History talks return to the Schmidt House! After a long closure due to COVID and a construction project, we’re pleased to announce that monthly History Talks are back! Join us each month for a free hour-long talk on social or natural history, each presented by a recognized expert. All talks will be at noon on a specified Thursday. First come, first seated until capacity is reached.
November 2
A Confluence of Conservation: A History of the Nisqually Delta and the US Fish and Wildlife Service
Julia Pinnix, Visitor Services Manager for the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge Complex, will speak about the Nisqually Delta, a landscape that embraces time, change, and continuity. Two different cultures clashed here, yet connected to hold a space for wildness. Julia will explore some of the storylines that converge in today’s Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
December 7
Tales from the Crypt
The Masonic and Odd Fellows’ cemeteries in Tumwater are more than simply the repository of graves; they are the repository of history and stories, more than can be told in one sitting. Noted local historian Dennis Larsen speaks about a few of the more colorful interments: the Tilley family, spanning three generations from an 1852 wagon train to European royalty; Charles Grainger, Chief Leschi’s hangman; Myron Hawley Ranney, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner; Wittington Johnston Sayre and Ann M. Sayre, vigilantes who hanged a sheriff; and James Biles, the alleged ox killer.
January 4
Gardening’s Past, Gardening’s Future
Noted journalist and policy analyst Jill Severn will discuss how gardening—both vegetable and ornamental—has evolved in the past hundred-plus years, and how wars, economic and cultural change, and the search for sustainability have affected what and how we grow—and perhaps most importantly, why we garden.
Article written and provided by Karen Johnson, Schmidt House Curator.
