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Home > Historical Society > Traveling Exhibit Service

Traveling Exhibit Service

History on the Road!

Washington State Historical Society's Capital Museum Outreach Center Traveling Exhibit Service (TES), serves the regions' heritage community by offering low-cost, quality exhibits that include program resources, insurance and transportation. TES exhibits are designed to enhance the borrowing institutions local heritage and collections.

Our mission is to inspire all people to make history a part of their lives by presenting exhibits that reveal stories of Washington and its people. WSHS is dedicated to encouraging the heritage activities of others; and fostering a sense of identity and community.

FOR SCHEDULING INFORMATION ON ANY TRAVELING EXHIBIT,
CONTACT:

Melissa Parr, Traveling Exhibit Service
211 SW 21st Avenue
Olympia WA 98501
(360) 586-0169
mparr@wshs.wa.gov

Blackfeet Council
Image: Bequest, by Bonnie Meltzer

Sustaining Change: An Artist-Farmer Exchange

This exhibition was organized by the Maryhill Museum of Art. It features twelve contemporary visual essays about farms and farming families in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. American farmers face a wide range of issues and concerns. These twelve panels explore the evolving agricultural practices and the emergence of a new rural ecological aesthetic on twelve different family farms. The exhibitions offers an insight to what is being done to preserve and conserve natural resources and heritage while making allowances for the needs of a fast growing population is addressed through paintings, photography, and sculpture as well as in written statements from each farmer.

Participation fee is $300.00 for 12 weeks.


Paul Kane, Kettle Falls, 1847

The Mapmaker's Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau, 1807-1812

A traveling exhibit commemorating the bicentennial of David Thompson's explorations in the Northwest

The Mapmaker's Eye features excerpts from Thompson's field journals and reproductions of his maps and sketches as well as historic paintings by Paul Kane, Henry J. Warre, and Gustavus Sohon, and photographs of period surveying instruments, fur trade items, and tribal artifacts.

This eight-panel modular exhibit was designed for a 450-square foot room and is available for rent from the Washington State Historical Society Traveling Exhibit Service.

 


Washington Schoolhouses Panel

Washington Schoolhouses

Schoolhouses are landmarks in the ongoing journey of education in Washington.

It is often said that the schoolhouse followed the flag, but in Washington schools preceded American settlement. Spokane Garry established a school for Indians about 1830 near Spokane, built of poles covered with reed mats. At first, schools were held in a settler's home, later, in barns, one-room log cabins, or small frame buildings.

This exceptional panel exhibit was designed by Cliff Vancura. Good or bad, everyone remembers their school experience. Schoolhouses are icons of education and education builds a solid foundation for all people.

The exhibit is designed for a 450-sq. ft. room. Participation fee is $500.00 for 12 weeks.


Northwest Treaty Trail: 1854-1856

Blackfeet Council
Isaac Stevens at the Council with the Blackfeet

The Washington State Historical Society's Traveling Exhibit Service commemorates the 150th anniversary of the journey of negotiations that led to the Northwest Treaty Trail: 1854-1856.

In just thirteen months, 1854-1856, Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens held 11 treaty councils with Northwest Indians. Native people ceded portions of their traditional homelands, from Puget Sound to the Canadian border and from northeastern Oregon to the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana.

The main theme of this thought provoking-traveling exhibit is the extraordinary journey made by Isaac Stevens and the honorable Indian leaders who changed the lives of thousands of people. This commemorative exhibit also explores the history of government Indian policies and the legacy of the early treaties on the people of the Northwest. The Treaties negotiated 150 years ago are still at work today, protecting the rights of all people in the Northwest.

The exhibit is designed for a 450-sq. ft. room, in several different configurations. Participation fee is $500.00 for 12 weeks.


Jackson Street After Hours

Jazz musicians

In the 1920s, many of Seattle's young adults (and some, not so youthful) knocked down the social norms of prior generations. The decade "roared" with its speakeasies, roadhouses, fast cars, raccoon coats, bobbed hair, the Charleston and wilder dances, bootleggers, and crazy stunts. Most of all, however, there was jazz.

This exhibit consists of eight in-depth text panels and 55 black and white framed photographs. The photographs span four decades of pioneering jazz musicians in the Northwest. Paul de Barros and Gary Wingert designed text and exhibit.

The exhibit is designed for 800 sq. ft space. Participation fee is $450.00 for 12 weeks.


Scenic view at Cape Disappointment

End of Our Voyage: Lewis and Clark in Washington

"End of Our Voyage" commemorates the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. Most of their journey in the Pacific Northwest was in what is now Washington State. Explore the state through the eyes of the Corps of Discovery. "End of Our Voyage" features excerpts from the diaries of Lewis and Clark, text written by expert historians, rare historic photographs, and maps are presented in this informative exhibition. It was designed by OTAK and fabricated by Turner Exhibits Inc; the National Park Service provided substantial financial support.

The exhibit is designed for a 450-sq. ft. room, in several different configurations. Participation fee is $500.00 for 12 weeks.


Captured Time: Photographic Moments of Discovery in the Northwest

Man and dog on railcar

"Captured Time" is an intriguing selection of images drawn from the Society's collection of over 500,000 pictures. It's hard to imagine a world without photographs. Like magic, they capture the past and allow us to journey back in time. Photographers include Edward and Asahel Curtis, Darius Kinsey, Marvin Boland, Virna Haffer, and others, known or anonymous. The selected images and text panels examine themes such as A Sense of Place, Logging, Railroading, The Worker, On the Road, and the People's Gallery. Rare moments from the late 1800s to the 1950s are captured showing scenes familiar, yet far removed from our lives today.

These large-format images fit into a 450 sq. ft. gallery. Participation fee is $500.00 for 12 weeks.


When Washington was Oregon: Empire and Colony in the Northwest, 1843-1853

My Tent on the Oregon

Before the United States Congress created the Washington Territory in 1853, the newly formed Oregon Provisional Government established eight pioneering counties north of the Columbia River. As Americans rushed into Oregon Country, Great Britain's influence gradually diminished. This exhibit tells the story of clashing empires struggling to dominate a rich and fertile region. It looks at the lasting effects on the Native people and the settlers that made Washington a territory.

Reproductions of fascinating maps and images of rare documents and artifacts illustrate this explosive period of Washington history. This exhibit is presented by WSHS as part of the Washington State commemoration of the Territorial Sesquicentennial in 2003.

The exhibit is designed for a 450 sq. ft. gallery. Participation fee is $500.00 for 12 weeks.


WPA: Works Progress Administration in Washington

WPA photo

Franklin D. Roosevelt helped create a Democratic tidal wave that swept across Washington and the nation in 1932. He promised Americans a "New Deal." After Roosevelt took office in March, 1933, each day brought dramatic new developments and agencies, such as the CCC, PWA, WPA, and the AAA, The New Deal in Washington took many forms, some as awesome as the Grand Coulee Dam, frequently described as "the biggest thing on earth." The common thread running through many New Deal programs was jobs for the unemployed.

This exhibit contains thirty photographs, which are visual records of those employed by the Work Progress Administration. Historian Carlos Schwantes wrote the text, which is attached to the photographic panels.

The exhibit is designed for a 500-sq. ft. space. Participation fee is $250.00 for 12 weeks.


CONTACT INFORMATION

Melissa Parr
Traveling Exhibits Curator
Heritage Resource Center
211 West 21st Avenue
Olympia, WA 98501
360-753-2580
253-798-5871
Fax: 360-586-8322
Email: mparr@wshs.wa.gov


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