74 Million Records Now Available on Washington State Digital Archives
Washington State Digital Archives contain about 74 million records, all online. People can look up marriage licenses, birth and death certificates, census data, military service, election data, property deeds and even old pictures. Chief Spokane Garry's death certificate, for instance, is linked with a photograph.
"And that's just the beginning, the first baby steps," said State Archivist Jerry Handfield, who was in Cheney on Saturday for an open house of the digital archives, which are housed at Eastern Washington University.
The 74 million figure represents about 3 percent of the historic and contemporary records state officials hope to eventually put online. Coming soon: A database that will allow listeners to search 50,000 audiocassette tapes of Washington legislative hearings by topic. Microsoft is helping with the project.
Washington leads other states in its digital archives, Handfield said. The center received a $1 million Library of Congress grant to help seven other states establish their digital archives. The center is currently working with Colorado, its eighth state. Delegations from other countries also visit the center, to see how the system is set up.
On Saturday, the four-year-old center was as hushed as a library. Open house visitors spoke in low, reverent voices as they toured climate-controlled rooms filled with computer equipment. The tour also took them into the stacks, where paper archives from 11 counties are stored at 68 degrees, with 24 percent humidity.
The 1861 marriage registry of James O'Bryan and Susannah Finley is one of the older paper records. Both bride and groom were illiterate when they wed in what is now Stevens County. They signed with "X's." Archives Assistant Lee Pierce is working on a project to digitize Spokane's jail records from 1898 to 1901. The records provide a fascinating glimpse into local history, he said. The records reveal that prostitutes paid monthly fines of $10 to stay in business. Men arrested for running gaming operations paid $5 monthly fines.
The city took in $1,275 from prostitution and gaming fees during November 1898.
"That was big money for Spokane's economy," Pierce said.
The museum-like ambiance in the building doesn't reflect the digital center's true use, officials said. About 1,000 visitors log on each day to www.digitalarchives.wa.gov.
"We're one of the most visited archives in the world," said Larry Cebula, assistant digital archivist. "Yet, it's mighty quiet in here."
Fantastic website! In a very brief search, I found a cousin's military record (soldier's home) with many dates and names etc.
Posted by: Herb Huebner | October 07, 2008 at 08:26 AM
Thank you for this link to WA digital records. I found my late husbands ggparents marriage certificate after so many years of trying. It proved where they actually were married rather than the family story of it being in another city.
It is a great start to my day!
7:43 a.m./10-07-08
Posted by: Kerry | October 07, 2008 at 08:44 AM
Thank you so much for this link. I have family that moved to Washington State in the 1970's. I have been able to find marriage, death and other records that have been previously unavailable to me.
Thanks Again,
Yvonne
Posted by: Yvonne Gadbois | October 07, 2008 at 10:23 AM
I love this website and use it often. The Washington State Archives is one of the most helpful I have dealt with. I emailed the archives in Olympia asking them about a naturalization record that I did not find on their website. Several days later, I received a copy of it in the mail-NO CHARGE-with a note attached wishing me good luck in my genealogical research. Now that's service!
Posted by: Leah Siebert | October 07, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Thank you for letting us know about this wonderful website. In a few minutes I found my father-in-law and his brother's naturalization papers which I had been looking for several years.
Posted by: Lynette Dick | October 07, 2008 at 04:28 PM
Thanks Dick! I found 2 marriage records for my grandfather. I only knew of one marriage. Ida
Posted by: IFrench | October 08, 2008 at 11:51 AM
This is a wonderful site thanks for pointing it out. I found out that not only my husband father was married there but also all of his aunts and uncles-even though they all lived in Oregon. Once again thank you so much.
Posted by: Linda Enz | October 08, 2008 at 08:32 PM
I was lucky enough to find this site through the Spokane library website. It really jumpstarted my research into my maternal grandfather's family. I knew next to nothing about them until I discovered the Digital Archives. Thanks for spreading the news.
Posted by: LauraAnn | October 09, 2008 at 11:39 AM
I'm sorry but I was very disappointed with the website. I guess I just don't know how to use the site. COULD SOMEONE GIVE ME SOME POINTERS?! I have lots of family that have lived there for years. I have lots to search for and needed material to collect. PLEASE HELP!
Posted by: Joyce Marie | October 09, 2008 at 06:50 PM
Dick, thank you for coming to our open house, and for pointing others towards our website. The Washington State Digital Archives is growing and ingesting more records every day, so if you don't find what you are looking for check back in six months. Our latest collection is audio files from the state legislature that are keyword searchable.
Remember, these are your records, and we are here to serve you.
Dr. Larry Cebula
Assistant Digital Archivist
Washington State Digital Archives
Posted by: Larry Cebula | November 19, 2008 at 06:50 PM