Back-to-school photo
challenge


School campuses are bustling this time of year. Which Washington campus is shown in this photo?

Click the photo to view a larger version.
With how recent this photo is, and the soccer players in the background, most guessers accurately identified Michelle Akers, who won the Olympic gold for the U.S. women’s soccer squad in 1996.

The photo shows Akers being honored in Olympia by Gov. Gary Locke following the squad’s 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup title.
On Aug. 11, 2021, Washington State Archives' Central Regional Branch Archivist Brigid Clift presented to the Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society (WAGS) on what's new at State Archives and the central branch, including new accessions from Chelan and how to find them on Washington State Archives' Digital Archives (DA). Clift also discussed our partnership with Ancestry to help populate the DA.
by Joseph Pentheroudakis, patron of Washington State Archives

In April 1951, logger Bill Sehmel (pron. ZAY-mel), one of the sons of a German pioneer family in Rosedale outside Gig Harbor, bought Herron Island from its then owners, George and Blanche Murphy, for $100,000. Sehmel had researched island logging, weighing the logistics against the potential profit, and realized the virgin timber on the 286-acre island was worth a lot of money.

Sehmel, his son Charlie, and a logging crew spent the next five years clear-cutting the island. They assembled and filled log rafts along the east and north sides of the island that were then towed to Puget Sound Plywood in Tacoma’s Commencement Bay. Topographic maps of the island from the 1950s, revised as late as 1994, still show the pilings that had been driven into the tidelands to hold the rafts.

Sehmel netted a profit several times his investment...
Haunted tours
are back
Who said
that?
On Friday, Oct. 29, the fourth annual Halloween haunted tours of Washington State Archives will commence in Olympia.

The spooky trek through the dark stacks in the underbelly of the Archives Building will be sure to entertain, fright, and even educate! We've brought some Washingtonians back from the dead to tell their stories, and you don't want to miss it!

Details on how to register for this free event will be in October's newsletter.
All Washington State Archives branches are now open to the public.

Patrons must make an appointment prior to visiting, and wear a face covering during the visit. Health checks are no longer required.

Go here for more information, including how to contact each branch to set up an appointment.
"Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts."

Who said that? (Hint: it's not the person in the photo.)

Last month's quote was from Walla Walla native Adam West.