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Curious about this photo? Find this and many more at the Digital Archives!  Click here for more details.
Myths in Records Management

As business becomes increasingly digital and amasses ever-increasing numbers of records, the tasks before our records managers seem daunting.  Our team of experts can make these seemingly overwhelming tasks much more manageable!


Speaking of Records Management, Training Opportunities for State & Local Government are available.
 
Did You Know...?
 
A new exhibit
Washington 1889: Blazes, Rails and the Year of Statehood

is now in the capitol!  Learn more here, or view the entire exhibit online
News from the OSOS Blog
Stories from the Archives...

The Office of the Secretary of State routinely updates a blog entitled "From Our Corner,"  in order to provide from-the-source information about important state news and public services.  Often, stories of note from the Archives are included on this page.

Washington State Digital Archives
and
Washington State Library
both voted best in Washington for state genealogy websites!
Time to Think About National History Day

National History Day is a fun event that encourages students to become historians by developing research, analysis, presentation and social skills. Working individually or in groups, junior (grades 6-8) and senior (9-12) division students select a topic related to an annual theme.

Visit the Washington State Historical Society's Washington History Day page to learn more and see how you can get involved.

Would you like to send a message to the future?  Click here to find out more about the Capsule Keepers, and how you can be a part of Washington History in the year 2389!
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Banner Photo: A.M. Kendrick Photographic Collection, ca. 1890-1976. Imaged and indexed by Eastern Region Branch staff, Washington State Archives, Eastern Region. All original prints and negatives are housed at the Eastern Region of the Washington State Archives, Cheney, WA. On-line 2008
December 2014  
Medicine Creek Anniversary

Contributed by Trova Heffernan, Director, The Legacy Project


The day after Christmas 160 years ago, under a Douglas fir on the Nisqually Delta, major Indian tribes of Washington gave up more than 2 million acres of land. The historic deal known as the Treaty of Medicine Creek is a two-page document held at the National Archives. The treaty was brokered with the United States and signed by 62 Indian leaders as land-hungry Americans began to settle into the Puget Sound region. The Treaty of Medicine Creek marks the first in a series of agreements rapidly organized by Isaac Stevens, an intelligent West Pointer and a controversial governor of Washington Territory.

   

In the Medicine Creek Treaty, the tribes ceded to the United States 2.5 million acres of land from the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound. They secured $32,500, reservations, and retained the right to fish at "all usual and accustomed grounds and stations."

  

Throughout history, the tribes have depended on the treaties to preserve their way of life. When fish runs in the Northwest depleted, a rift formed between Indian and non-Indian fishermen. Tribes protested, citing the rights they secured in the treaties of 1854. Violence erupted on 20 major rivers in Western Washington and the Indians made their case in court. On February 12, 1974, Hugo Boldt, a bright, tough federal district judge,  used the Medicine Creek Treaty as the foundation of his opinion that awarded treaty tribes an equal share of the fish.

 

Boldt's decision may have been hailed a sizable victory for the tribes, but it angered non-Indian sports and commercial fisherman who viewed the ruling unfair and protested in a violent backlash on the water.

To learn more, visit the Washington State Archives and digitalarchives.wa.gov.
Books from the Archives,
Episode Three  

Contributed by Terry Badger, Deputy State Archivist


As has been written several times in this newsletter, art is not only an important part of our heritage, but also an important part of the historical record.  Confirming the validity of this statement, two years ago, local Olympia historian Drew Crooks finished several years' worth of work and research into one of Olympia's most prolific, and yet unknown artists, Edward Lange.  Edward Lange: An Early Artist of Olympia and Washington State, traces Lange's life and work while providing some of the earliest vignettes of daily life across the state.  Crooks visited the Washington State Library and State Archives in his search for Edward Lange. 

Read more about Crooks' book and see examples of some of Lange's work here.  
Puget Sound Branch Archives
Image of the Month

Contributed by Mike Saunders, Puget Sound Branch Regional Archivist


This photograph of the Dog House, Seattle institution for several decades, was taken in 1937.  It captures the restaurant on its original site.  Read more about the history of the Dog House here, and click here for a larger version of the image.
NHD 2014 - Vietnam POWs Taking Responsibility when Deprived of All Rights (m)
NHD 2014 - Vietnam POWs Taking Responsibility when Deprived of All Rights (m)
History Students in the Archives

Contributed by Tracy Rebstock, Southwest Regional Archivist


These aren't college students, but middle school students getting an introduction to the Archives and the records we hold.

What are they doing?  Working on research for a National History Day (NHD) project.  This year's theme is Leadership and Legacy in History.  (See the sidebar for more information on NHD)
 
Washington students routinely finish well at this national competition.  The video here was created by a student from Pleasant Valley Middle School, and won a Gold Medal in 2014 for the Junior Group Documentary!  Read Tracy's full story here.

Get to Know Archives and Records Management Staff! 
Say hello to Leslie Koziara, Certified Records Manager (CRM) and self-proclaimed "records goddess" at the Olympia office.  Leslie draws upon her lifelong experience in managing records and information to teach, inform and assist state and local governments develop and implement records management programs for their agencies.

"I've always been organized and have been known to help friends organize kitchen cupboards and garages." Leslie credits her first job of managing the school store in high school with shaping her talent for organizing records and information. "Managing records and information is really a core business process, and agencies should run like a business to support continuity, accountability, and transparency. That's really what records and information management is all about!"  

 

"There's a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about public records and technology.   Nothing's really changed, agencies are still the same agencies providing the same goods and services for the public.   What we do hasn't changed, it's HOW we do it that has changed...."

 

 Leslie does her part to bring the fun into records management...the same kind of fun she has in the rest of her life. She is a runner (slow but steady) and hiker (also slow but steady) and XC skier, so for fun runs and races "I try to either wear a tiara or a funny hat or dress up in a costume to bring some fun factor to it (as you can see from my picture) or hiking will snap goofy pictures and poses while out enjoying our wonderful outdoors.  Records rock!"

 

Think of Leslie the next time you have records management questions! She will be happy to share her love of it all with you.
Holiday Treasures in the Archives 
  
When pulling articles together for this edition of Out of the Archives, we first looked at the collections at the Digital Archives to see what we could find that was particular to this time of year, and we found some fantastic things.  For example, did you know that there are two people in the State of Washington who have legally changed their names to become Santa Claus?  What about Christmas Island? (pictured above)...do you have memories of this Christmas tradition either on the lake or in its later home at South Sound Mall in Lacey?  Our photo archivist also uncovered some fantastic Christmas editions of "Olympus," the Olympia High School yearbooks.  Why not visit digitalarchives.wa.gov to see what you can find?  It's easy to search by topic (try Christmas), county, or just peruse the photograph collection!

We hope you've enjoyed this edition of
"Out of the Archives!"



Steve Excell, Washington State Archivist | steve.excell@sos.wa.gov | http://sos.wa.gov/archives/
Telephone: (360) 586-1492
1129 Washington St. SE
Olympia, WA 98504-0238
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