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Archives Month
photo challenge
To help us honor American Archives Month this October, tell us the name and location of the building in this photo. 

The sign is too small to read, so it won't give you all the information you need to answer this challenge.
Just over 150 years ago, in August 1870, Hazard Stevens summited Mount Rainier with the man in this photo, P. B. Van Trump. They are the first documented people to accomplish the feat.

Only a handful of readers got this one, but several guessers said Hazard Stevens, so they were very close!

We celebrate "Archives Month in Washington," an annual opportunity to communicate the value of our state’s historical records to diverse audiences statewide. We publicize and raise awareness of the many ways these collections enrich our lives, and recognize those who preserve and manage our communities' historical records, whether at archives repositories, museums, libraries, within companies, or at nonprofit institutions.

This year's theme is "Creativity, Rights, and Resilience." Due to the pandemic, we cannot host the events we normally would to commemorate Archives Month, so help us spread awareness about the history preserved by archivists and records managers across the nation. We look forward to a hopefully typical Archives Month in 2021.

Contact us if you would like a copy of our Archives Month digital motion poster for your organization's Facebook page.
Digital Projects and Preservation Archivist Mary Hammer has been working to get the City of Olympia Register of Voters, 1872-1890 records title online. The series can now be browsed on the Washington State Archives — Digital Archives.

This volume includes the signatures of Olympia women who registered to vote from 1883 through 1886, when the Territorial Legislature passed a bill that temporarily extended suffrage to women.

Go here to browse the fascinating series that was fittingly released in a year that marks the centennial of women's (permanent) suffrage, and a year in which the Archives Month theme includes rights and resilience.
Scrapbooks webinar postponed
Archives postponed its Sept. 24 scrapbooks webinar because of an active cyber threat facing government entities throughout the country. Out of an abundance of caution, Archives and other divisions of the Office of the Secretary of State were closed. Read more here. 

All registrants for the Sept. 24 webinar will be automatically registered for the rescheduled event. Once a date has been selected, attendees will receive updated information.
Who said
that?
The Washington State Archives — Puget Sound Regional Archives (PSRA) holds a plethora of records from King, Kitsap, and Pierce counties.

In this new YouTube video, Regional Archivist Mike Saunders talks about the contents of the PSRA, and how to use them.

The information in the video is also applicable to our other branches, that serve their own designated counties.
With consideration for the safety of the public and our staff, and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Olympia and Ellensburg branches of the State Archives are available by appointment only.

All other branches remain closed, but still allow state and local government agency staff to research records on an emergency basis.

The Tumwater Records Center continues to operate at its usual capacity.

Go here for more information.
"You ain't supposed to get salmon when they're swimming upstream to spawn. But if you're hungry, you do."

Who said that?

A lot of people don't realize the singer who said that started her career in Washington, even though she's famous for her ties to Kentucky and Nashville.

Hint: The woman in the photo above has nothing to do with this quote.

Last month's quote is from U.S. Senator Patty Murray.