This photograph comes from the Susan Parish Collection at the Washington State Archives.  Such an interesting face...but who is he?  It's a mystery, one of many.  Can you help us figure it out?  If so, send us an email!

The Washington State Historical Society and the Washington State Archives work together to preserve and promote our shared history.  Take a look at some exciting opportunities with the WSHS in the coming months!  Click the links for more details.

Washington State Historical Society Annual Awards; Call for Nominations

Small Museum Workshops:

Imaging Update:

 

Imaging's Maggie Cogswell shares the process for scanning in hundreds of thousands of signatures of supporters of these opposing viewpoints regarding gun control, and also the security measures in place to protect the validity of the information here!  Read about this important and sometimes overlooked piece of the process in the Olympia Archives Building!

The Washington State Archives is housing a collection of records that you may not be aware of: Applications and Licenses from the Department of Licensing's Business and Professions Administrations!  These records contain information on various professionals in Washington and cover the years 1872-2006 (with the bulk between the 1900-1950s). 

Professions include Medical Examiners, Notary Publics, Physicians, Dentists, Barbers, Embalmers, Veterinarians, Funeral Directors, Optometrists, Nurses, Chiropodists, Drugless Healers, Physical Therapists, Cosmetologists, Estheticians, Manicurists, Midwifes, Engineers, Architects, Landscape Architects, Boxers, Geologists, and Land Surveyors.  The records include varying amounts of information such as name, county or city of practice, college attended and date of graduation, residence, date of certification, license number, age, race, gender, birthplace, signatures, and photographs.  Many of the records are arranged alphabetically, though not all have indexes.  We even have a few of the registers on line at the Digital Archives. 

If you are interested in viewing these records, contact our Research Staff to determine whether we have records covering the dates your family member practiced in Washington State.

Following on the above mentioned collection at the Washington State Archives comes a celebrity sighting in the stacks! 

One of the hottest controversies of the summer of 1970 was whether or not to allow a boxing match to take place at  Seattle in the fall between Cassius Clay, the former heavy-weight champion of the world, and Joe Frazier.  The controversy is detailed in the records of the Professional Athletic Commission found in the Archives.  Click Here to discover the surprising pieces of history spelled out in this fantastic primary source document!

Recent digitization projects funded by grants from WSHRAB reveal fascinating stories corroborating local tales of ghosts in Pierce County and boundless love in Kitsap County in the late 1800s. The Washington State Historical Records Advisory Board (WSHRAB) serves the public as the central advisory board for historical records projects and plans and provides leadership and guidance to help ensure the identification, preservation, and use of the state's historical records. It acts as a state-level review body for proposals as defined by NHPRC grant program guidelines.  Read more about what the records reveal here.

Did you know...

The Archives has partnered with FamilySearch.org for many years to make government records more accessible?  Since 2007 volunteers have spent thousands of hours in the research rooms of the Archives.  Records have been imaged from every branch of the Archives, and from every county in the State of Washington.

Today there are three cameras located in Olympia imaging the records of the counties and cities of Southwest Washington.  Two of the current volunteers, George and Kathleen Clarke, have been in Olympia for a little over a year and have recently surpassed the 1 million record mark!

Once FamilySearch.org in Salt Lake City performs quality control on the images they are returned on hard drives to us at the Archives to use.  To date, FamilySearch.org has imaged over 10 million records!

Once the images are processed they are transferred to the Digital Archives for indexing or storage for use in the future.  FamilySearch.org also makes the images available on its website free of charge at  www.familysearch.org.

Art is visual language, telling humanity's story in every corner of the world.  In our own modern times, safely stored within our vaults, are photographic collections.  Angela Yoder, self proclaimed Art and Digital Nerd with the Washington State Archives, brings you Red Delicious Apples by Asahel Curtis.  Check it out here!  It's a fun and different way of thinking about archival holdings!

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.

A few recent stories worth checking out:

Photo says it all: Our State Archives rock!

From the Archives: Remembering JFK

From The Archives: JFK at Sea-Tac Airport, 1963

Check out 1927 WA highway map, spot the differences!

From the Archives: Remembering Pearl Harbor