Research Washington is the gateway to learning about Washington’s past by exploring objects,
publications, ephemera and more. The Washington State Historical Society is home to many unique
collections and includes over 80,000 artifacts and half a million images.
View thousands of historic images from our
Image Collections including photographs along the
Columbia River, portraits of Native Americans, early maps of the region, circus posters and
Clovis tools.
Just launched in September 2008, our
Online Catalog
includes records of more than 75,000 items collected
over the Society’s 117 year history. Expect to see more multimedia and description as the catalog
is enhanced.
Washington Stories
are explorations of Pacific Northwest topics specifically designed for K-12 students.
With curriculum guides, primary resources and informative articles all in one place, Washington Stories
are perfect for classroom or self-study.
COLUMBIA Magazine
has a rich, 20 year history of producing scholarly and entertaining issues capturing
the essence of Northwest history through engaging prose and striking image. Full text articles from
back issues are available.
COLUMBIAKids
is a free, online magazine for kids up to age 14. View our inaugural issue from
August 2008 and see how you can contribute to future issues.
Our Consortia projects
include the
Women's History Consortium, which was formed to help commemorate the
2010 Washington state centennial of a woman's right to vote and to serve as a
clearinghouse for the study of women's history in the Pacific Northwest. Consortium members include the
University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Western Washington
University, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the Evergreen State College, the Washington
State Library and the Washington State Archives.