From Grand Coulee to Grunge. That’s the name of the newest Washington state exhibit on display in the Legislative Building.
The free, privately funded exhibit aims to give visitors a better understanding of Washington’s rich history.
During the exhibit’s unveiling ceremony a few weeks ago, Rep. Gael Tarleton of Seattle stated, “We should be proud that we have held on to this history of being part of the world, but devoted to the well-being of our citizens.”
The exhibit is open to the public and will be on display in the Secretary of State’s office in
the Legislative building for the next year.
Here are more details about the specific displays from the Secretary of State’s website:
1) Building the Future looks at Weyerhaeuser’s rise into a timber empire.
2) Created the “Eighth Wonder” is about the building of the Grand Coulee Dam and how it revolutionized Washington agriculture by bringing irrigation to a parched Eastern Washington, provided cheap hydroelectric power and aided in the production of aluminum for Boeing aircraft used in World War II.
3) Ended the War reviews the Hanford Nuclear Reservation’s quiet yet vital role in providing plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, helping end World War II.
4) Introduced Air Travel spotlights Boeing’s central role in aerospace and its contributions to world air travel, as well as its role in the creation of the Saturn V rocket that literally launched several Apollo missions to the moon.
5) Feeding the Globe tells how Washington’s agriculture industry grew to become a worldwide leader in the export of apples, wheat, potatoes, wine and other first-class products.
6) Exporting the Culture is about innovative companies like Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco and Amazon.com that have become known globally.
7) Rocked the Planet takes viewers back to various times when Washington musicians reached stardom and legendary status, from crooner Bing Crosby to famed guitarist Jimi Hendrix to Nirvana, which exploded onto the rock music scene in the early 1990s and helped make grunge a household word.
8) Wired the World looks at how Bill Gates and Paul Allen formed Microsoft and transformed it into a computer software colossus that helped connect the world and created thousands of “Microsoft millionaires” in Washington alone.
You can watch the entire unveiling ceremony courtesy of TVW below.