Historical Note

The Washington Women’s Heritage Project (WWHP) was a statewide grant project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1980 to 1984. The project’s goal was to “stimulate public awareness and interest in the lives of women in Washington State, as well as to involve them in their respective communities, discovering and documenting their diverse heritage.” The project originated in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s when women’s history and women’s studies emerged as legitimate areas of study at many United States colleges and universities. The idea for this project originated with a graduate student in the history department at Western Washington University and was endorsed by Kathryn Anderson, a women’s studies professor in Western’s Fairhaven College.

The project was a statewide effort based at four regional centers. The Northwest center was located at Western Washington University which was also the administrative hub of the project. The project director, Kathryn Anderson, who coordinated the four offices and managed the grants was located at the NW center with Cynthia Cornell as the coordinator for the NW office. The Seattle center was located at the University of Washington with Susan Starbuck as its coordinator. Margot Knight coordinated the Eastern Washington center which was located at Washington State University in Pullman. The Southwest center of the project was coordinated by Laura O’Brady and was located at Evergreen State College in Olympia. Participation in this project went beyond the four offices affiliated with higher education to include many women’s groups, historical societies, and other community members interested in integrating women’s history into the traditional historical record.

The project resulted in a traveling exhibit that consisted of a photograph panel display, a corresponding brochure, and a slide-tape show. The photograph display consisted of twelve 4’x 8’ panels that each had a different theme. David Jensen designed and supervised the printing and layout of the panels so that the resulting exhibit allowed the “materials their greatest possible impact.” The photo display also consisted of a local panel for each display site which consisted of photos and text distinct to that location. This panel changed with each new stop of the tour.

The slide-tape show was a 13 1/2 minute production that combined 14 audio segments from the oral histories gathered as part of the project with over 130 photographs. The show portrayed three aspects of Washington women’s work: 1) housework, 2) wage work, and 3) community work. The themes were tied together with brief narration and an original song by Linda Allen entitled “Here’s to the Women.”

In order to create this exhibit the project staff collected photographs from around the state from archives, museums, and private collections. They trained over 300 people statewide how to conduct oral history interviews through a series of workshops and then utilized the resulting oral histories to document women’s history in Washington. These oral histories were conducted with women from a variety of backgrounds including immigrants, Native Americans, farm wives, factory workers, women with higher education, and women involved in civic activities. They also combed archival material to get information on women’s activities in clubs, public schools and politics.

Overall, this was an ambitious project that culminated in an exhibit which traveled to 31 different locations over a 2 year span. The exhibit was also featured at three national conferences in 1982-1983, thus allowing a large number of people to be exposed to women’s history in Washington State. In addition to the exhibit several scholarly papers, panels, and workshops developed out of the project.