Thinking Small

Small stuff ... everyone tells you "don't sweat the small stuff." And yet, we seem to be eternally fascinated with things of a minor note. Chidlren's toys are often miniatures of the real thing, be it a train set or doll house. Beyond that, folks who painstakingly reproduce things in tiny scale leave us in awe.

Why is that? We can all appreciate the significance of new life being smaller than the adult versions. One can see how much effort goes into something like building a ship in a bottle. You can hardly expect your granddaughter to move the livingroom furniture around, so we provide her with a doll house and pint-size funishings. Dolls, too, be they fashionistas or 'army men.'

Whatever the reason, a new exhibit in the Headquarters at Fort Walla Walla Museum can supply you with that awe and the opportunity to contemplate smallness. THINK small features scores of items made in miniature. There's a world of possibility waiting for you.

Women's History

The Washington State Historical Society and Museum is about to kick-off the centennial commemoration of Washington State's women’s suffrage with the opening of "Women’s Votes, Women’s Voices" starting at 11 a.m this Saturday.

"Enter the Museum and transport back in time to a suffrage rally; join a women’s march, put on your women’s suffrage pin, and interact with costumed greeters and special guests. Enjoy performances from Living Voices, “Hear My Voice: Win the Vote,” and Linda Allen. Light refreshments will be served."

Schedule for exhibit opening celebration: 11 a.m. – Welcome, introductions, and exhibit acknowledgements 11:30 – Exhibit doors open after ribbon cutting 11:30 – 1 p.m. – Family art-making activity NOON – Refreshments served on the Mezzanine 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. “Women’s Voices” program in the Auditorium, featuring storyteller and actress Eva Abram, Living Voices, and singer/song writer Linda Allen.

FREE admission all day, special programming 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Visit WashingtonHistory.org for more information, hours and directions.

For the past few years, Fort Walla Walla Museum has been conducting its own "Women's History Celebration" in August, as we move within a decade of universal suffrage for American women. The women of the Living History Company explain the problems and successes, heartaches and joys of womanhood in their eras. http://www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/livinghistory/womenshistory.htm

To help honor the day, the Museum admits all girls age 12 & under for free and charges adult women 77% of the usual rate, to mark the fact that American women, on average, still earn only 77% of an average man's salary.

You might also wish to follow the saga of Narcissa Whitman in serial form as it appears in the Blue Mountain edition of Tidbits. Whitman Mission National Historic Site's Renee Rusler is spinning out the incredible story week by week.

Carrying the Past into the Future

"Carrying the Past into the Future" has been the byword of the Capital Campaign for our Services and Facilities Enhhancement Project, but this week it's been more like introducing the past to the future. The newness of this blog is testimony to that, but we've also instituted an acount with YouTube. Our "Community at a Crossroads" video can be seen by going to www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/support_us.htm and scrolling down to the bullet points near the bottom of the page. There's another of our volunteer, Emily, using American Sign Language to present 'The Pledge of Allegiance." That one's pretty funny, at least at the end ... and you can see that I need some work in the editing department. For 'Em,' click www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/volunteer.htm, again scroll down to the bullet points, looking for the word "Watch" as a link to 'Watch 'Em sign the Pledge."

That's a picture of Emily ... she may have set the all time record for carmel corn sales at Fall Harvest Festival that day.

We're also gearing up to a season enhanced by our many volunteers. We have a meeting scheduled for 10 am on March 25, so if you're interested, stop in and see where your talents can match our needs. The coffee pot will be on and someone is likely to bring donuts, too. Here's a chance to be productive and useful (we couldn't operate without all our volunteers), meet like-minded people, meet people from all across the country and around the world (we get visitors from all 50 states and at least 30 countries every year!), and a chance to share your accumulated wisdom, strengths, and skills with those of us who very nearly get 'paid to play.' You know, we are never so useful as when we serve others. Volunteering is good for the spirit and actually helps keep you healthier. Call a pal and see what you can do to "help carry the past into the future!"

Heritage Day

We still have nearly five weeks before our visitation season officially begins, but the staff is working hard to get ready for the season. One of the things we're most looking forward to is a change in the schedule for September. We moved our annual Fall Harvest Festival back a week, so that this year it will happen on Sep. 26-27. We saw an unusually cold and rainy event last year, so we'll keep our fingers crossed for fair weather in 2009.

What makes things exciting thins year is the hopeful realization of a dream. We recognize the amazing diversity in our community and are also aware of that diversity over time.

We have long thought to portray a 'heritage day,' wherein all the various components that make up the patchwork quilt of our home can come together to share that which each group feels is its own distinguishing characteristics. Whether language, faith, music, dance, or food, those things that identify us as unique are also characteristics that identify as all belonging to humanity. What a wonderful thing to share our separate perspectives with our neighbors so that our understanding and appreciation of all that makes this a great area to live, work and play can flourish and grow!

Does your group have something to offer?

Call us at 509.525.7703!

Soldiers, Pioneers & Indian People

Our Services and Facilities Enhancement Project awaits an archaeological review from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. From the historical view, the Museum grounds, and before that the U.S. Army's Fort Walla Walla, were part of the the homeland of the tribes, particularly the Cayuse people. As we learned during the research phase of a Lewis & Clark-related exhibit, the Cayuse spoke a language different from virtually all the other groups in the region. In the aftermath of the tragedies at Whitman Mission and the ensuing 'Cayuse War,' the Cayuse people were reduced to half their former numbers and became dispersed. When that happened, the language went into disuse until these days it is considered a 'dead language.' Sadly, not enough elders are left who can speak enough of the language to keep it alive.

The Museum conducted what is often referred to as a 'shovel survey.' That means that a grid pattern was established in the area proposed for construction and at specific points, shovel holes were dug to see what, if anything, existed near the surface. Soil layering was examined, sifiting of removed soil was accomplished, and an examination of exisiting geological data was also done. If you've not been on a 'dig' before, it is hot, dirty work. There are no short cuts to getting quality results. Four of us worked on different points of the grid over the course of two months. While many people think that finding 'something' is the point, it is the determination of what happened in an area that drives the work.

How We Got to be This Way

On April 1, 2009 Fort Walla Walla Museum will open its 42nd season of visitation at the current location on Myra Road in "beautiful, historic Walla Walla." Nevertheless, the Museum traces its roots to a pioneer association of the 1880s. Through one incarnation into another to this point, the mission is to preserve and share Walla Walla regional heritage.

What is regional? When Walla Walla became a county in 1859 ... at the time Oregon went from territorial status to statehood ... the county encompassed more than 160,000 square miles in what are now Washington (east of the Cascade Mountains), Idaho, Western Montana, and Southwest Wyoming. It didn't last long, but it is historical fact. These days, the Museum considers 'region' to mean the area served by the troopers who were posted at our namesake fort. In practical, modern terms, that accounts for our trade area, too. We include the more than 300,000 people who live more or less within an hour's drive of the Museum. Beyond that, each year we welcome visitors from all 50 states and generally 30+ countries, arriving at a final count of more than 20,000 visitors.

This year marks a new take on what we do. Our five exhibit halls are approaching their life expectancy, and while their contents are engaging, the buildings are inadequate to the foremost task of our mission: preservation. Each hall is a stand-alone structure with two doorways. While three of the buildings have some climate control, the entrance and egress of visitors during the day continually alters the interior climate, as well as providing superhighways for insects and other vermin who might find dining on precious artifacts a gourmet feast. Much research (and no small expense) was devoted to upgrading and connecting the five buildings. Refitting such buildings with modern features proved prohibitively expensive.

To the rescue rode architect Jim Stenkamp, who offered -without fee- to examine the plans to see what might be done more effeciently. Voila! The result was a three-phase plan to replace all five existing buildings with new state-of-the-art, fully connected and, eventually, a completely enclosed space surrounding a quadrangle or, in fort parlance, a 'parade ground.' While the basic concept has been in development for a decade, physical changes are only recently underway. With adequate funding completed last year making a nice beginning, Collections Manager Laura Schulz led a team of volunteers in removing all the artifacts, props, and display accoutrements from Exhibit Hall I. Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Jim Klees and his volunteers began removing 2 x 4s and strandboard to be re-used/recyled into the new construction. Last Sunday, February 15, 2009, a crowd of 75 or so interpid folks braved dank, chilly weather to support our groundbreaking ceremony.

Since then, our general contractor, Opp & Seibold General Construction, Inc., has set up a perimeter around the construction site. From destruction comes construction: first to happen will be the demolition of Exhibit Hall I. We who currently work at the Museum are indebted to those who provided us this place so many years ago. In their honor, much of the concrete of the existing building will become aggregate in the concrete of the new Entrance Building and Grand Hall. In all, something like 80% of the existing structure will be re-used in this and other projects. The legacy of our forbearers will truly be the foundation of the next era at Fort Walla Walla Museum.

In the meantime, fundraising continues to help fulfill some of the unfunded goals of the project. If you're interested in helping us carry the past into the future, contact the Museum at info@fortwallawallamuseum.org or call 509.525.7703.

(The photo: that's me, Communications Manager Paul Franzmann clad in my Living History livery for a performance of John Colter at 2:00 pm Sunday, April 5. Colter was a member of the Lewis & Clark expedition that passed through -coming and going in 1805-06- what would become Walla Walla County).