Olympic Mountains (Images of America) (Images of America Series)
Title: Olympic Mountains book is more than pretty picturesAuthor: Staff WriterPublisher: Sequim GazetteDate: 4/28/2010Historical images from the Jefferson County Historical Society collection are in the third book released by Arcadia Publishing in its Images of America series."Olympic Mountains" was authored by Marsha Moratti, archivist for the historical society. The book contains more than 200 historical images and covers the Olympic Mountains and its watershed.Moratti said, "We didn't want to just do another book of pretty mountain pictures. We wanted to include the people who utilized the resources of the mountains and made the place their home."Early photographersThe reader will find chapters on the Native Americans, early pioneers, logging, recreation and tourism. Moratti said she is grateful for the early photographers who documented life in the Olympics."Photographers Paul M. Richardson, George Welch, William H. Wilcox, James G. McCurdy, Sanford Lake and many others took wonderful photographs documenting the history of the Olympic Peninsula. Without their skill, enthusiasm and willingness to pack in cumbersome photography equipment, we would not have these images."History text, tooBill Tennent, historical society executive director, said, "This is more than a picture book. If you removed all of the photos, you still would have a wonderful history text.""Olympic Mountains" joins the books "Jefferson County" and "Port Townsend" written by the historical society and published by Arcadia Publishing. All three books are widely available throughout the Olympic Peninsula as well as at the museum shop at the Jefferson County Museum in downtown Port Townsend.Title: Jefferson County Historical Society unveils theater, honors preservers of historyAuthor: Staff WriterPublisher: Peninsula Daily NewsDate: 4/25/2010The memory keepers of Jefferson County were center stage during the 2010 Historic Preservation Awards given by the historical society."Traditionally, we have given the awards to people who have restored a building," said Bill Tennant, Jefferson County Historical Society executive director.Recorders of history"But this year, we focused on those who were recording the history because if the stories are never recorded, they are never preserved for the future."The pinnacle of Founders' Day on Sunday was the screening of a film, "We Came with Dreams," which gives a taste of what the museum and new gallery have to offer.The new gallery, which is in a 10-by-12-foot room, features a 53-inch television for viewing the video.The room's walls contain several historical photographs along with six frames that display a rotating selection of digital images from the museum's collection.Film focuses on motivationsThe film is divided into four sections, focusing on the four motivations that brought settlers to the area: harvesting crops, building an empire, developing community and achieving freedom."The film was wonderful -- it exceeded what we all thought it would," Tennant said."There were strong, bearded men who were crying."The film is meant to give viewers people an overview of Jefferson County, so it does not go into deep detail."It really does a great job showing everything from the Olympic Mountains to the coast to the Hood Canal region to Port Townsend," Tennant said."We have kind of joked that maybe we shouldn't show this to very many people because they will all want to move here now."The film was made using accounts of those who have been recording the history of Jefferson County.Construction of the new room and a design plan for future museum renovations were funded by a $200,000 grant from the Washington State Heritage Project.The award winners were:• Tom Camfield -- For ongoing documentation of local history including authoring the books Port Townsend: An illustrated History of Shanghaiing, Shipwrecks, Soiled Doves and Sundry Souls in 2000 and Port Townsend: The City That Whiskey Built in 2002. His promotion of history through his blog on the Port Townsend Leader Web site also was honored.• Pam Clise -- For ongoing documentation of local history through the thorough researching and writing of historical newspaper stories and for helping county schools to afford museum field trips. Her historical columns appear on the last Thursday of the month in the Jefferson County edition of the Peninsula Daily News.• Marsha Moratti ­-- For her work as an archivist for the Jefferson County Historical Society and overseeing the publication of three books in the Arcadia Publishing Images of America Series: Jefferson County in 2006, Port Townsend in 2008 and Olympic Mountains in 2010.• Marjorie Rogers -- For recording Jefferson County history through the collection of oral histories. She has worked with the oral history program since its inception, and has collected and transcribed more than 50 volumes of histories focusing on occupational history.• Marge Samuelson -- For promoting local history through new technology with an weekly history blog on the Port Townsend Leader Web site and for inputting thousands of historical documents and images into the society's database.