February Photo Challenge This man apparently spent quite a bit of time in Olympia, visiting schools and giving out advice about his profession. He was very famous, so I am just hoping this grainy, old newspaper photo is distorted just enough to make this a little bit tough on everyone. Who am I kidding? I am about to get hit with a flood of guesses. I'm ready! Send us your guess!

Impressive response last month Good job, everybody! I thought this was genuinely going to be a difficult Photo Challenge, but our readers definitely proved me wrong. The man sitting on the far right is Rev. Dr. Samuel McKinney, the man who led the successful effort to bring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Seattle in 1961. Dr. McKinney attended Morehouse College with Dr. King in Atlanta. See last month's challenge

Cracking the Archives

Black History Month—several African-American families lived in Washington Territory

Black History Month is about recognizing African Americans who have made contributions to our local communities. After trailblazers like George Washington, founder of Centralia, and George Bush, founder of Bush Prairie (Tumwater/New Market), led the way, many other pioneers of color came to keep reading

Genealogists learn about preservation

Employee Spotlight do-over

History Happy Hour a huge hit

An enthusiastic crowd of genealogists packed the Archives' Olympia research room on Saturday, January 27 for a free workshop about storing personal records and preparing them for natural disasters. Archivists Tracy Rebstock, Maggie Cogswell and Mary Hammer offered expert advice on how to take care of photo albums, panoramic photos, artifacts and more!

Let's try this again. Last month, Out of the Archives went out with this article linking to the wrong page. It was a great interview and it shan't go to waste! Meet Devin O'Brian. Devin works in Imaging Services in Olympia.  Read the entire interview

Once again History Happy Hour was a blast for all who came out to Three Magnets Brewing Co. in Olympia on Thursday, February 1. Former Secretary of State Ralph Munro (pictured above) showed up and, as always, he lit up the room and had a great time. Keep an eye on future newsletters so you can attend the next event. It's free!

Archives featured on new series, We'll Meet Again

Ann Curry is hosting a new dramatic reunion series on PBS called We’ll Meet Again . The second episode was filmed at the Washington State Archives and features our own Ben Helle, who used the records to help a woman find the helicopter pilot who rescued her from Mount St. Helens as it erupted in 1980. View a clip of Ben’s appearance

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Out of the Archives, Feb. 2018 banner photo: Teddy Roosevelt visiting Fort George Wright, Spokane, WA, 1908.

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