeVoe collection.

The Washington State Library received the collection of Emma Smith DeVoe, a prominent Washington suffrage leader. Her letters and scrapbooks have been digitized and are now being indexed for the Washington Women’s History Consortium. Throughout the course of indexing, we have all discovered much about the hidden history of the suffrage movement.  Here is an example:

In 1910, the Washington State Suffragists faced a crucial turning point – a ballot initiative allowed state voters to decide whether Washington women should have the vote. They faced a great deal of resistance, the initiative itself was vaguely worded, never mentioning the words “woman” or “suffrage.” Not to be deterred, the multiple women’s clubs and suffrage organizations of Washington State waged a massive campaign winning over many chapters of the grange, unions and individuals as supporters. Their tactics were creative and ranged from an all women edition of the Tacoma Daily News to “Suffrage Entertainment Nights” which featured recitations, songs and other performance. One of the most clever dual outreach and fundraiser projects was organized by the Washington Equal Suffrage Association; a cookbook – Votes for Women, Good Things to Eat: Washington Women’s Cookbook.

A common argument of anti-suffragists was that women wouldn’t take care of their homes and families if they became involved in politics. Linda Jennings found members from all over the state, including many prominent leaders, with a broad range of recipes, menu planners and household tips.  Each section begins with a quote on suffrage and range from the classic ‘Entrees’ and ‘Soups’ to the surprising ‘Pineapple Deserts’ and ‘Sailors Recipes’. The cookbook is now available online through The Historic  American Cookbook Project. You can download a pdf from their website. While it was difficult for a modern vegetarian to find many appetizing snacks in the book, it was a pleasure to browse and I found much of the narrative content to be incredibly relevant. We attempted the German Lightening Cake, and found the recipe difficult to execute, this is no cookbook for the casual baker. If you are up for the challenge, you could host a suffrage themed party! It was fun to discover the suffragists weren’t the stuffy old uptight crowd they are often purported to be, they could have a little fun with their opponents. From the preface – “Home, a smiling woman, and a good dinner – does not the heart of man yearn toward this trio at evening time? In the best interests of all concerned, we offer you this little book.” I don’t doubt Ms. Jennings wrote those words with a wink.

Historical Newspapers in Washington

• Puget Sound Weekly Argus: 1876 (Port Townsend) Jan. 1, 1876 – July 27, 1877
• Puget Sound Herald (Steilacoom) March 12, 1858 – Dec. 27, 1860
• Yakima Herald Feb. 2, 1889 – Dec. 29, 1892

Classics in Washington History

County and Regional History

• Fort Colvile, 1826-1871 by U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service. Contents: This pamphlet summarizes the history of Fort Colvile, founded by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1825.

Military History

• 600 days’ service by Harold H. Burton. Contents: A history of the 361st Infantry Regiment of the 91st Division of the United States Army.
• Camp Lewis. Contents: An early historical record of the Ninety-First Division at Camp Lewis.
• Official history of the Thirteenth Division. Contents: The history of the 13th Division, organized at Camp Lewis, American Lake, Washington on July 16, 1918. The book contains photographs of troops and descriptions of their duties.

Native Americans

• Report on source, nature, and extent of the fishing, hunting, and miscellaneous related rights of certain Indian tribes in Washington and Oregon : together with affidavits showing location of a number of usual and accustomed fishing grounds and stations by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Contents: A report covering the investigation pertaining to the fishing, hunting, and related miscellaneous rights of certain tribes in the Pacific Northwest under the provisions of a group of treaties executed in the period between December 26, 1854 and January 25, 1856. The investigation was conducted, and the report prepared in 1941, as a result of fish and wildlife conservation legislation which limited rights reserved to Indians in the treaties of the 1800s.

Natural History

• Natural history of Washington territory and Oregon by George Suckley. Contents: Preface, including a brief narrative of the explorations from 1853 to 1857.–Errata, with additions and corrections up to 1860.-[pt. 1. Meteorology – not included (see Notes).–pt. 2. Botanical report.–pt. 3. Zoological report
• Climate of the state of Washington by W.N. Allen. Contents: “A careful and elaborate treatise on the climactic conditions, with reference to temperature, winds, rainfall and snowfall.”

Miscellaneous

• [Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address] by Abraham Lincoln. Contents: Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. The text was excerpted from the Congressional Globe of the 38th Congress, 2nd Session.

Maps

• British Columbia and Vancouver Island
  [London? : Longman & Co.?] , 1865
• Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
  [Portland, Or.?] : USDA, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, [1991]
• Indian reservations, allotments and ceded areas in Washington
  Cooper, Gwen
  [Olympia, Wash.] : Dept. of Game, [1961]
• Johnson’s Washington and Oregon
  [New York] : Johnson & Browning, [1862?]
• Legislative districts and commissioner districts, Olympia, Washington
  Thurston County (Wash.) Auditor’s Office
  [Olympia, Wash.] : The Office, 1989
• Legislative districts and commissioner districts, Thurston County, Washington
  Thurston County (Wash.) Auditor’s Office
  [Olympia, Wash.] : The Office, 1989
• Map of Oregon Territory, 1838
  Parker, Samuel, 1779-1866
  Utica, N.Y. : M.M. Peabody, 1838
• Map of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and part of Montana (1876)
  Mitchell, S. Augustus
  S. Augustus Mitchell, 1876
• Map of the City of Cheney (1916)
  Morgan, W. L.
  W. L. Morgan? 1916
• Map of the Oregon Territory
  Wilkes, Charles, 1798-1877
  [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
  [19–?]
• Map of state of Washington, 1905
  Washington (State). Bureau of Statistics and Immigration
  Seattle, Wash. : Tucker-Hanford Co. , 1905
• Map of Washington showing location of mines, quarries, limekilns … [1918]
  Washington Geological Survey, [1918]
• Oregon and Washington (1873)
  Gray, Frank A.
  O. W. Gray, 1873
• Part of British Columbia (1861)
  Publ. for the Journal of the Royal Geographic Society … to illustrate the papers of Mr. Justice Begbie, Comr. Mayne, R. N., Lt. Palmer, R.E. & Mr. Downie.
  J. Murray Albemarle, 1861
• Preliminary agricultural map of Colville region, Washington Ter.
  Hilgard, Eugene W. (Eugene Woldemar), 1833-1916
  N.Y. : Julius Bien & Co., 1883
• Reconnaissance of Olympia Harbor, Washington Ter. (1856)
  U.S. Coast Survey, 1856
• Sketch K showing the progress of the survey in Section XI: from Tillamook Bay to the Boundary
  U.S. Coast Survey, 1859
• Washington (1900)
  Cram, George Franklin, 1841-1928
  Geo. F. Cram, 1900
  Shows location of banking towns and railroads.
• Washington and Oregon [1854?]
  J. H. Colton & Co. , [1854?]
• World (1829?)
  s.n. , 182-?
  Folded leaf from a book, possibly the American universal geography.

Washington State’s Historical Newspapers as digitized by the Washington State Library are now available in PDF format. This means that teachers, students, and public library users no longer need to download the DJVU viewer in order to use the historical newspaper collection online. (DJVU format is still available for those who prefer it.) To view and/or search the newspaper collection, go to the Historic Newspapers in Washington site or search our Washington electronic newspaper holdings in the Washington State Library Catalog.

Historical newspapers from Washington State’s territorial period (1853-1889) are excellent primary source documents to support the new Social Studies CBA requirements. Teachers and students will particularly appreciate Moments in History, the pre-selected groups of articles on popular research topics. Additionally, Classics in Washington History, a digital collection of rare, out of print books, is also available in full-text for searching and viewing in PDF format.

The Washington State Library (WSL) recently awarded Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) the contract to digitize 100,000 newspaper images from microfilm. The contract is part of WSL’s National Digital Newspaper (NDNP) grant, recently awarded by the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), to digitize historic Washington newspapers.

OCLC has a long history of working with historic newspapers and currently maintains the database of  the U.S. Newspaper Program (USNP), an initiative to microfilm newspapers published in the United States from the 18th century to the present; the foundation for NDNP.

Titles that were published within the 1880-1922 timeframe will be selected by the WA-NDNP selection committee and microfilm will be evaluated by WSL staff before it is sent to OCLC for digitization and conversion to full-text, searchable files. The output files will then be evaluated by WSL staff to assure quality before a copy of the files are sent to the Library of Congress and published within the Chronicling America website.

OCLC has worked with other NDNP awardees and offers experience with and knowledge of the rigorous NDNP grant specifications. We look forward to working with OCLC on a project of this scope and importance.

The Washington State Library (WSL) recently received a National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) grant. Washington’s NDNP grant is managed by the Research & Development (R&D) team within the State Library and will fund the digitization of 100,000 newspaper pages from microfilm.

NDNP is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and is managed in part by the Library of Congress (LC). The NDNP is an initiative that began in 2005 and “builds on the foundation established by an earlier NEH initiative: the United States Newspaper Program (USNP).”

Library of Congress: Chronicling America site

LC hopes to eventually have all historic American newspapers available online and searchable from their Chronicling America website.  

To accomplish Washington’s grant, we are working in partnership with the University of Washington Libraries and other academic and public libraries around the state. The main goal of the grant is to make the newspaper pages full-text searchable using OCR technology. Another important goal is to generate a sustainable and collaborative model for newspaper digitization in Washington State that can continue and build around the state, past this initial grant.

To find out more about Washington’s involvement in NDNP visit WA National Digital Newspaper Program Wiki or contact Laura Robinson, NDNP Coordinator at the Washington State Library.