Harriet Baskas, Washington Humanities Lecturer, will speak at Emmanuel Parish Hall at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14.
From the Orcas Island Historical Museum
Humanities Washington lecturer Harriet Baskas will speak at Emmanuel Parish Hall at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night November 14, presenting a fascinating, fast-paced slideshow and somewhat off-beat tour of Washington history through the stories of museum artifacts that are rarely — or never — shown to the public.
Examples include a collections of Bing Crosby’s toupees in Spokane, a quilt made of Ku Klux Klan robes in Yakima, and Native American spirit boards in Tacoma.
It is a well-known fact that, due to space restrictions, most museums generally only display about ten percent of their holdings, but you would be surprised to learn the many and varied reasons why some of these items are kept from view. Considerations that are political, philosophical, artistic, aesthetic and environmental all play a part in the decision by any particular institution to display or not display something that is controversial.
The Orcas Museum, having just been the recipient of all the personal belongings of Colton Harris-Moore (a.k.a. the Barefoot Bandit) is now in this very position. Many people feel strongly that the young thief should not be given any more notoriety than he already has, and yet no one can deny that he has a place in the annals of Orcas Island history.
Baskas has produced a major radio series on hidden museum artifacts which aired on NPR, and was sponsored by the Smithsonian. She also maintains her own blog called MuseumMysteries.com. This free presentation is another sponsored by Humanities Washington and will be co-hosted by the Orcas Library and Orcas Museum.
Harriet Baskas writes about airports, museums and a wide variety of other topics for msnbc.com, USA Today, the AAA Journal and other publications. She has written several books including Washington Curiosities, Washington Icons and Oregon Curiosities and is in the process of finishing a book about hidden treasures in museums.
