FACES OF OLYMPIA, FIREHOUSE BAY 2
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Bay 2, Window 1
Dr. Robert Peck has an academic background as a former university president but he has turned to crafting mini-tugs which help promote Olympia Harbor Days. He is a past president of the South Sound Maritime Heritage Association and author of the Tugboats and the Sea. Read more here. Photograph by Karla Fowler, courtesy of Olympia Harbor Days.
Bay 2, Window 2
Toy Kay (1924-) celebrated her 100th birthday in 2024. She was born in Butte, Montana and married Bill Kay in Olympia in 1941. They operated Kay’s Café in downtown Olympia for many years. A graduate of Evergreen State College, she founded the Olympia Area Chinese Fellowship in 1980. She has long been active in Zonta and mentored Southeast Asian Refugees. She was named a Thurston County Living Legend in 2003. Her book, An American Picture Bride, tells her story. Photo courtesy of the Kay Family.
Bay 2, Window 3
Emma Page (1852-1910) was born in Illinois and attended the Illinois Institute for the Blind (renamed) and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She later taught at Eureka College. She travelled with her family to Wyoming and then to Olympia where she was very active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and promoting kindness to animals. There is a fountain in Sylvester Park dedicated in her honor. Read more about Emma Page here. Photo courtesy of the University of Illinois Archives.
Bay 2, Window 4
The Play written about the forming of the Woman's Club of Olympia was written by Goldie Funk. This production took place in 1968. The Woman’s Club is one of the oldest on the West Coast, established in Olympia in 1883. Their clubhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the National Votes for Women Trail. Photo courtesy of the Woman’s Club of Olympia.
Bay 2, Window 5
Pet Parade, August 1967. Merle Junk Photo from the Susan Parish Collection, Washington State Archives.
Bay 2, Image 6
Edward Lange (1846-1912), was a talented artist who lived in Olympia from 1889 to 1912. Born in Germany in 1846, Lange came to Long Island, New York around 1870. He was an artist on Long Island for several decades before coming west to Olympia with his wife Sarah and their children. Once here, Lange did promotional art throughout the region. His artistic sketches were often printed as separate bird’s eye (or panoramic) views of towns or as illustrations in publications that boosted businesses and communities. In his local artwork Lange recorded the transformation of Olympia from a frontier settlement to a modern town. Edward Lange died in Olympia on July 20, 1912 and was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in nearby Tumwater. He left behind a wonderful legacy of art that still impacts people. His pictures provide windows through which we can vividly see the past of Olympia and other Northwest communities. Read more here. Photo and text courtesy of Drew Crooks, author of Edward Lange: an early artist of Olympia and Washington State. Olympia: Tenalquot Press, 2012.
Bay 2, Window 7
Candidates for Thurston County Fire Association Queen, 1960, outside the Olympia City Hall and Fire Department. They were identified as Mary Pat Brownell, Becky Cline, and Ann Perrault. Washington State Historical Society Photo, WSHS C1986.43.60.5.4.3.1.
Bay 2, Window 8
Cora Pinson (1934-1994) was born March 7, 1934 to Vada Pinson Sr. and Josephine Alexander Pinson in Holly springs, Mississippi. She was a legislative liaison for the Washington State Department of Employment Security. Serving on the Olympia City Council from 1987 to 1991, she was the second Black woman in the state to hold such a position. She also served on the Housing Authority of Thurston County, the county Economic Development Council, the Greater Olympia Visitor and Convention Bureau, the Eastside Neighborhood Association and on a credit union board. She also created and produced a local radio show emphasizing cultural diversity. She lived in Olympia for 18 years.
Cora was very active in the Kiwanis Club of Olympia and the New Life Baptist Church, Olympia. She was the founder of the Thurston County Black Historical and Cultural Society, a founding member and first president of the Olympia Capitol Chapter of Blacks in Government, and founder and chair of Capital City Caucus, National League of Cities, Washington, D. C. She was president of the Northwest Conference of Black Elected Officials and had been chair of the Region 6 Advisory Council for the Department of Social and Health Services. Cora Pinson was a member of The National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials and was Precinct 15 officer for the Thurston County Democratic Party. She died January 17, 1994 in a Seattle hospital. She was recognized by the Washington State Senate for her contributions in January, 1994. Photo courtesy of Dr. Thelma Jackson.
Bay 2, Window 9
Ernest Mallory (1891-1959) grew up in Olympia, the son of Henry and Mary Crowley Mallory. Ernest volunteered for the Ambulance Corps and served in Belgium and France in WWI. He later was elected Mayor of Olympia in the 1940s. Copyrighted photo courtesy of Michael M Wood.
Bay 2, Window 10
Quiemuth (d. 1856) from the Nisqually Tribe was a brother of Chief Leschi. He was present at the Medicine Creek Treaty and murdered near this location in 1856 while in custody. In 1993, Quiemuth Peak, near Alder Lake and the highest in Thurston County was named in his honor through the efforts of the Thurston County Historic Commission. Learn more here. Washington State Historical Society Photo, WSHS1920.91.4.
Bay 2, Window 11
The original Temple Beth Hatfiloh building at the corner of 8th and Jefferson was dedicated in June 1938. Two months later, the first wedding was held there between Anne Zlotnik and Percy Bean. Born in Gombin, Poland, the only daughter of Sarah (Kalisher) and Rabbi Judah L. Zlotnik, Anne Zlotnik (1915-2000) lived in Montreal in the 1920s, where her father was a rabbi. She later moved to Vancouver, B. C. Rabbi Zlotnik, who later moved to South Africa, Australia and Israel, officiated at her wedding to Percy Bean. Percy Bean (1916-1992) was the eldest son of Tillie (Josephson) and Earl Bean. After attending the University of Washington, Percy Bean joined the family business, Olympia Supply. A community leader, Mr. Bean was chair of the fundraising committee for the new St. Peter Hospital and prime fund raiser and founder of the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. Photo courtesy of the Bean Family.
Bay 2, Window 12
William Greenwood (1866-1958) was born in Illinois. He built an ark in West Olympia and was sometimes known as “Noah.” He later built another vessel in Grand Mound before his death. Read more here and here. Captain William Greenwood, copy negative by Vibert Jeffers, 1944, Susan Parish Photograph Collection, Washington State Archives.