Whatcom County Historical Society – 2011-2012 Program Season

Second Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.

Whatcom Museum, 121 Prospect St.

Free and open to all

2011

October 13: “The Darius and Tabitha Kinsey Collection: A Well-preserved Legacy,” by local photographer Gary Meader. Meader has studied and has great respect for the work of the couple best known for documenting life in local logging camps. He provides a look at their accomplishments from a photographer’s perspective. He works with some of the same types of cameras used by the Kinseys and has had the opportunity to make prints directly from the original glass plates and negatives,

November 10: “Bays to Bells,” the history of baseball in Whatcom County by Wes Gannaway and Kent Hoelsather, authors of a book on the topic. The program will over the entire span of county ball from the first recorded game in 1875 through the semi-pro team, the Bellingham Bells to today. Includes material not found in the book. Gannaway and Hoelsather are co-authors of two volumes on “Whatcom Then and Now.”

December 8: “Annual History Holiday,” a fun evening of open-mike sharing of local history projects, stories, research, holiday refreshments and mingling. A very brief election of board members kicks off the evening.

2012

January 12: “Dreams of Gold: History of the Mount Baker Mining District” Local author Mike Impero will discuss his new book Dreams of Gold, a history of twelve early gold mines in the Mt. Baker region. The history includes many photos, old and new (many taken by helicopter), newspaper articles, legal papers, court records, maps (old and new) and personal interviews. Impero is a life-long resident of Whatcom County. He was raised near Maple Falls and has a memory of some of the characters and events of the later days of the Mt. Baker Mining District. He has been to all the named mines in the book except for two of them. His first book was The Lone Jack.

February 9: “Good Time Girls Present: Bellingham’s Historical Identity”Join Marissa McGrath & Sara Holodnick– The Good Time Girls– for an exploration of Bellingham’s civic and historical identity. Marissa & Sara will discuss how they make history accessible to tour-goers, the importance of highlighting our city’s well-rounded past, and the value of “edutainment”– informative entertainment– when discussing underrepresented and marginalized groups.

March 8: “Traffic Jam on Bellingham Bay, Summer 1858” 1858 was a critical year for Washington Territory, but in particular, for the little settlements on Bellingham Bay. While researching the bark Ann Parry historian Janet Oakley uncovered new details about Whatcom & Sehome in the Gold Rush summer from the ads, reporters and shipping news and stories in the Daily Alta (California) newspaper. The number of ships and steamers coming to the bay is mind boggling and the dramatic story of one steamer that nearly ended in one of the greatest loss of life at sea.

April 12: “ Lost Communities of Whatcom County,” by Lynden Pioneer Director Troy Luginbill. While wandering about any Western region you will sometimes come across an old lonely gas station, church or store that was seemingly built in the middle of no where. At one time however, that lonely building was somewhere. Here in Whatcom County Troy Luginbill has been finding these little lonely places that once had hopes and dreams of becoming a thriving metropolis. Many early settlers started little communities that no longer exist. Places such as Forest Grove, Roeder, and Buffalo Corners. In this presentation you will be introduced to the over 2 dozen little communities that have sprung up in central Whatcom County, and then disappeared to be remembered only as names on a map, or an abandoned building by the side of the road.

Sat  8 AM to 4 PM

Sun 8 AM to 4 PM

Household items          Books                  Clothing

Tools                                  Toys                    Wall art

Sports equipment        Collectibles       Furniture

Other amazing finds!

Sale proceeds help to restore the oldest brick building in Washington,  Bellingham. Come on down. See the interior.

The Whatcom County Historical Society has scheduled an open house and street celebration for the completion of the restoration of the Whatcom County Territorial Courthouse on Saturday, August 27, 2011. This coincides with the 153rd anniversary of the original construction of the building. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include street displays, music, food, and tours of the newly restored  building. A brief program will be held at 11:30 a.m. Tours of the building will be offered every half hour from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. except at 11:30. We will request $5 adult and $2 student donations for the tours. Children 6 years or under will be admitted free.

The completion of the restoration is an historic event itself. You won’t want to miss being part of this piece of history. Please be sure to encourage friends, family and neighbors to celebrate the preservation of the oldest brick building in the state of Washington.

Come on down.

The Nooksack River stólaw7 (the river) at the mouth of the South Fork Nuxw7íyem.

How were places named in the original Nooksack language?

On April 14, the story of Nooksack place names will be recounted in a slide presentation by Allan Richardson, Anthropologist and researcher of Nooksack Indian culture and history. Accurate pronunciations and additional dialog will be provided by George Adams, language specialist with the Nooksack Tribe and the only remaining fluent speaker of the Nooksack language.

A Passion for Nooksack Place Names and Culture

Allan Richardson received an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Washington, Seattle, and taught Anthropology at Whatcom Community College for 38 years.  He has published articles on Northwest Coast native culture and has served as consultant to the Nooksack Indian Tribe for a number of grants and legal cases.  Mr. Richardson is coauthor with Dr. Brent Galloway of the forthcoming book Nooksack Language.  He is also active in the Washington Native Plant Society, and lives on a small farm on the outskirts of Bellingham.

A Passion for Preserving Language and Tradition

1855 Map of Nooksack River Steven Gibbs

George Adams has lived most of his life in his Native Homeland, primarily in Whatcom County.  His oral tradition teachers were his grandparents and other elders from Nooksack, Lummi, Tulalip, Upper Skagit, Swinomish, Saanich, Cowichen, Chilliwack, Malahat, Musqueum, and Clallum tribes to name a few.  His formal education includes a BA in Education from WWU.  He taught in public schools, grades pre-k-12, and adults, before his career led him to work primarily with First Nations in education, teaching First Nations Languages and administration.  In his own words:  “Throughout my entire career, Native Language Revitalization has been ‘my heart’.

Today, Lhéchalosem (the Nooksack Language) is on its return ‘from the dead’ though our Lhéchalosem Teacher Training Language Immersion Project, through the help of ANA Grant and tribal funds– hopefully, this will be my finest (not ‘final’) accomplishment.  Yalh kwómalh ashóy (Thanks), Syélpxen (George Adams), Lhéchalosem Revitalization Director/Instructor.”

Join Us

April 14 at 7:00 (welcome), Rotunda Room, Whatcom Museum.

Whatcom Museum Rotunda Room • 121 Prospect St. • Free

Steve Inge, retired WWU employee, will present a lively illustrated history of the early years of Western Washington University that will focus on the individuals who helped grow the little Normal School on the hill into a highly ranked, nationally-known liberal arts university.

According to Inge, Western transitioned through four distinct institutions, each of which were influenced by certain key players, including one particularly well-known board of trustee member. As the school changed, so did its name:

1893-1901 State Normal School at New Whatcom

1901-1904 State Normal School at Whatcom

1904-1937 Washington State Normal School at Bellingham

1937-1961 Western Washington College of Education

1961-1977 Western Washington State College

1977- Western Washington University

Rapid growth resulted in the Main Building receiving three annexes – southwest, 1902; science, 1909; Training School, 1914 – within less than 20 years.

Early faculty member

Ida Baker was one of the first faculty members at the State Normal School, teaching grammar and music from 1899 until her untimely death in 1921.

Join us.

Festive Open-Mike Sharing on Local History

Thursday, December 9th, 2010, 7:30 p.m.

Whatcom Museum Rotunda Room • 121 Prospect St. • Free

Join us for a festive evening of local history sharing in an open-mike format. Sign up on the spot for five-minute speaker slots or just listen as presenters share stories, talk about their latest project, ask forresearch assistance, share artifacts or interesting finds.

Some Planned Sharing

A few of the members planning to share include

ToddWarger on filming of the docu-drama “Mountain Runners” about the Mount Baker Marathons; Rosamond

VanMiert will talk about “Forgotten in Fairhaven:

Blonden Block and Morgan house

Janet Oakley on dramatizing court cases from the Territorial CountyCourthouse; and an update on the progress of the Territorial Whatcom County Courthouse (T.G. Richards Building – 1308 E. St.) restoration project.

Non-members are also welcome to share or ask for assistance with aresearch question.

This is a great time to hear more about Whatcom County history and meet and greet friends old and new. Each year something new comes to light. This is also a good time to find out about volunteer opportunities. Anddon’t forget about the great holiday goodies and annual local history book sale.

Some Historical goodies for your stocking

This is also the time to pick up your copy of the latest Journal of the Whatcom County Historical Society (see table of contents following). The Journal is free with a $20 or greater membership. It retails for $10. All members at the $20 level or above also receive a 10% discount on book anytime and additional discounts at the annual December book sale. If you can get to the December program to pick up your Journal, call Carole Morris at 360-966-2312 and make other arrangements to pick it up or have it mailed.

Your membership is very important to the Whatcom County Historical Society. Your dues pay for the programming, hospitality, rent for the Museum space, newsletter costs, and utilities/taxes/insurance for the old courthouse. We thank each and every one of our members for their faithful support over the years.

We also highly value our wonderful volunteers and the donors to the courthouse restoration fund. We will include a complete list in the January newsletter.

A presentation by Joe Moser and Gerald Baron

Thursday, November 18th, 2010, 7:30 p.m.

Whatcom Museum Rotunda Room • 121 Prospect St. • Free

Joseph F. Moser, a World War II fighter pilot, has an amazing story to tell. He very narrowly survived bailing out of his P-38 with an engine on fire, only to be quickly caught by the

Germans and sent on the very last train out of Paris -just before the Allies entered. On the train were 167 other Allied flyers – all except Joe were held by the French Underground until they were betrayed and turned over to the Gestapo by a Nazi agent. They were sent to Buchenwald on orders from Berlin to be executed as “terrorfliegers.”

Rescued by Luftwaffe officers and Sent to Camp Know for The Great Escape

Four days before their scheduled extermination they were rescued by Luftwaffe officers and shipped, instead, to the most famous POW camp in Germany–Stalag Luft III. Joe was placed in the same barracks where, just five months before, Allied flyers tunneled out and temporarily escaped. The

famous movie “The Great Escape” tells that story. As the Allies approached, Joe and the others were sent on a death march,which he barely survived, while on his way to another camp.

Today, Joe is a spry, quiet, humble 88-year-old gentleman living with his wife Jean in Ferndale, Washington, his home town.

Don’t miss this amazing story of courage, faith and endurance. Details are now in the book A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald, cowritten by

Bellingham author Gerald Baron. The book will be available for sale before and after Thursday’s presentation. Price per book is $20 including tax. Baron also helped set in motion the process that led to Moser, 88, receiving — decades overdue — the Distinguished Flying Cross

at a January 2009 ceremony at McChord Air Force Base. For more information see: www.joemoserstory.com.

On Monday, Nov. 8, 7-9 PM at the Fairhaven College Auditorium, WWU, a discussion will be held on the 125th anniversary of the expulsion of Chinese residents from Whatcom County. Here’s a chance to hear a terrific panel on a little known chapter of the county’s history.

During the 1880s, a hysteria swept through the Northwest over Chinese immigrants.  This presentation up at Fairhaven College is more than a presentation, it’s remembrance.

Poster:

poster Chinese Expulsion 11.8.10a

On Thursday, October 14, 7:30 PM, David Tucker will present the most recent geologic findings about past activity and the hazards we can expect in the future of Mount Baker.  Tucker has a Master of Science in Geology from WWU and has been researching volcanic geology of the

Doing research at Sherman Crater

Baker area for 15 years.  He is co-author of the upcoming USGS publication about Baker activity over the past 10,000 years.

A Little Known History

The history of Mount Baker is not well known due to the poor historic record of eruptions from Mount Baker; there are reasonably creditable reports of several small steam explosions in the 19^th Century, probably similar to those in 1975.  A large steam explosion in 1843 spawned very localized ash deposits, and led to lahars, or volcanic mudflows, which ran down the east side drainages of Boulder, Park, and Morovitz Creeks.

In 1975, the volcano became the focus of research in the Cascades, to be largely abandoned when Mount Saint Helens started acting out in 1980. New studies appeared around 2003.  We now know that Mount Baker is about 40,000 years old, and that it is only the most youngest of several sizable volcanoes that have come and gone in the area over the past 1 million years or so.

Still Acting Up

From the 1st successful ascent of Mount Baker 1868

Sherman Crater, which forms the prominent notch seen from the lowlands, is just south of the summit plateau, and has hundreds of active gas vents, or fumaroles. These spew 150 tons of carbon dioxide and about 1 ton of hydrogen sulphide per day- both of these gases come from a magma body lurking below the volcano.

Free Talk!

Please join the Whatcom County Historical Society’s opening talk for the 2010-2011 season at the Whatcom Museum Rotunda Room, 121 Prospect St.  Come at 7:00 for a little socializing. The talk, which is free, starts at 7:30.

The back of the courthouse August 8, 2010

Help Us Match a $10,000 Donation

According to Rick Tremaine, restoration committee chair, the total project cost is estimated to be about $520,000.  He estimates that the project needs about $100,000 more in order to finish and pay for the work.

A donor has offered to match the next $10,000 in donations.  If you care about this important piece of local and Washington State history, please  consider a donation to this important project. Donations of any size would be appreciated, are tax deductible, and would be matched (up to the first $10,000). In addition, if you donate at least $50 to the project, we will put your name on one of the paver bricks to be installed at the side of the building leading to the back. If you donate at least $1,000, your name will be permanently placed on the building as a major donor.

Courthouse on E Street July 7,2010

To find out more, there is more information on the building available at the Historical Society’s website at whatcomhistory.net. Just click on Territorial County Courthouse Restoration in the upper right corner, then click on “details on the restoration project” on that page.

Send donations to:

In additon, Steve Mayo, a well known local artist has done a painting of the ship Ann Parry in Bellingham Bay in 1858. The painting is historically very accurate and shows the brick for the building being unloaded. Steve has donated all of the prints to the Historical Society, so 

Ann Parry July 1858 unloading bricks

proceeds from all sales go to the project. Therefore, if you don’t want to donate, but want to buy a Steve Mayo print, this is another way to support the restoration. Lithographic prints are $175 plus sales tax and Giclee prints (limited to 40 copies) are $275 plus sales tax. The original is also available.