OLYMPIA – The Washington State Archives will display the original 1889 Constitution of the State of Washington outside of the bronze doors of the House Chamber in the Legislative Building on Sid Snyder Avenue in Olympia from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 16.
Representatives from the Washington State Archives will be on hand to answer questions about the document. The Washington State Patrol will escort the state constitution from the archives, remain with the document at the capitol, and escort it back to the vault.
“It is important for Washington residents to be able to see how our state’s government got its start more than 135 years ago,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said. “The constitution is the basis for every aspect of how our state is run today. Its impact on our foundation and our history should be recognized and cherished by our state’s citizens.”
Benjamin Helle, outreach archivist for the Washington State Archives, has a busy day on Thursday. The House Journal, a record of activity in the territorial House of representatives from 1854 to 1857, will first be on display in the House chamber press table during session Thursday morning starting at 10am. Helle will answer question about it from the legislators and their staff. Public can view those proceedings from the gallery. Then Helle will prepare the Constitution for display starting at 12:30pm, which takes special preparation.
“Since it was deposited in the state archives, our state constitution has been housed in a fire-proof safe inside a climate-controlled vault,” Helle said. “Our state constitution is always available to the public, even for those who cannot make it to Olympia, through the Washington State Digital Archives.”
When displayed at the State Capitol, the document will be protected by a special glass case inside a display and guarded at all times by a Washington state trooper.
The document was created in 1889 by 75 delegates who worked to draft a constitution that would allow Washington statehood into the United States. On November 11, 1889, President William Henry Harrison approved the state constitution, and Washington became the 42nd state to be admitted into the U.S.
For more information about the Washington State Constitution, visit the Washington State Archives webpage.
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State oversees areas within state government including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office operates the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, and administers the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees and the Productivity Board state employee suggestion program. The Secretary of State also oversees the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.