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 if you get caught up in traffic snarls or flight delays on your travels remember how comparatively easy you have it.

Washington Rural Heritage  is a collection of historic photographs from around the state.  The Washington Rural Heritage Program helps small libraries and museums digitize their historic photo and archival collections. It is also a digital archive for Washingtonians, with more than 300 family photo collections included in the website/database.  Each picture in the collection tells a unique story.  Think about taking time over the holidays to explore and lose yourself in these images of early Washington.

Pictures in this slide show are from: Ellensburg Heritage, Roslyn Heritage, Skamania County Heritage, Orcas Island Heritage and Whitman County Heritage.

Olympia (Postcard history series). By Jill Bullock. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 2010. 127 p.

Recommendation by:
Rand Simmons, Acting Washington State Librarian, Tumwater, WA.

This unassuming book of black and white photos with minimal text packs an amazing amount of history in its 127 pages. The history of my adopted town, Olympia, WA, is told through images of postcards collected by author Jill Bullock. Many of the postcards are, in the collectors’ vernacular, “real photo postcards” or RPPCs. Through these images we learn about steamboats, downtown Olympia, early public schools and businesses, the Capitol of Washington, the brewery that made Tumwater famous and the history of logging.

We also learn the place of Olympia in the State’s history. The territorial capitol, Olympia struggled to retain the same role when Washington gained statehood in 1889. The first vote failed and Olympia faced a second vote in 1890. “Fate intervened in the form of the great Seattle fire that threatened to consume the city. The Olympia city fathers were quick to act. They sent the town’s fine, new steam-pumper fire engine the Silsby to stricken Seattle on the fast steamer Fleetwood. In spite of grumbling amongst the townspeople, $500 of taxpayers’ money was also given to Seattle to aid in their recovery. Seattleites, feeling indebted, showed their appreciation by supporting Olympia as the site of a permanent state capitol.”

This is the kind of history that arm-chair historians like me enjoy, a quick easy read filled with photos. Thanks is given by the author to Mary Hammer and (recently-retired) Dave Hastings of the Washington State Archive for their assistance with the book.

ISBN-13: 978 0738580364

Available at the Washington State Library,  NW 979.779 BULLOCK 2010
Not available as an eBook, talking book, or as a Braille edition.

From the desk of Sean Lanksbury. PNW & Special Collections Librarian

Otherwise, you might end up with the sight you have before you: rotting timber, broken windows, and a sagging foundation.  Egads!  Long-time library volunteer Gordon Russ recently uncovered this undated image of Washington’s Territorial Legislative Building in disrepair while processing a portion of the State Library Special Collections.

The original capitol building was built for $5,000 appropriated by U.S. Congress as described in Section 13 of the Organic Act of 1853 and granted to newly appointed Governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens.  Stevens used another $5000 to acquire volumes for the Washington Territorial Library and have them shipped to the new seat of government in Olympia, as described in Section 17 of that same document.

The building was never really finished to any condition that would be considered proper for housing government. The following description comes from “Historic Sites of the Washington State and Territorial Library: 1853 to the present”:

The building was built in 1856 on 12 acres donated by Edmund Sylvester. The new Legislative Building was described by historian Gordon Newell as a “wooden two-story structure that stood between where the present Legislative and Insurance Commissioner buildings now stand.” The building was hastily built and never really in an ideal state following its occupancy.  Reports of the era described it as a “sad picture of melancholy dinginess” [Ex. Doc. 144, 43rd Congress, 2nd Session] and “in a sad state of repair” [Smith letter, 1868.11.01] with worn out furniture; “faded, soiled, and ragged carpets;” and a rotting wooden block foundation that had caused the building to slope toward one end.   As described in 1874 by Henry J. Struve, Territory Secretary, the territorial Capitol Building was “left in an entirely unfinished condition” following its construction. He continues:  “The walls of the main chambers, committee rooms, library, entrance halls, &c., have never been lathed, plastered, or painted, and a portion of the same were and remain to this day, covered with rough, unplanned boards with a coat of common whitewash.”

Eventually the building proved too small and ramshackle to use.  The building served its original purpose until 1901 when the Legislature purchased the building that originally was built for use as the Thurston County Courthouse. The Library relocated to the Old Thurston Courthouse in 1901 and the Legislature moved in upon completing renovations in 1905.  The Territorial Legislative building was destroyed in 1911 to make way for the new Legislative Building designed by architects Walter Wilder and Harry White (now celebrating 100 years) , and the new Capitol Campus, as envisioned by landscape design firm Olmstead Brothers.

The former Thurston County Courthouse continued to house most of the state agencies until 1919. The Legislature met there until the present Legislative Building was completed in 1928.  That building was then kept to house the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and does so to this day.

Feeling inspired to do some research of your own?  Feel free to begin your search by using the Washington State Library “Ask-a-Librarian” service!

Volume 6, July 1, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) WASHINGTON READS – WASHINGTON AS PLACE

2) FIRST TUESDAYS – ELLUMINATION!

3) FREE ONLINE CLASSES FROM WSL AND AMIGOS

4) WSL OFFERS FUNDING FOR ARSL-ABOS CONFERENCE

5) OPPORTUNITY TO ORDER DISCOUNTED FLIP CAMCORDERS

6) COME TO THE FAIR

7) E-GOVERNMENT TOOLKIT RELEASED

8) TEN SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS & SECRETS

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Volume 6, May 13, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) MARKETING 101 – PR FOR NON-PROFESSIONALS

2) HOW VALUABLE IS YOUR LIBRARY?

3) MORE TRAINING FOR DOWNLOADABLE AUDIOBOOKS

4) WEBINAR EXPLORES BENEFITS OF PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS

5) REVISED STANDARDS FOR SERVICE TO YOUNG ADULTS

6) TRENDS IN TEEN LIT – THE INDEPENDENT VIEW

7) DIGITAL PHOTO MANAGEMENT FOR LIBRARIES

8) THE FUTURE IS MOBILE – IS YOUR LIBRARY READY?

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Washington Rural Heritage introduced Ellensburg Heritage last year with the stunning Rodeo Collection, documenting 40 years of one of the top 25 rodeos in the country. Their sophomore effort brings us three new collections (and a few more rodeo photographs, too!).

The Kittitas Valley Crossroads Collection contains nearly 200 historic images depicting Indian life in Ellensburg and the surrounding area. It features the work of local photographers as well as a sampling from Eli Emor James, Lee Moorhouse, Vibert Jeffers, and Frank Matsura. The images include portraits of Indians in both traditional and Western dress, photos of pictographs from Rock Island, and scenes of recreation and domestic life.

The Ida Nason Collection is the personal photograph collection of Ellensburg citizen Ida Joseph Nason Aronica. A great-granddaughter of Yakama Chief Owhi, she dedicated her life to the preservation of her native heritage and culture. See images of her weaving and beadwork, family photos – her daughters were Ellensburg Rodeo royalty in 1929, and beautiful portraits of Ida as a young girl and in her later years.

The Fred L. Breckon Historic Portraits Collection is the work of amateur photographer Fred Beckon, an Ellensburg native who captured his fellow citizens in candid shots around town. These portraits date from the early 1940s to 1966 and are accompanied by short biographical information jotted down at the time the photo was taken, giving a very personal glimpse into Ellensburg’s history. Learn more about everyone from a poet to the postmaster.

View Ellensburg Public Library’s entire collection at: http://www.washingtonruralheritage.org/ellensburg. To view their newest 2008 grant material, click here.

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!