Postcard exhibit

We have a new exhibit up in the Northwest Room. It’s called “Wish You Were Here! Postcards from Spokane.” It features postcards of Spokane from the early twentieth century into the 1970s. It is divided into five areas - views of Spokane, picture postcards, postcards of Spokane’s parks and nearby natural areas, buildings, and one case of postcards from the Davenport Hotel.  The exhibit has about 100 postcards and I think you’ll see some views you haven’t seen before, so be sure to come in and take a look. It will be up through August.

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World War I Records

The Northwest Room has a collection of Spokane County World War I material. It is a collection of correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs and forms concerning Spokane County’s involvement in World War I. This includes the men who served in the military as well as the community involvement at home. In 1921, the Spokane County War History Committee compiled lists of men who served in the War, sending out forms to the men and their families. During the war, they also collected newspaper articles on any subject relating to the war overseas and at home, including the Red Cross, food conservation and the draft.

Several years ago, the Washington State Digital Archives digitized some of the material, not the entire collection. The digital archives has now added another World War I collection, which includes far more information. It looks like a great resource for finding those World War I military records.

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Northwest Maps

The Northwest Room has an impressive collection of historic maps. The collection includes maps of Spokane, Spokane County, Washington, the West, exploration, railroad surveys, and mining. The maps have long been a part of the collection in the Northwest Room, but they are now accessible through the SPL online catalog. For example, if you want to see Spokane street maps, you can do a subject search under Streets — Washington (State) — Spokane — Maps and you will find records that show the location as NW DRAWER and then a brief location. Then just come into the Northwest Room and we’ll pull them out for you to view. For the most part, they cannot be photocopied due to their size, but if you bring in a digital camera, you can make a copy.

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New exhibit

There’s a new exhibit up in the Northwest Room display cases. It’s called “Transient Documents: Ephemera of the Northwest.” As I have been getting to know the Northwest Room collection, I have discovered some great examples of ephemera. If you’re not familiar with the term, ephemera are sometimes defined as “the minor transient documents of everyday life.” Created for a temporary purpose and meant to be discarded, ephemera includes greeting cards, tickets, brochures, receipts, handbills, advertisements, labels, trading cards and many other bits and pieces. This display includes Spokane brochures, invitations, dance cards, and some examples of ephemera collected into scrapbooks. Come in and take a look.

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New Northwest Librarian

Hi. I’m Riva Dean - the new Northwest Librarian. I’m thrilled to be working in the Northwest Room. I’ve been working in libraries and archives for 25 years and have a MA in Northwest History so this is the ideal job for me. I’m getting to know the wonderful collection of materials and look forward to helping you with your research. Come on in and see what resources we have or give me a call if you have any questions.

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Fall House History Workshop

The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture(MAC) in co-operation with the Spokane Public Library is conducting a Fall workshop in finding the history of your home. The workshop will be held at the MAC on Saturday October 18, 2008. For more information contact the MAC at (509) 456-3931. Here’s a copy of the flyer: House History Flyer Fall 2008

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Take me out to the ball game…

Baseball has a rich history in the Pacific Northwest. Spokane Falls vs. Seattle was the first professional baseball game played in Seattle on May 24, 1890. You can read about it here. You can also see the slide show Play Ball! A Slide Show of the History of Early Baseball in Washington.

You can find more information about the history of baseball in Spokane in the Northwest Room.

~Northwest Librarian

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Historic Spokane Newspapers

Did you know that you can search early Spokane newspapers online? The Washington State Library has made available the Spokan Times from 5/8/1879 - 4/29/1882, and the Spokane Falls Review from 5/19/1883 - 3/6/1886. You can search these as well as other early Washington papers on the Historical Newspapers in Washington website, http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/newspapers.aspx

~Northwest Librarian

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Steptoe Aniversary

May 17th will be the 150th Anniversary of the defeat of Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Steptoe (1816-1865) at the hands of Native Americans near Rosalia. You can read more about the battle in this essay from History Link. You may read the original article and do more in depth research on Steptoe in the Northwest Room.

~ Northwest Librarian

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Washington Rural Heritage

The Washington State Library has announced the availability of Washington Rural Heritage.

Washington Rural Heritage (WRH) is an online aggregation of special collections from small and rural communities throughout the state of Washington. It features items important to Washington’s history, culture, places, and people. Its purpose is to make unique historical treasures from local libraries, museums, archives, and other repositories in the state electronically accessible to Washington residents, students, researchers, and the general public.

Washington Rural Heritage contains photographs, maps, manuscript materials, books, oral histories, and more. These materials document Washington’s rural history and culture. We hope that you find the items in Washington Rural Heritage as diverse and interesting as the people and places in Washington State.

Although currently the site only contains 3 databases (Ritzville, Thurston County, and Governors) there are more to come.

~ Northwest Librarian

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