Join us to hear Ann Irish as she talks about the ferry system and how “It Could Be Worse”. From the 1930s to the 1980s, our ferry system faced employee strikes and even a lockout by management; in all, eleven work stoppages. Some strikes lasted just a few days, but the longest went on for more than a month. What were the issues? Which ferry runs were impacted? How did islanders feel about the work stoppages? In 1948, relations between workers and management became so bad that Vashon Islanders ran their ferries themselves for three years. But strikes continued, the final one for three days in 1981.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ON VASHON: PAST AND PRESENT

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8TH

7:00pm
Zoom Meeting
Free

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ON VASHON: PAST AND PRESENT

Join Political Scientist Dr. Allison Jansen and Historian Dr. Bruce Haulman as they discuss the 2020 Presidential Election and past Presidential Elections on Vashon.

One hundred years ago the world-wide 1918 Influenza Pandemic ravaged the United States and influenced elections and politics for the next decade. The 2020 election is taking place during another world-wide pandemic. This talk will look at the elections of 1916, 1918 and 1920, will examine the issues of the 2020 election, and look at past Presidential elections on Vashon.

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNER

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

This event was NOT recorded.

Join us to hear speaker William Woodward as he examines the differences and similarities between the 1920's and our current decade of the 2020's.  From a pandemic, protests, and economic jolts ushered in the so-called “Roaring Twenties.”  Americans adjusted in ways both innovative and counterproductive. What lessons from the 1920s can we apply to our own looming 20s?

Learn more about our speaker on the Humanities Washington website.

RACISM AND JAPANESE AMERICANS: A VASHON PERSPECTIVE

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH

7:00pm
Zoom Meeting
Free

RACISM AND JAPANESE AMERICANS: A VASHON PERSPECTIVE

Join Friends of Mukai President Rita Brogan, Friends of Mukai committee member Dr. Joe Okimoto and Historian Bruce Haulman as they look at how the Japanese American Community experienced racism on Vashon and the Northwest through the decades. We will hear about the pre-war and post-war years, personal stories of internment and stories that take us to a discussion of today. Join us as we look at social justice, immigration and the changing face of the Japanese American Community.

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNER

August 12, 7:00 pm, Zoom

What do the steamships The Beaver and the Susie have in common? What do petticoats, barking dogs, Captain Billy's hand on the wheel, clam fights, and rammings have to do with Vashon's history?

Join historian and author Jean Findlay as she presents our August Museum Talk: "Stories of Our Mosquito Fleets."

SPEAKER BIOS:

Jean Findlay grew up on Anderson Island in south Puget Sound where her great-grandparents were homesteaders. She came to Vashon Island 50 years ago through marriage to her husband, Gilbert, and now resides here full-time on his old family property.

With a bachelor’s in English from Washington State University and a master’s in education from the University of Northern Colorado, Jean is retired from a 30 year elementary school teaching career. She now devotes her time to volunteering at the Vashon-Maury Heritage Association in which she serves on the Collection Committee. Previously, with Robin Paterson, she wrote the Arcadia book Mosquito Fleet of South Puget Sound (2008).

Her hobby is researching and writing about her family’s genealogy.

A SUGGESTED DONATION OF $10 OR MORE WILL SUPPORT THIS AND FUTURE MUSEUM TALKS. WE APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

A suggested donation of $20 or more will support this and future Museum Talks. We appreciate your continued support!

VIRGINIA V: RESTORING A 100 YEAR OLD SHIP TO GLORY

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7TH

1:00pm
Zoom Meeting
Free

VIRGINIA V: RESTORING A 100 YEAR OLD SHIP TO GLORY

Long time Heritage Museum champion Greg Beardsley will share the history of the Steamship Virginia V. From her launch in Maplewood in 1921, to her service as a part of the Mosquito Fleet, to her years bringing Camp Fire campers to Camp Sealth; the Virginia V has been a Vashon icon. Greg will share tales of the years of fundraising and restoration work in the 1990s and 2000s to bring her back to life. In 2021, the Virginia V will celebrate 100 years of service. Join us and learn more about this beautiful historic steamship.

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNER

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

A HISTORY OF VASHON ISLAND FESTIVALS

FRIDAY, JULY 17TH

1:00pm
Zoom Meeting
Free

A HISTORY OF VASHON ISLAND FESTIVALS

Dr. Bruce Haulman and Cheryl Lubbert (Chamber of Commerce Board President and Co-owner of Nashi Orchards) share tales of Festivals past, their various names, the traditions we've lost and gained and their cancellations. We'll look back at a favorite island tradition. If you want to know more about the Peach Festival, the Harvest Festival and various Island Queens, this is a great webinar to join.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

A suggested donation of $20 or more will support this and future Museum Talks. We appreciate your continued support!

The Vashon Heritage Museum, in partnership with Vashon Community Care, presents "Lives Well Lived - Strawberry Festival Luminaries: Two Women Who Shaped Vashon." With this year's local focus on the Strawberry Festival, join us as highlight two women who have made a huge impact in the community.

Moderated by Susan McCabe, this talk will feature Bettie Edwards and Melinda Powers as they discuss building businesses and community, and how the island has changed over the years.

MODERATOR BIO

Susan McCabe abandoned corporate life in Chicago to move to Vashon and wallow in the arts -- theatre, literature, radio and TV. Since landing here she's established Shakespeare in the Park, written and performed a one-woman show and comedy sketches with Island variety show Church of Great Rain. She produced/stage managed Drama Dock's Into The Woods and Kat Eggleston's Cyclone Line. For five years she managed Voice of Vashon's Radio & TV station, and continues to host her own weekly talk show, REALTalk.

SPEAKER BIOS:

Bettie Edwards is proud to be a longtime volunteer for VCC and has witnessed the center fluidly evolve with the changing needs of the community. She is a former business owner who moved to the island in 1972, dedicated her time as a past two-term (six-year) VCC board member, and has volunteered with the VCC Dinner Club for 10 consecutive years. In 2017 Bettie ran for Unofficial Mayor of Vashon and raised thousands of dollars in “votes” to benefit VCC. She cares deeply for the island’s elders and is thrilled about the recent opening of the accessible trail behind the center facility, which fosters more outdoor opportunities for all. Bettie is also excited about VCC’s memory support program to help meet patient needs and keep island families close.

Melinda Powers opened The Hardware Store restaurant in August 2005. Creating a community gathering place, she and her 55 employees served great food to almost 15,000 customers a month. Melinda retired and sold the restaurant in January 2020. She has a long history of community service and was the President of the Vashon-Maury Chamber of Commerce, the Board Chair and Co-founder of the Vashon YMCA, a board member of Seeds for Success, two-time Unofficial Mayor of Vashon, and a member of the Washington Restaurant Association.

A SUGGESTED DONATION OF $10 OR MORE WILL SUPPORT THIS AND FUTURE MUSEUM TALKS. WE APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

HYDROPLANE RACING AROUND VASHON ISLAND

Friday, July 3rd

1:00pm
Zoom Meeting
Free

HYDROPLANE RACING AROUND VASHON ISLAND

Brian Brenno, who grew up on Quartermaster Harbor in the 1960s, will talk about the 60 year tradition of hydroplanes racing around Vashon on the Fourth of July. Brenno will highlight the event's unique qualities, that include; a deep heritage of boats and boating on Vashon dating back to the 1900s, the shunning of off Island participants and sanctioning-marketing-promotion or monetization.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

HOW SCHOOLS UNIFIED THE ISLAND

Friday, June 19th

1:00pm
Zoom Meeting
Free

SCHOOLS THROUGH THE WINDOWS OF HISTORY - HOW SCHOOLS UNIFIED THE ISLAND

Mike Kirk will lead participants through the history of Vashon-Maury Island’s Schools and the progressive consolidation of the small districts - and their respective neighborhoods - into a unified Island School District.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

THURSDAY, JUNE 10

7:00 pm
Zoom Meeting
Free

In the post-Standing Rock moment, museums are being called on to not simply describe the loss of life on Earth, but to act as allies and amplifiers of Native-led movements to protect water, land, and sacred sites. Drawing on recent initiatives organized by the Lummi Nation and The Natural History Museum, a traveling pop-up museum founded by the activist art collective Not An Alternative, this talk will explore how the symbolic and infrastructural power of museums might be leveraged to protect natural and cultural heritage and our collective future.

The Natural History Museum will install their traveling, outdoor exhibition and IMAX-style film projection venue outside the Vashon Heritage Museum this July and August, with a presentation of “Whale People: Protectors of the Sea“, featuring a 3,000 pound killer whale totem and an award-winning film that tells the story of the environmental emergency through the figure of the orca.

Speaker Bios:

Beka Economopoulos and Jason Jones

The Natural History Museum takes the form of a traveling pop-up museum that highlights the socio-political forces that shape nature yet are excluded from traditional natural history and science museums. NHM collabo­rates with artists, curators, community groups, scien­tists, and museum professionals to create new narra­tives about our shared history and future, with the goal of educating the public, measurably influencing public opinion, and inspiring collective action. The museum is the latest project of Not An Alternative, a collective that since 2004 has worked at the intersection of art, activism, and critical theory. The group’s work has been featured within Guggenheim, PS1/MOMA, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Museo del Arte Moderno, and in the public sphere. Not An Alternative connects movements to museums and museums to movements, fostering a growing coalition of museum workers, activist scientists, and frontline communities

A SUGGESTED DONATION OF $10 OR MORE WILL SUPPORT THIS AND FUTURE MUSEUM TALKS. WE APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

Vashon Human History examines the major turning points that have shaped the human history of the island in an effort to understand how and why Vashon-Maury Island have become the social, political, and economic place it is.

A suggested donation of $20 or more will support this and future Museum Talks. We appreciate your continued support!

SPEAKER SERIES: “SUMMER OF THE SAUCERS”

SUMMER OF THE SAUCERS

FRIDAY, JUNE 5TH

1:00pm
Zoom Meeting (join information below)
Free

The Maury Island UFO Incident and the "Summer of the Saucers"
Join Vashon Heritage Museum Docent Cyrus Vashon as he retells the history of the Maury-Island UFO Incident, also known as the "Summer of the Saucers".  Were there UFO's?  What really happened June 21, 1947?

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

VASHON BRIDGE

VASHON CROSS SOUND BRIDGE

FRIDAY, MAY 22ND

1:00pm
Free

Dr. Bruce Haulman invites us to consider: "What would Vashon be like if the Vashon Cross Sound Bridge had been built?"

John Cherberg is the unrecognized hero of Vashon Island. He was the right individual, at the right place, at the right time, and with the right principles to make the decision that is one of the most important decisions ever made affecting Vashon Island. The decision not to build the Vashon Bridge, more than any other single decision, allowed the island to become what it is today and not something radically different.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

NATURAL WONDER: AN ISLAND SHAPED BY WATER

From land carved by ancient ice to the constant erosion of shoreline bluffs, water has shaped who we are and continues to shape who we become. Water structures our forests, dictates what life appears on our shores, and brings the salmon home. From rain that swells the streams and fills the aquifer, to the drops that slide down our throats, water gives us life and moves through us all--Swiftwater people, mosquito fleet captains, fishermen, strawberry farmers, telecommuters, spring snails, osprey, and cedar trees. Island life is in a constant dance with water. It bounds our lives and creates ever-changing possibilities. In this talk, Bianca Perla, Executive Director of the Vashon Nature Center, will explore many different ways in which water has shaped our island's natural heritage as a prelude to the upcoming Natural Wonder natural history exhibit.

Speaker Bio

Bianca is the founder and director of Vashon Nature Center. She has a Ph.D. in Ecology from University of Washington, an MS in Animal Behavior from Northern Arizona University, and a BS in Earth Systems from Stanford University. For the past 25 years, Bianca has enjoyed working as a wildlife biologist in remote wilderness areas from Grand Canyon AZ to the River of No Return Wilderness, ID. She has also worked as an environmental educator in Yosemite National Park. Her passion for nature was sparked as a child with the license to roam the forests, beaches, and creeks of Vashon. Like the salmon, she returned home, spawned, luckily didn't die, and is thrilled to be back, raising her family, and doing work she loves in a community she holds dear.

A SUGGESTED DONATION OF $10 OR MORE WILL SUPPORT THIS AND FUTURE MUSEUM TALKS. WE APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

A suggested donation of $20 or more will support this and future Museum Talks. We appreciate your continued support!

Modern Ecology examines what we know and don’t know about current wildlife, plants, and ecosystem trends on Vashon Island. We address questions like: Why are madrone forests common on Maury and not on the north end? How are salmon populations faring? How healthy are island watersheds, forests, shorelines and harbors? How does global climate change influence island habitats and species? And what can humans do to help island ecosystem health?

BONUS MATERIALS

Contemporary Ecology Resource Page

A suggested donation of $20 or more will support this and future Museum Talks. We appreciate your continued support!

LIVES WELL LIVED - THE VASHON MODEL: A COMMUNITY-BASED RESPONSE

Vashon Heritage Museum History Talks

The Vashon Heritage Museum, in partnership with Vashon Community Care, presents "Lives Well Lived - The Vashon Model: A Community-based Response to COVID." In this monthly installment of VHM's Museum Talk series, we will hear from Vashon community leaders who helped spearhead the Vashon Medical Reserve Corp's testing and vaccine response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they made Vashon Island a positive example for rural communities across the nation.

*Poster Credit: “The Nose Knows” by Mik Kuhlman and Patricia Toovey. The nose was originally made by UMO Ensemble. Performers in the photo are (left to right) Lynelle Sjoberg, Janet McAlpin, David Godsey, and Mik Kuhlman. Photo by Michelle Bates, 2020.

Moderator Bio:

Susan McCabe abandoned corporate life in Chicago to move to Vashon and wallow in the arts -- theatre, literature, radio and TV. Since landing here she's established Shakespeare in the Park, written and performed a one-woman show and comedy sketches with Island variety show Church of Great Rain. She produced/stage managed Drama Dock's Into The Woods and Kat Eggleston's Cyclone Line. For five years she managed Voice of Vashon's Radio & TV station, and continues to host her own weekly talk show, REALTalk.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Jim Bristow, MD is a semi-retired physician-scientist. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and was a practicing pediatric cardiologist at UCSF until his retirement in 2015.  He served as Deputy Director of the Department of Energy's genomics facility in Berkeley, CA and he remains a senior advisor to the Biosciences Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  He now co-directs the Vashon MRC with Dr. Olney.

Ina Oppliger, MD is a board certified rheumatologist. She completed medical school and internal medicine residency at the University of Kansas, followed by a fellowship in Rheumatology at the University of Washington. She was a clinical associate professor at the University of Washington and staff physician at Group Health Permanente, Medical Group where she served on the Board of Directors. She is past co-director of the Vashon MRC and a Pierce County MRC volunteer for the past two years.

Clayton J Olney, DO was a PA and EMT practicing in a Houston suburb for two years prior to medical school. His DO degree was conferred in 1993 and he completed Pediatric residency and a Neonatal fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston. He has more than 20 years of experience in neonatal medicine with concomitant medical staff leadership experience in Houston, Dallas and Tacoma. In 2017 he accepted a civilian neonatal appointment that includes training pediatric residents at Madigan Army Medical Center. He now co-directs the Vashon MRC with Dr. Bristow.

Jinna Risdal, PhD is a retired Therapist, Educator, and Administrator who lives on Vashon Island. She is a graduate of University of Colorado and Union Graduate School. As School Counseling Program Coordinator, she facilitated the design, development, and implementation of a Comprehensive School Counseling Program in a large, highly diverse urban school district. She wrote federal grants to increase funding for mental health resources in the district and served as the lead for the Crisis Team. As Coordinator for the Homeless Students Education Program, she ensured that the McKinney-Vento legislation mandates were implemented and wrote federal grants to increase program support. Jinna developed prevention curricula and taught graduate courses in School Counseling at several universities. Jinna is currently the Lead for the Community Care Team, the Mental Health division of the Medical Reserve Core under VashonBePrepared.

A SUGGESTED DONATION OF $10 OR MORE WILL SUPPORT THIS AND FUTURE MUSEUM TALKS. WE APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 7:00 PM, ZOOM, FREE

The Vashon Heritage Museum and Vashon Audubon present a panel with Ed Swan and Rayna Holtz, moderated by Adria Magrath, discussing how human impacts through changes in land use and climate change have affected Vashon bird populations over the past 150 years.

SPEAKER BIOS

Rayna Holtz has served as the Conservation Chair, Newsletter Editor, and President of the Vashon Audubon Society, and has worked on the Landmark Trees Committee. Currently, Rayna is helping with a project to replace the old Quartermaster Harbor Important Bird Area Sign with a new one looking at what has gone wrong, and how it can help the harbor recover.

A retired librarian, Rayna now volunteers for the Vashon Heritage Museum's Collections Committee, works in the garden, and walks the woods and beaches, trying to learn more about Vashon's native heritage.

Adria Magrath M.S. is the current Vice-President of the Vashon-Maury Island Audubon Society, a biology professor, naturalist, mom, and farmer. She has completed Ed Swan's Advanced Birder class series and regularly hosts Vashon-Maury Audubon's programs on Zoom.

Ed Swan is a writer, guide, and avid birder.  As a child, he learned to enjoy birds from his grandmother and continued growing his passion as an adult.  Ed refined his birding techniques through decades of observation, identification, and field practice. As an accomplished Master Birder, he observes and records species around the world.

Ed writes about the natural history of birds.  As Editor for Washington Birds, the journal of the Washington Ornithological Society, he curates literature for the Pacific Northwest.  His sentinel work, The Birds of Vashon Island: A Natural History of Habitat Transformation, documents the natural history of birds and habitat transformation over a century.

Ed leads birding tours exploring bird diversity throughout the Puget Sound area, including hot spots such as Mount Rainier, Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and the Skagit Delta. He has led field trips for Audubon Society chapters and other conservation groups for more than twenty years.  In addition, he offers on-site consultations to help residents identify birds, increase species diversity, improve enjoyment of their natural surroundings.

A SUGGESTED DONATION OF $10 OR MORE WILL SUPPORT THIS AND FUTURE MUSEUM TALKS. WE APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM BINAH MCCLOUD

Janet McCloud Mother, Grandmother and Activist
Indian Country Today

The Fish Wars

Wikipedia

The Pacific Northwest Fish Wars: What Kinds of Actions Can Lead to Justice?
This resource is part of Native Knowledge 360° from the National Museum of the American Indian

Al Bridges Vashon Born Fishing Rights Activist

Published by Vashon Heritage Museum 

A suggested donation of $20 or more will support this and future Museum Talks. We appreciate your continued support!

One of a series of Talks on the Rocks hosted by Vashon Center for the Arts.

A suggested donation of $20 or more will support this and future Museum Talks. We appreciate your continued support!

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH

7:00PM
ZOOM MEETING
FREE

VASHON REMEMBRANCE PROJECT: MORE THAN NAMES AND STATISTICS

Vashon Heritage Museum History Talks

The intent of the Vashon Remembrance Project is twofold - to combat the forgetting or whitewashing of significant historical and recent atrocities, and to honor the victims of those atrocities by humanizing their lives beyond statistics and names. This is done by researching the individuals displayed in the portraits seen around Vashon Island, and connecting their faces with relatable - and very human - facts about their lives, to inspire reflection. In this presentation, artist West McLean will discuss the project, its inspiration, the necessity of sonder, and the insidious idea of otherism.

PRESENTER BIO: West McLean is an island artist, designer, and educator. He is the founder of the Vashon Remembrance Project, which created portraits of persons of color killed by law enforcement, and coordinated the display of these portraits at island businesses.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM BINAH MCCLOUD

Janet McCloud Mother, Grandmother and Activist
Indian Country Today

The Fish Wars

Wikipedia

The Pacific Northwest Fish Wars: What Kinds of Actions Can Lead to Justice?
This resource is part of Native Knowledge 360° from the National Museum of the American Indian

Al Bridges Vashon Born Fishing Rights Activist

Published by Vashon Heritage Museum 

A suggested donation of $20 or more will support this and future Museum Talks. We appreciate your continued support!

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14TH

7:00pm
Zoom Meeting
Free

COMPARING VASHON AND OTHER PUGET SOUND ISLANDS

Join Puget Sound Historian Ann Irish as she explores the islands of Puget Sound and presents a comparison of experiences on Vashon to those on other islands. Ann takes a look both at the history of the islands and what they are today.

What makes the different islands unique and what is similar to all? Learn the major industry or livelihood found on all of the islands and where the influence of the First People is strongest.

We'll take a look at how the ferry service compares throughout the Sound. Did the location of the islands commercial centers affect the islands growth and how does Vashon Island fit into this mix? Ann will also take a look at how COVID-19 might lead to changes in island life.

Ann Irish grew up in Lakewood, Ohio and has lived on Vashon Island since 1955. She earned a PhD in history at the University of Washington and taught at Vashon Island High School for twenty-seven years, mainly Government classes but also Algebra and Japanese. After retirement she wrote two books, now published, on historical topics. Publication of a third, which deals with the history of the Puget Sound islands, has been postponed by COVID-19. It is expected to be available in print in early 2022.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS