Archive for the ‘Community Historians’ Category

Attn: All History Buffs!!

Monday, December 5th, 2022

If there had been space, the title of today’s blog should have been:  ATTENTION ALL HISTORY BUFFS — ESPECIALLY LOVERS OF COMMUNITY HISTORY AND OF AUTHOR LOUISE PENNY!!

Inside the Library of Congress — is our history here?

And, although the passage I will quote below is from her latest book, A World of Curiosities, no spoiler alert is necessary if you’ve not yet read your copy.  The quote has much to do with the subject of the book but gives absolutely nothing away.  Nothing about the book that is.  But it, once again, tells so much about the author.

Reine-Marie sighed. “It’s our fault. Historians, archivists, researchers, professors, biographers.  We look to the so-called importan figures.  We value papers left behind by Premiers, Prime Ministers, Presidents — by the most prominent witnesses to history — and forget there are other witnesses.  The people who actually lived it.  The First Nations.  The farmers.  The cooks and cleaners and salespeople.  The laborers.  The immigrants, the minorities.”

Medora Espy’s Diary, August 1915 – Or is our history here?

I just want to jump up and down and shout and cajole (as I have done so numerous times in these blogs!) — Keep a journal, folks!  Write in a daybook or a diary or note events on a calendar!  Tell what something looks like, why you love dit or hate it or what the neighbors are saying about it.  Those are the descriptions of the now.  Of December 2022.  Probably not worth noting or even remembering in the now.  But in December 2122 or even 3022 it will be “history” — the real deal!!

Walking Back in Time in Old Ilwaco

Saturday, July 16th, 2022

On The Ilwaco Walking Tour

Today I did the impossible.  At least that’s what I would have told you yesterday!  I stood for two hours, walked a couple of miles, and had a first-hand look at Ilwaco from 1850 to 1890.  In fact, some of that time I wasn’t even in Ilwaco — I was sliding down the hill from Pacific City and walking around Unity in the years before the U. S. Post Office declared the town “Ilwaco” in 1876.

The conductor on this Walking Tour time machine was fellow Community Historian, Michael Lemeshko.  He is taking small groups to key areas that he has discovered as he has researched his forthcoming (but not quite finished) book on B.A. Seaborg.  As he explained, although most of those early buildings are gone, the geography remains much the same as it was a century-and-a-half ago.

Our Time Travelling Guide, Michael Lemeshko

But not exactly.  Half the hill where the original Presbyterian Church sat is gone — sliced away from top to bottom in order to construct the main street of town — a street which sported a store, a saloon (or two? or more?) and two houses for “sporting women.”  Ilwaco — even before it was named for the Chinook “Chief” Elwako-Jim — was a rip-roaring fishing village with a population of bachelor Finns who worked hard all day and caroused in the saloons at night.  The Presbyterians didn’t like the atmosphere and moved their church to the other side of the yet-undeveloped town.

We walked toward the present-day boat basin where our guide pointed out the once-upon-a-time high tide line — a marshy unstable area now paved over with streets and parking lots.  But some of us wondered about the underpinnings of that apparent stability… The geographic features seem obvious.  I couldn’t help but wonder how the permanence of cement and asphalt compare to the wooden and brick houses that were there 150 years ago.  Will they one day be gone as well?

IR&N Turntable in Ilwaco – 1890s

We followed the now imaginary train tracks to the once-upon-a-time turn table upon which two men could turn an entire train.  And we heard the story of the kids who were playing there and the tragedy involving a little boy whose legs were crushed…   Further up the street, was the opera house, though as far as is known, an opera was never presented there.  And, then, B.A. Seaborg’s final building — the building that we know today as…

But take the tour, yourself!  There will be another one tomorrow morning at ten o’clock and again on the third Saturdays of August and September.  Reserve your place by calling the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum – 360-642-3446.

 

 

Attention Local History Buffs!

Saturday, April 16th, 2022

Ilwaco Shoreline, 1903

If you are interested in local history, especially the history of early Ilwaco, Community Historian Michael Lemeshko and the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum are offering you a fabulous opportunity!  Walking tours of historic Ilwaco beginning in May!  (Lest this information be misleading, I do believe it is the same tour, offered on various dates for your convenience.)  Here is what the CPHM website says:

The tours will be held on the 3rd Saturday of the month from May through September rain or shine. They begin at 2 pm (meet in the Museum’s parking lot) and will last approximately 1 1/2 hours. Each tour is limited to 15 people. You must reserve your spot by calling the Museum at 360-642-3446. The tours are $5 per person, with proceeds supporting the Museum. All participants will be required to wear a safety vest which will be provided.

Mike Lemeshko, September 2016, on the publication of his first book!

The walking tours, led by Michael, will focus on early events and locations  important to the founding of Ilwaco through 1899. As they walk through the areas where Ilwaco had it’s (sometimes) boisterous beginnings, participants will learn about Hayden’s Cove Saloon, the Ilwaco Wharf Company’s Pier, and Finn Hall .  Much of the information is as yet “unpublished” and is the result of Michael’s diligent research for his next book which is about B.A. Seaborg, founder of the Aberdeen Packing Company and Ilwaco’s most successful (and,  perhaps, most controversial) early entrepreneur.

The tours should be a real treat — especially given Michael’s uncanny ability “to find where the bodies are buried” — both literally and figuratively.  It was while he was writing his first book — The Cantankerous Farmer vs. The Ilwaco Railway & Navigation Company and the rest of his neighbors on the Long Beach Peninsula – about Judge John Briscoe (a contemporary of Seaborg’s) that he formed “The Friends of the Briscoe Burying Ground” to take care of a small grave in a field north of Long Beach.  Since then… discoveries have been made!

And no telling what he’s uncovered in his research in Ilwaco.  Sign up for one of his tours and find out!  Perhaps I will see you there…

 

 

A Truly Wonderful “Normal” Morning!!

Wednesday, March 17th, 2021

Michael and Charlie at Our Grand Affair, Sept. 2019

Yesterday morning our friend Michael Lemeshko came bearing drinks (café mochas and English Breakfast tea) and a book (UNSETTLED GROUND – The Whitman Massacre and Its Shifting Legacy in the American West by Cassandra Tate.)  It was so great to see him and have a “good-and-proper visit,” as my Great Aunt Minette used to say.  My cheeks still ache from all the  smiling!

It was our first visit with Michael since long before we went into sheltering mode.  We had lots to catch up on starting with the changes at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, the future prospects for the Community Historian program, and the status of local history in general.

Grandpa Michael with Two of Six!

We lamented the many “academic” and “otherwise” sites on the internet that are grabbing their history from who-knows-where and disseminating amazing flat-out-lies about once-upon-a-time here in Pacific County.  And we hope Frank Lehn’s ears were ringing — he is our hero in the local history department and if you haven’t caught his FaceBook site you are definitely in the minority among local history buffs.

All-in-all, it was a lovely visit.  Long overdue doesn’t begin to cover it!  And we hardly even touched the important stuff — like family and book projects and when “next time” will be.  We’re hoping it’s just the beginning of the New Normal around here!

Mentioning Unmentionables and More!

Thursday, February 27th, 2020

It took four helpers to get the corset laced up tight!  Photo by Tucker.

Yesterday, our Community Historians were treated to a rare program, indeed!  Tames Alan,  actress, historian, and fashion history teacher, brought us “The Intrepid Victorian Traveler.”  Billed as “a five-costume program,” she gave us a look at the clothing and lifestyle of a Victorian woman during the mid-1850s throught the early 1860s.

The program fit right into the focus of Community Historians this year — the grand resort hotels of the 19th century here at the North Beach.  It was a time when families “removed” to the seashore from the hot inland valleys of Oregon — some to “camp” in tents they could rent in Tinkerville (now Long Beach), and the more affluent to stay in upscale accommodations such as the Shelburne or the Breakers or the Driftwood hotels.

Next, the hoop!  Photo by Tucker.

Tames first appeared in a wrapper (our equivalent: a bathrobe) and told how a Victorian woan began her day.  Then, before our very eyes, she dressed for travel to the seaside, beginning with a complete (and extensive!) set of Victorian undergarments, discussing their various functions.  Finally, she prepared for a formal dinner and dance, all the time discussing the many layers women wore, the tight lacing of the corset, the circumference of the hoops, the weight of the clothing (which could reach 2oo lbs.).  As she demonstrated the restrictions  Victorian clothing placed upon a woman’s movements, she also spoke of the social constrictions placed upon women at all levels of society.

Ready For The Journey

A fabulous program!  If you ever have an opportunity to see Tames Alan in performance, don’t think twice!  You’ll love her!  And, if you’re like I am, afterwards you’ll appreciate your jeans and sweatshirts even more than usual!

P is for… Pleased as Punch!

Thursday, February 6th, 2020

Yesterday at our weekly Community Historians gathering, the class was devoted to the early history of Pacific County government.  It’s a topic that we’ve only touched upon lightly over the years — almost “in passing” you might say.  So, last fall when we were planning the sessions for 2020 (our 8th year!), I suggested that we devote one of our 2020 sessions to the beginnings of our county.

So it was that class members gathered around tables in “the little conference room” at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum yesterday for a read-aloud experience using my 2004 book, K is for Kidnapping the County Seat – The A-B-Cs of Early Government in Pacific County, Washington.  I think there were eighteen of us but (of course!) I didn’t think to take a picture which might have corroborated that impression.

It took about an hour and a half to read through the book, each of us reading a page in turn.  I had provided sticky-notes for people to use for marking pages or points they’d like to discuss afterwards — so we wouldn’t get sidetracked during the reading.

From my viewpoint it went very well.  We spent the rest of our time (about twenty minutes) discussing points that people had “marked” —  in particular, specifics about early Donation Land Claims, the  changes in the distribution of our population over the years, and how improvements in transportation have affected the location of the county seat.

I came home feeling  elated — not just because I thought the class session was successful.  Far, far beyond that!  I felt totally gratified that I had witnessed, first-hand, this book being read (and enjoyed!) by a group of adults interested in our local history.  That was my intent in writing it, but in retrospect I have realized that I should never have packaged it as an A-B-C book.

As I explained to yesterday’s class,  from the get-go, my A-B-C series were written specifically for adults who want a basic overview of a subject. Whether it be O is for Oysters or C is for Papa Train or any of the other nine titles in the series, these books were NOT written for children.  A glance at the concepts and vocabulary should be the first clue.  They were written for people who want some factual information about our history — whether it be an industry or an event — but who don’t have time or inclination to read a more definitive treatment.

Nevertheless, I have been unable to convince booksellers or the buying public that A-B-Cs can mean “nuts and bolts” about a subject… that A-B-C books are not necessarily meant for Kindergartners.  Maybe if I had named the series something like “Information for Dummies” they’d have had a better reception among my target audience.  You know what they say about hindsight…

P.S.  Lest you think I’m name-calling potential readers, I want to point out that a very successful series on basic information about a variety of subjects had “Dummies” in the title.  Hence my reference.

Say what?

Tuesday, April 9th, 2019

Most Northwesterners I know become just a little bit owie when they hear a newscaster mispronounce one of our regional place names – especially the names of places that are large enough or newsworthy enough to warrant a headline on prime-time television.  Spokane said with a long ‘a’ is the most common transgression, but Willamette with the accent on the third syllable runs a close second.

When my great Aunt Dora took her children East to visit the relatives, her oldest daughter Julia was first grade age and was lucky enough to visit the local school with her cousin.  Asked by the teacher to tell where she was from, she said “Portland, Oregon.”  The teacher promptly corrected her: “You mean Or-e-gone,” she said, much to little Julia’s mortification.

The next morning before school began, Aunt Dora marched into the teacher’s classroom and explained the proper pronunciation in no uncertain terms.  “But,” she said, “your ignorance of Western place names can be forgiven.  That you humiliated a child is unconscionable.”

I try to keep that story in mind when I start to get too uppity about mispronunciations – especially of those mystifying names derived from our diverse ethnic backgrounds.  The other day, I heard a programmer on my all-time favorite radio station, KMUN, pronounce Nahcotta so that it rhymed with Dakota.  I imagine he is new to our area and it occurred to me that there should be a Pronunciation Guide or a quickie workshop for newcomers – especially if they have access to the airwaves.

I think one of the best Community Historian projects I’ve heard of was proposed by a recently retired couple, new to our area.  “Our first idea in taking this course was simply to learn how to pronounce many of the names in the area.  We’ve just learned that Willapa is not said with the accent on the second syllable!  We are thinking a simple pronunciation guide might be a good project.”

I do hope that their idea comes to fruition!  It might even be a money maker!

I LOVE Reader’s Theater!

Wednesday, March 27th, 2019

Sydney reads from Dear Medora — 2007

I love reading aloud!  I love doing it and I love to listen to other people do it and I love to incorporate it into the teaching/learning opportunities of various aspects of my life.  Today our Community Historians had an opportunity to participate in a Reader’s Theater experience focused on “Washington at War:  The Evergreen State in WWI.”

Our guest speaker was Lorraine McConaghy, a historian who works at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle.  She talked to us about the process of creating a reader’s theater piece by utilizing original sources – in this case, excerpts from writings, diaries, speeches and correspondence.  She suggested that we consider developing a reader’s theater experience from our own research projects – perhaps presenting such a piece to local community groups or schools and asking “listeners” to participate in a significant historic event by reading the script aloud.

Early IWW Poster

As an example, she brought along a script she has developed concerning “Washington at War: The Evergreen State in WWI.”  We sat around a large table – fifteen or twenty of us – and read for forty minutes.  We read the words of politicians and labor leaders, of journalists and social activists – diverse opinions about a controversial subject in a nation as polarized 100 years ago as it is today.  It was eye-opening and familiar, both.

Topics covered the period between 1914 and 1919 and included immigration, wartime industrialization, women’s rights, social change, radical labor, epidemic disease, and worldwide turmoil.  We even sang – songs of the period like “Over There” and “Mademoiselle from Armentieres.” (It was no surprise that we all knew the tunes and the words; our gray heads give evidence that we are probably separated from that War only by a generation or two.  We probably learned those songs from our own parents or grandparents.  I couldn’t help wondering what a school group would make of them.)

Shoalwater Storytellers, 2013

Fun!  Fun!  Fun!  But then… I knew that it would be.  I was doing Reader’s Theater back in the early eighties and found it one of the best ways to put the ‘story’ back in hi’story’ for both participants and audiences.  Perhaps you remember the Shoalwater Storytellers (1981-2013-ish)?  A little different take on the form – we had costumes (hats) and props (sticks and barrels) in addition to scripts – but the idea was the same.  To research a topic and use original, contemporary sources to give voice to history.  Three cheers!!  (Did I say I loved it?)

From Ship to Shore to “H.M.S. Pinafore”

Friday, January 25th, 2019

Tucker and Cannon on the Move

Each Wednesday morning, Tucker Wachsmuth takes an artifact from his extensive and eclectic collection to our Community Historian class at the Heritage Museum.  Sometimes what he takes is directly related to the day’s main topic.  Sometimes it’s obliquely related to Pacific County History and serves as a conversation starter.  That was the case last Wednesday when he dragged in a small (but very heavy) cannon.

“This came from the Cavour,” he told us.  “Built in 1881, she was a 1,354-ton square-rigged bark that stranded on the sands two miles south of Cape Disappointment Light on December 8 1093.  She was the first Italian vessel to be wrecked on the Columbia River Bar.”  Tucker went on to tell about its “recent” history, including stories of when it sat in his front yard when he was a boy in the fifties and how he and his brothers used it to shoot a tennis in the schoolyard two and a half blocks away.

Bette Lu Krause

“I’ve been told that it was a Lyle Gun,” he continued.  “But I always thought they were used to shoot lines from shore to ship.”  He turned to class member Bette Lu Krause (former merchant marine and tugboat captain) and asked if there were also Lyle Guns on ships.  “Oh, yes, she assured him, but the ones I’ve used were hand-held and were meant for ship-to-ship use.”

(Note #1:  Tucker first met Bette Lu back in 2017 when she gave one of the Oysterville Schoolhouse Lectures about her career as a mariner. “I ran off to sea at 24 to become a merchant marine,” she had said.  “From 1976 until 1994 I worked on all kinds of ships – freighters, tankers, research vessels, and for several years I was a tugboat captain in Prudhoe Bay.”)

(Note #2:  According to Merriam Webster, a Lyle Gun is a mounted gun that resembles a small brass cannon and is used to fire a projectile attached to a line of rope to an extreme range of about 700 yards in rescue operations at sea.)

H.M.S. Pinafore poster

In the next breath, Bette Lu said, “The Peninsula Players are just beginning rehearsals for H.M.S. Pinafore which will open March 29th and run through April 14th. Is there any chance you’d let us used your cannon as a set piece?”  And the arrangement was made on the spot.  After the class was over, Bette Lu led Tucker and the cannon next door to the Playhouse where stage manager/set designer Andy Tauber was hard at work but paused long enough to give the cannon a warm welcome, indeed!

Community networking at its finest, I say.  Oysterville Lectures and Community Historians and Peninsula Players to say nothing of Gilbert and Sullivan and Wachsmuth and Krause!  Wowie Zowie!  This Peninsula is always alive with possibilities!

First Day, Seventh Year

Wednesday, January 16th, 2019

Jim Sayce

“After we’re gone, who will be left to tell the stories?” Jim Sayce asked me.  That was probably nine or ten years ago in a past dim enough that I have no memory of what prompted his call to me. Nevertheless, it was an intriguing question and we decided to meet to talk it over.

We asked Cate Gable and then Betsy Millard to join us and for the next several years we met, at first here in Oysterville in my library and, ultimately at Betsy’s where Barbara Minard joined the conversation.  Jim investigated using Master Gardeners as an organizational model.  Bet y advised caution about developing a program that looked like a “class” or a “history course.”   Cate and I urged the development of basic objectives and methods and processes that would give some structure to our model.  Barbara suggested ways the museums collections and archives could be utilized – and ways they could not.

Gradually, we hammered out a tentative “program” that we would call “Community Historians.”  The focus would be Pacific County history in all of its aspects – geographic, cultural, economic.  Not all strands every year, but a continuing and eclectic ‘conversation’ among interested residents.

We would begin in January and meet every Wednesday morning through April. We would invite experts in various fields and disciplines to talk with us; we would plan ‘field trips’ to appropriate sites; we would explore the best methods of researching, documenting, and preserving historical data and artifacts.  And, just as we were pulling it all together, Donella Lucero retired from her job at Fort Columbia as a state parks interpreter and agreed to act as facilitator for our new endeavor!

Community Historians – “One Wednesday Morning”

We had no idea how our plan would be received, but… so far, so good.  In fact, great!  Probably beyond our expectations.  Today marks the beginning of our seventh year and I understand that that we have fifteen participants – some new and some repeating, maybe for the third or fourth time!  One of the great serendipities has been the “community OF historians” that has evolved – people with overlapping interests who collaborate throughout the year on various projects and pursuits.

Jim and I haven’t talked for a while but, when we do, I know we’ll revisit his question of so long ago.  And I think we’ll be pleased as we consider the answer!  Community historians are alive and well and working to preserve all manner of “stories” here in Pacific County!