Followers may have noticed that Bytes and Boxes “went underground” over the past several months, as an unearthly volume of reference requests has consumed, and continues to consume, the time of your loyal King County Archives staff.
But although we’ve been less than substantial in the social media dimension, rest assured we are actively “undertaking” what archivists love most—providing access to historical records. And, as new accessions continue to come through the door to be incorporated into the collection, and as our clients bring ever-new research challenges, we are discovering treasures and encountering stories at every turn, gathering ideas and materials for upcoming Bytes and Boxes posts.
Who can say what the future will bring?
Above: Fortune teller at King County Employee Association event, circa 1960. Accession A07-013, Box 2, King County Archives.
It’s Archives Month!
For now, we celebrate October, which is Archives Month, with two public events.
Faces of the Archives
On Tuesday, October 9, from 11am to 3pm, we will be participating in a genealogical research event at the Central Branch of the Seattle Public Library, where local museums, archives, and libraries, along with the Seattle Genealogical Society, will share with the public how each unique collection can contribute to researching individuals. Visitors can explore how people are directly and indirectly documented, using any of 27 trading cards created for the event. The cards describe people from many walks of life and local history. A card from the King County Archives collection is shown below:
The main event will begin at noon, when historian Paula Becker will talk about her use of local repositories to research her biography of Betty MacDonald, iconic Northwest author of The Egg and I.
Archives Road Show 2018
The very next day (Wednesday, October 10), we will again take the Archives’ show on the road to share with King County staff, and anyone else who wanders in, cool things from the Archives! We’ll be in the King County Chinook Building, at 401 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle, from 9am to 4pm. Picture yourself in the past by taking selfies in our Archives photo booth, check out our exhibits, get your nerd on by marveling over legacy recording media, and take five and enjoy some historical video and film from the collection!
We hope folks will attend these fantastic Archives Month events. We’re “dying” to see you!
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