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October 13, 2008, 7 p.m.
Tacoma Public Library
1102 Tacoma Ave So., Tacoma, WA 98402
The Selden Saga
Dr. Ron Magden and Stan Selden recounted
the history of this long-time Tacoma family
whose furniture store has served the community since 1940.
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November 10, 2008 – Monday, 7 pm
Grace Baptist Church
 2507 North Vassault
Pictures from a New Home:
Early Nordic Immigrant Painters in
Tacoma and Pierce County
Professor Brian Magnusson shared insights on the
influence of Swedish culture on the Pacific Northwest
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December 8, 2008 – Monday, 7-9 pm
Theater on the Square
Downtown, on Broadway
So Many Things to Do Yet: the Saga of Thea Foss
A one-woman show by Karen Haas
Made possible by a grant from Greater Tacoma Community Foundation
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January 12, 2009 - Monthly Meeting
IN HOT PURSUIT OF A COLD CASE
INVESTIGATING THE BURNING OF WASHINGTON’S MAJOR CITIES DURING THE “YEAR OF EVIL DESTINY” - 1889
Presented by: Charles Hansen
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February 9, 2009 - Monthly Meeting
The Mosquito Fleet of South Puget Sound
Speaker: Robin Paterson and Jean Findlay
March 9, 2009 - Monthly Meeting
The Life and Times of “Gentleman Jim” –
The story of Tacoma’s Admiral James S. Russell
Speaker: Malcolm Russell
Monday, April 13, 2009 – 6:30pm
Annual Meeting
Presentation of the Murray Morgan Award and the Alan Liddle Award
Program: The History of Tacoma’s Mayors
Speaker: Mayor Bill Baarsma
Mayor Baarsma will share the stories of the men and women
who have served the City of Tacoma as mayor since its early years.
June 8, Monthly Meeting, 7 pm:
 Thomas R. Stenger, "Tough Times in T-Town,"
Tacoma Public Library, Main Branch:
Olympic Room, 1102 Tacoma Ave
Tom is a member of our board of directors and a former Tacoma City Councilman. He was the curator for a recent exhibit - "Shore Leave" - on display at the Society's Exhibit Center October 2008 through March 2009. Tom's family has lived in Tacoma for several generations. He loves to collect Tacoma memorabilia - especially ephemeral items.
September 14 – 7 pm*
“Tacoma’s Suffragettes”
Shanna Stevenson, coordinator of
the Women’s History Consortium for
Washington State Historical Society
Shanna Stevenson is a long-time local historian in Olympia. Formerly the Historic Preservation Officer for Olympia, Thurston County and Tumwater, she joined WSHS in January 2006 as the Coordinator of the Women's History Consortium project. She has a B.A. in History and Education from Gonzaga University and a Masters in Public Administration from The Evergreen State College. As Coordinator of the  WHC, Shanna staffs a 15 member advisory board composed of Governor's appointees and legislators, leads the WHC website initiative and planning for the commemoration of the Washington Suffrage Centennial. Shanna Stevenson is a long-time local historian in Olympia. Formerly the Historic Preservation Officer for Olympia, Thurston County and Tumwater, she joined WSHS in January 2006 as the Coordinator of the Women's History Consortium project. She has a B.A. in History and Education from Gonzaga University and a Masters in Public Administration from The Evergreen State College. As Coordinator of the WHC, Shanna staffs a 15 member advisory board composed of Governor's appointees and legislators, leads the WHC website initiative and planning for the commemoration of the Washington Suffrage Centennial.
October 12 – Monday, 7 pm
Tacoma’s Architecture: One Part of the Story
James Martin Harris, Architect
Changes in Tacoma’s downtown – c. 1980s and 90s,
PLUS a tour of First United Methodist’s new home,
the remodeled Bekins Building
621 Tacoma Ave
James Martin Harris FAIA: In 1960, Jim Harris established his architectural practice in Tacoma. His firm(s) Harris, Reed Litzenberger and Tsang; later Harris Tsang Architects AIA, have been involved with educational, commercial, residential, and medical projects. Many projects merited design awards. His entire architectural career has been located in or around the downtown business district. The successor firm is ARCHITECTS BCRA of Tacoma, a 150 person multi discipline organization.
Professionally, Jim served in many leadership capacities to the American Institute of Architects (including National Vice President in 1979), beginning in 1957. He also traveled extensively, being involved in architectural projects in China, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Egypt and England. He was inducted into the AIA COLLEGE OF FELLOWS in 1979
Harris has been actively involved in the Tacoma community including: Founding co-chair of the Downtown Area Revitalization Task Force (DART): President of the Downtown Association: Vice President Tacoma Art Museum; United Way; Chamber of Commerce and others. The evolution of Downtown Tacoma has been one of Jim’s compelling interests. Harris convinced members of the AIASWW chapter to study the proposed Freeway Spur into downtown Tacoma. Many of their suggestions were incorporated into the final construction. The architects’ concept allowed much of the recent development in and around Union Station to occur.
Jim and his wife, Enid, live in Tacoma, and have two grown daughters, two grandchildren and one great grand daughter.
November 9 – Monday, 7 pm*
Woodbrook Hunt Club
Author, Joy Keniston-Longrie will present from her new
Images of America Series book, published by Arcadia
Author Joy Keniston-Longrie, a recreational rider and graduate of the University of Washington, is the great-granddaughter of Clay Lincoln Keniston, who arrived in Tacoma in 1884 as a blacksmith. Keniston-Longrie combined her passion for history and recreational riding to create this pictorial equestrian history of the prairies in Lakewood, south of Tacoma.
 The Woodbrook Hunt Club, cofounded in 1926 by Maj. J. H. Mathews and Thornwood Estate superintendent Thomas Bryan, is the oldest fox-hunting club west of the Mississippi. Horses have long played an important historical role on the prairies south of Tacoma. The Nisqually Indians were the first to ride horses on the Nisqually Prairie in the early 1800s, followed by the Hudson's Bay Company and horse-race activities in the 1840s. The establishment of Fort Lewis in 1917 has protected this unique prairie ecosystem, resulting in a longstanding partnership with the Woodbrook Hunt Club. Today the club continues its rich tradition on the last remaining three percent of native prairie in the Puget Sound Corridor.
Photographs for this book were contributed from a variety of collections, including the Tacoma Public Library, the Washington State Historical Society, the Museum of History and Industry, the Woodbrook Hunt Club, Horseland/Starfire Farms, the Brookwood Equestrian Center, and the private collections of local residents.
Joy is author of another Arcadia book, Seattle's Pioneer Square.
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 December 14 – Monday, 7 pm*
"University of Puget Sound -- the Early Years."
Meeting location: Tacoma Public Library, 1101 Tacoma Ave
Dr. George Mills, Vice President of Enrollment
in the Office of Admissions at UPS.
George Mills serves the University of Puget Sound as its Vice President for Enrollment. He graduated from Puget Sound with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry and a Master of Science degree in biology. He completed his PhD in higher education history and administration at the University of Washington. His PhD thesis addressed the history of the University of Puget Sound with a focus on the relationship between the college and the United Methodist Church.
His career has been dedicated to growing the University of Puget Sound from a local college to a nationally ranked liberal arts college. Puget Sound is now so recognized, drawing nearly 80% of its students from outside Washington State and demonstrating an academic profile equal to the very best liberal arts colleges in the country.
He lives in Tacoma with his wife, Nilmah. They have three grown children.
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January 11, 2010 – Monday, 7 pm
Tacoma Public Library, 11th and Tacoma Avenue S.
Tugboats on Puget Sound
Maritime author Chuck Fowler
February 8, 2010 – Monday, 7 pm
Tacoma Public Library, 11th and Tacoma Avenue S.
Hotel Living – From the Tacoma to the Man Without a Dime
Tacoma historian Thomas R. Stenger
March 18, 2010 – Thursday, 7 p.m.
Washington State History Museum,
1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
“May’s Vote”
Barbara Callander and Toni Douglass appear as suffragists Emma Smith DeVoe and May Arkwright Hutton.
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April 12, 2010 – Monday, 6:30 p.m.
Bates Technical College Downtown Campus,
1101 S. Yakima Avenue., Tacoma
20th Annual meeting, Tacoma Historical Society
Speaker: C. Mark Smith,
biographer of Tacoma Mayor Harry Pulliam Cain.
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Cain (1906-1979) was elected mayor of Tacoma in 1940, and again in 1942 for a four-year term. He took a leave of absence in May 1943 to enter the United States Army and served in the European theater 1943-1945. He resumed his duties as mayor of Tacoma until 1946, when he was elected to the United States Senate.
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C. Mark Smith
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Long acquainted with Cain, Smith began research on his biography in July 2008, and it is now essentially completed. In the meantime he has written two articles about Cain. The first appeared in Arches, UPS’s alumni magazine, in the spring of 2009, and the other will be published in Columbia, the journal of the Washington State Historical Society, this summer.
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In November 2009 the Tacoma City Council designated the pedestrian area of 1300 block of Broadway Plaza as "Harry P. Cain Promenade,” recognizing his importance in the city’s history and on the national scene.
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