— Orcasional Musings by Steve Henigson —
A loyal reader has asked me where I get the information that I’ve been putting into my (so far) weekly column. Well, my sources are easy to name, but the information I want isn’t always easy to find or extract. First, I search for very general background material in my own fairly complete library, then I try to get personal interviews for the messy details, and, finally, I search the Orcas Island Historical Museum’s extensive and well-indexed files for the real, true story.
Brittney Maruska, the Historical Museum’s Executive Director, is an indispensable whizz-bang when a researcher wants to find something. If the museum has it, she knows where it is. If you’ve got a general idea, she knows the details or where to find them. And, on top of it all, she is enthusiastically tolerant of, and almost infinitely patient with, the search for the little, tiny tidbits which make a story interesting.
Brittney has already been the subject of an Orcas Issues story, back in 2018, when she first took the Executive Director’s job. (You can read it HERE.)
Both she and the collections she oversees are available to you, me, or any interested person by simply calling the museum and making an appointment. There are well organized file drawers filled with newspaper clippings, official documents, pictures, and hand-written interviews. There are cabinets stuffed with catalogued artifacts. There are history books, census records, oral histories, and lots, lots more.
And Brittney knows where everything is. Just ask.
Of course, there’s a form to fill out. And staff-guided research is free of charge for only the first half-hour, but I’ve found that it’s a very lenient half-hour. Somehow, I’ve never yet run into overtime, and I’ve always been able to find what I’m looking for. Further, the museum itself is a gem, well worth your time, with an interesting permanent exhibit, a rotating display of stuff from the artifact cabinets, and the work of the occasional modern-day Orcasian. Go see it, and say “Hello!” to Brittney for me.
Thanks Steve,Brittiney is the heart of the museum and has brought it up to the degree that has never been achieved before as our island museum grows and continues to serve to record the growth and evolution of our island from 5 original cedar cabins to a memory bank of what preceded here before the days of paved roads and electricity.
History is not a thing ,or a posssession ,it is a concept, a spirit,it has a value,and there is a duty to preserve it.It needs to be understood.Respected,and safe guarded.We need to learn from it to prevent its mistakes.To know where we are headed,we need to know where we have been.