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Anyone wishing to join our study group, please contact
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. Meetings are free. Depending on activities the group decides to undertake, there may be a nominal charge for certain items to cover expenses.
In 2009, we'll celebrate the centennial of the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition (AYP), the region’s first world’s fair, located on the current University of Washington campus. Vashon Island was a significant force in the region one hundred years ago and merited two honorary days at the AYP. In the early 1900s, the mosquito fleet steamers transferred people, goods, and agricultural products to and from Vashon. Vashon was home to prosperous farms and shipbuilding, among other industries. A few Native Americans still lived on Vashon, and Burton was a “college town.” Vashon College was in its heyday, encouraging parents from across the region to leave their children to be educated at Vashon College, while they journeyed north to strike it rich in the Klondike. Vashon College even played football against the University of Washington!
What was it really like to live on Vashon a hundred years ago? When did automobiles and electricity come to Vashon? When were island communities connected by roads? How isolated were these communities one from the other and what was it like to live there? What did people grow, eat, wear, do for fun? What concerned them about living on an island? How self-sustaining was Vashon at that time? What vestiges remain that give clues to our place over time? Join us in further articulating the “Vashon Story” as we uncover the rural, commercial, and lifestyle roots of our island home in time to celebrate Vashon’s place in the region’s history for the AYP Centennial. Our goal is to work closely with the Vashon Maury Island Heritage Association and other groups to do original research, publish findings, and create opportunities for Vashon to engage in centennial festivities.
If joining a group of history sleuths appeals to you, email us at
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or call Pamn Aspiri at 206.408.8022. This study group will be mentored by professors such as Bruce Haulman and Joseph Meeker and will have the opportunity to do primary research at locations such as the Heritage Museum, University of Washington, and Vashon’s historical sites. We are still putting together the schedule and format for how this group will operate, so let us hear from you. |
