Women's History Consortium News
Interactive Web Resources
David and Catharine Blaine portrait, circa 1853, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, UW1886.
Two interactive web resources have been added to the Washington Women's History Consortium website.
The WHC prepared a website with an interactive web timeline on the life of Catharine Paine Blaine, funded by the National Park Service’s Challenge Cost Share Program. Seneca Falls, New York native Catharine Paine attended the nation's first women's rights convention in 1848, and at age eighteen, was the one of the youngest signers of the Declaration of Sentiments. Catharine moved to the territories of Washington and Oregon in 1853 as the new wife of Seattle’s first Methodist minister, Reverend David E. Blaine. In a life of service to her family and to the Methodist Church in New York and the Pacific Northwest, Catharine Paine Blaine worked out deeply held religious and reform beliefs. Her activities show a continued concern for and interest in the uplift of humanity and of women.
The WHC partnered with Olympia Heritage Commission to create the City of Olympia Women’s History Walking Tour, which marks important women's history sites in Olympia, Washington. Although women have always been part of the history of our area, their contributions have not always been evident in written accounts. Women’s roles in their homes or behind the scenes are often overlooked when communities write their histories. It is important to understand that whatever the event or time period, women were always there, but finding them sometimes requires taking a different perspective. These sites are representative of the importance of women in many ways to the history of our area, but it is by no means comprehensive. Look closely for women, you will find them everywhere making history.
The Catharine Blaine website was supported by the National Park Service’s Challenge Cost Share Program. Points of view are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Department of the Interior.
Shanna Stevenson (center) receives Award of Merit from AASLH Chair D. Stephen Elliott and Terry Davis, AASLH President and CEO. Photographer: Dementi Studio, 2011.
Award of Merit
The Washington State Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemoration has been selected
as a 2011 Award of Merit winner by the Leadership in History awards committee of
the
American Association for State and Local History.
The AASLH Leadership in History Awards is the nation’s most prestigious competition
for recognition of achievement in state and local history. The award was presented
in September as part of the AASLH annual meeting in Richmond, Virginia.
On November 8, 2010, the Washington State Women's History Consortium honored the
100th anniversary of Washington women’s suffrage through the Day of Jubilation celebration.
For more information about the Day of Jubilation event,
click here.
To view images of the Day of Jubilation events on November 8, 2010, visit one of
these websites:
NEH Grant Award
The Washington State Historical Society/Women’s History Consortium (WHC) received a $215,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for
“Washington Women’s History: Providing Access and Preservation for Important Collections
through the Washington Women’s History Consortium.”
The grant provided funding for access and preservation of important women’s
history collections at:
These institutions are all part of the Women’s History Consortium. The products
from this grant are available on the WHC website at washingtonwomenshistory.org.
The website offers a wide array of resources from all of the WHC member
institutions along with federated search capability for Consortium member collections. To see a full list of the projects funded through the grant, click
here.
The grant was designated as a “We the People” award featured by NEH as one
that encourages and enhances the teaching, study, and understanding of American
history, culture, and democratic principles. Grant funding runs through May, 2013.
For more information contact the grant administrator
Shanna Stevenson, Coordinator of the Consortium at WSHS.
At top of page:
Image to right of banner: Northwest suffragist Abigail Scott Duniway. She helped
Susan B. Anthony establish the Washington Equal Suffrage Association (WESA). Learn
more about Duniway at HistoryLink.org.