Hearing History: Preserving Washington Voices
History is not always recorded in textbooks, manuscripts and photographs. Oral histories play an essential role in telling the stories that are unique to families, communities, and ways of life in Washington. Seattle Civil Rights activists, Swedish immigrants in Tacoma, Spokane pioneers, Roslyn miners, Pacific County oyster farmers, concrete workers at the Grand Coulee Dam, women of the state legislature, Lummi Island fishermen, and Grays Harbor millworkers have had their stories preserved in archives across the state. Listen to and share the stories they tell.
If your collections include these stories and you would like to promote them during Washington Archives Month, please send selected transcripts, photographs of interviews, links to your online recordings, and related documentary materials to Benjamin Helle at the Washington State Archives, benjamin.helle@sos.wa.gov by Friday, September 6th, 2013. We plan to make these items part of our special Washington Archives Month online exhibit.
The purpose of Washington Archives Month is to:
Celebrate the value of Washington’s historical records, to publicize the many ways these records enrich our lives, to recognize those who maintain our communities’ historical records, and to increase public awareness of the importance of preserving historical records.
This seventh annual statewide celebration of Washington Archives Month is coordinated by a committee of representatives from archival and manuscript repositories throughout the state. Co-sponsors are the Washington State Archives, the National Archives at Seattle and the Washington State Historical Records Advisory Board.
Thank you very much,
The Washington Archives Month Coordinating Committee Co-Chairs
Ken House/National Archives at Seattle and Benjamin Helle/Washington State Archives