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A History of the State of Washington
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published May 13, 2010
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December 31, 2010
I've lived in the state of Washington for about 10 years now, and this is the first actual history of the state that I read. I picked up a hardcover version of this book at a booksale because I liked the way the cover looked and because it was cheap. When I got it home and looked more closely at it, I discovered it was published in 1941. So there was less history in it than there is in most similar books published today.
Reading a children's history book that was published 70 years ago is a fascinating experience. The text itself felt different - they don't write history books like this any more. Little attention was paid to black and Asian peoples in the state. The Native peoples were the focus of early chapters, but after Washington achieves statehood, they don't really show up again. Today's historians give much more "page-time" to minorities, so it was interesting to me to notice this. The amount of time devoted to facts and figures - i.e., how much timber was cut in 1910 vs 1930 - was much larger than it would likely be in a contemporary history. In fact, the large number of words devoted to the industrial, agricultural and overall economic output of the state was a little mind-numbing after awhile.
On the whole, however, I am glad that I read the book. I'll keep my eyes open for another, more recent, history of Washington state to supplement my newfound understanding.
Reading a children's history book that was published 70 years ago is a fascinating experience. The text itself felt different - they don't write history books like this any more. Little attention was paid to black and Asian peoples in the state. The Native peoples were the focus of early chapters, but after Washington achieves statehood, they don't really show up again. Today's historians give much more "page-time" to minorities, so it was interesting to me to notice this. The amount of time devoted to facts and figures - i.e., how much timber was cut in 1910 vs 1930 - was much larger than it would likely be in a contemporary history. In fact, the large number of words devoted to the industrial, agricultural and overall economic output of the state was a little mind-numbing after awhile.
On the whole, however, I am glad that I read the book. I'll keep my eyes open for another, more recent, history of Washington state to supplement my newfound understanding.
Displaying 1 of 1 review