From Our Corner

The Road to Women's Suffrage: 1883

The Washington Territorial Legislature passed a law enacting women’s suffrage. Governor William Newell signed the bill into law on November 23, 1883. Only Wyoming and Utah Territories had enacted women’s suffrage prior to Washington. Image … Read more

Archives Month is here!

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Image courtesy of Washington State Archives

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Holiday Tip No. 9

Today’s Holiday Giving Tip: Request Material! Yeah, that’s right. When someone asks you to give them money for a cause, ask them to provide you with a brochure, a Web site address, or other material that gives you more information about the group. Legitimate groups want you to learn more about them and are glad to provide you with this kind of stuff. Be very, very wary of any group that doesn’t have anything to give you. There are plenty of great groups out there that need your help – so… Read more

The Road to Women’s Suffrage:1881

Image On November 11, 1881, the Washington Territorial House of Representatives passed House Bill 103, a women’s suffrage bill by a vote of 13-11. The measure was sent on to the Territorial Council, where it lost by a vote of five to seven.

New look for Digital Archives website

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The Road to Women's Suffrage: 1878

Image In 1878 a Constitutional Convention was held in Walla Walla to draft a state constitution and to hopefully qualify Washington for Statehood. The constitution that they drafted excluded women’s suffrage, but a measure granting women the vote was put on the… Read more

Holiday Giving Tip No. 7

Today’s Holiday Giving Tip: Know where to file your complaints. While we here at the Secretary of State’s Office help provide consumers with lots of information about charities, we aren’t the place to go if you want to report a charity scam or bad practices. But we can tell you where to go! If you feel a charity or commercial fundraiser is operating in a deceptive or illegal manner, contact the Consumer and Business Fair Practice Division of the State Attorney General's Office at 1-800-551-… Read more

Letters About Literature honorable mention winner visits

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Holiday Giving Tip: No. 10

Today’s Holiday Giving Tip: Don’t decide right now. It’s hard to tell someone who is raising money for starving families that “you have to think about it” … but the truth is, you do! The most help can be done by taking time to really research a charity and make sure it is using your donations in a way that makes you comfortable. Making an on-the-spot commitment before checking out a charity can be a very bad idea. You want your dollars to have the most impact possible, so research how they… Read more

Holiday Giving Tip No. 6

Today’s Holiday Giving Tip: Is someone at your door? Ask for ID! If a solicitor comes a ‘knocking, he better be able to provide an official ID to prove he’s associated with a charity … otherwise you should send him on its way. Sure you may feel like a scrooge, but isn’t that better than giving money to a scam artist? Reputable groups will be glad to provide identification, contact information and materials about their group. If they’re not, you should be skeptical. And then you should slam… Read more

Reed seeks earlier primary & ballots in by Election Day

Now on video: reminding people to give wisely

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From Digital Archives: Washington passes

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Just east of Snoqualmie Pass (Photos courtesy of Washington State Digital Archives)

Anyone who has driven across the Cascades did so by going over one of the several mountain passes that offer incredible views and recreational… Read more

State Library's Sherbo receives national honor

Laura Sherbo of the Washington State Library is the 2012 recipient of a prestigious national award for her leadership of library services in Washington prisons and state mental hospitals. Sherbo, manager of branch library services, was announced this week as winner the annual achievement award of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, a division of the American Library Association. According to her colleagues at the Washington State Library and leaders of… Read more

From the Digital Archives: Deception Pass

Image Anyone crossing the Deception Pass Bridge is treated to one the most scenic and stunning views in all of Washington. The area around the bridge also is pretty spectacular, as this 1950s photo shows. The shot looks to the… Read more

5 Questions: What is a tax advisory vote?

Confused by the five tax advisory Our Election Division and the legislative hotline are getting lots of calls on

Special session set to start March 12

This makes it official: Below is the proclamation issued by Gov. Gregoire scheduling a special session to begin Monday, March 12 at noon. The 60-day regular session ended Thursday night without the House and Senate agreeing on a supplemental operating… Read more

Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, Read On!

The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library located in downtown Seattle, is a free and comprehensive library service dedicated to providing an array of services to Washington residents unable to read standard print material. These include the blind, visually impaired, legally blind, deaf-blind, physically disabled, those who can’t comfortably hold a book or turn pages and those who are reading disabled. Any genre you can think of, WTBBL has it! Users of the library can check out… Read more

2013 Primary: Registration deadline July 8

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Library Jewel #3: "Lost County" Maps

Image Ever heard of Ferguson county? Probably not, mainly because it doesn’t exist. It’s the only county that was lost during our state’s territorial years. Believe it or not, the area that is now Yakima and Kittitas counties used to be a… Read more