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Suffragist City

Washington state capitol photo by Chandler O'Leary

I woke up this morning after the first full night’s sleep in over a month, and celebrated by breaking the recent routine of studio-studio-studio entirely. I ignored the computer, bundled up, and headed down to the state capitol in Oly for a once-in-a-century party.

Washington state capitol photo by Chandler O'Leary

One hundred years ago today, the state of Washington approved an amendment to the state constitution granting women the right to vote.

Washington state capitol photo by Chandler O'Leary

To celebrate the occasion, the capitol rotunda played host to the Centennial Day of Jubilation. Forget collaborating on Jell-o recipes; I think even May and Emma would have agreed on how cool an idea this was.

Washington state women's suffrage centennial photo by Chandler O'Leary

Everyone in the Rotunda got in on the action. The Lieutenant Governor’s office, here, was transformed into a picket line,

Washington state women's suffrage centennial photo by Chandler O'Leary

while reenactors turned the foyer into a debate chamber.

Washington state women's suffrage centennial photo by Chandler O'Leary

And upstairs, in the Reception Room, a feisty demonstrator channeled the spirit of the suffragists—

Washington state women's suffrage centennial photo by Chandler O'Leary

and did her best to drag the audience into the past with her.

Washington state women's suffrage centennial photo by Chandler O'Leary

It’s too bad I don’t own any Edwardian clothing—I felt a bit underdressed for the occasion.

Centennial of Women's Suffrage, Washington state capitol

Still, I managed to channel my inner suffragist, even without the corset and bustle.

Button photo by Chandler O'Leary

And on my twenty-first century overcoat, I found a way to wear a little pride. In my head I did a little thank-you salute to all the Washington suffragists of old. Ladies, we couldn’t celebrate without you.

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Holdouts and harbingers

Romanesco photo by Chandler O'Leary

Somehow I’ve managed to tear myself away from the massive pile of drawings a couple of times in the past two weeks—once for a quick trip to the wonderful Olympia Farmers Market to pick up a few things. (Look, fractal geometry!)

Tomatoes photo by Chandler O'Leary

Okay, maybe “few” is stretching the truth a bit, since one of those items was fifty pounds of organic romas, destined for tomato sauce. These babies are a month late, and we’re lucky to have them at all. It’s been a dismal summer for tomato growers here—but hey, it’s nice to have that one last bit of summer when you can get it.

Sheep photo by Chandler O'Leary

The other time was for a little taste of the winter to come—at the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival. The place had me dreaming of winter silence and warm, woolly sweaters.

Maybe if we hurry up and can those tomatoes, sweater weather will come faster!

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We heart archivists.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

It’s just about that time again: Jessica and I are working hard on the next Dead Feminist broadside. She’s poring through texts and historical facts, and I’m pencilling as fast as my tendonitis will let me. This time we’ll be unveiling the new piece at the Washington State Library near Olympia; the staff invited us to give a lecture about the series next month.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

The library boasts the entire collection of letters and personal papers of Emma Smith DeVoe (pictured above, right), women’s rights activist and leader of the Washington suffragist movement. And since this year marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Washington, we figured Emma would be a perfect fit for the new piece.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

So a couple of weeks ago, Jessica, Zooey (R.I.P., J.D. Salinger) and I took a field trip to visit the archives and conduct a little research. When we arrived, we realized what they meant by “collection:” twelve enormous boxes packed full of letters, clippings and souvenirs. A “little” research obviously wasn’t going to happen.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

Luckily, the incredibly knowledgeable and helpful library staff (thank you, Sean!) let us take as much time and as many photos as we needed. So we cozied up to a work station and dived in, one box at a time. Together we went through literally thousands of pieces of paper.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

What we found was a fascinating collection of souvenirs, business cards, newspaper clippings,

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

leaflets and other propaganda,

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

fan letters (Emma had an impressive array of admirers),

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

telegrams, notes from sitting U.S. senators and presidential aides, and reams and reams of correspondance between the members of the Washington suffragist movement.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

The trouble was, most of these documents were utterly mundane—letter after letter simply acknowledged receipt of previous correspondance, or gave detailed instructions for planning events and delegating tasks. Worst of all, Emma rarely made carbon copies of her half of the correspondance, so there was very little in her own voice.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

We spent nearly four hours poring over every folder and box, and the only potential Emma quotes we found were mined from this instructional card. Still, it didn’t feel like we had found our inspiration—just a few weeks from our talk, we had no quote and no social topic for the piece.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

What we did have, however, was a much clearer picture of the women behind the fight for suffrage in our state (that’s May Arkwright Hutton above; she and Emma didn’t exactly get along), right down to addresses of homes and buildings still standing in Tacoma (the headquarters of the movement).

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

From the documents themselves to the individual script hands of each letter writer, we had an incredible window into political life from a hundred years ago.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

And we found a good lead. Just as interesting as Emma (and more forthcoming with their own voices) were Cora Smith Eaton King, M.D. (pictured above, right)—correspondent, fellow leader of the movement, and one of the first women to scale Mt. Rainier!—and Bernice Sapp—friend, activist, and the one who compiled this collection of documents and donated it to the library.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

Bernice’s letters were full of quirky character and wit. We loved how she called Emma “the General,” and referred to herself and other suffragists by male titles: “Brother King,” “Mr. Hutton,” or simply “him.”

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

Cora, on the other hand, was a real firecracker. Her letters (often scribbled on scraps of paper, even her own prescription pad!) revealed an eloquent intelligence and a sizzling sense of humor. We fell head-over-heels for Cora, and began to doubt that Emma was the right voice for the broadside—still, though, we had no quote from any of these women.

A few days later, Jessica hit up the astounding Northwest Room at the Tacoma Public Library, and hit the jackpot. She discovered a document that linked all of these women together, which decided us on a slightly different approach to quoting historical feminists. That’s all I’ll say for now, except that the new broadside may or may not depict a certain quivering, questionable “food” substance:

Vintage jellies

If you want to be one of the first to see what the heck I’m talking about, I invite you to come check out our talk at the Washington State Library. Here are the details:

Pressing Matters: an evening with Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:00), free!
Washington State Library
6880 Capitol Boulevard, Tumwater, WA

Libraries and archives face a tough reality in the current economy—especially here in Washington, where a regressive tax system has left the State Library with a 30% staff reduction and major cuts to its operating and acquisitions budgets. The 2003 earthquake damaged their building on the historic capital campus in Olympia, and forced them to relocate “temporarily” to a suburban office park a few miles south in Tumwater. Even when the economy recovers, it is unlikely the library’s funding will return to the levels it enjoyed in more prosperous eras, so the move to Tumwater is looking increasingly permanent. Despite these setbacks, the State Library continues to acquire new items (including our artwork!) for the collection and provide an essential service in preserving our state’s history. So please come and show your support for the library—a good turnout will help them provide more public events in the future, and might just go a long way toward saving them from another visit to the chopping block.

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Bountiful harvest

Apples photo by Chandler O'Leary

Autumn is, hands-down, my favorite time of year. So many of the things I love about fall have to do with food (mulled cider, pumpkin pie, spiced apples, butternut squash, fried green tomatoes, celeriac—the list goes on and on), and since the Tailor and I eat as seasonally and locally as we can, it’s a darn good thing we live in a state with such abundant produce at hand.

Olympia Farmer's Market photo by Chandler O'Leary

Both T-town and Seattle have incredible open-air markets (hello, Pike Place? I love you.), but my favorite of all is the quietly-unassuming Olympia Farmers Market. Our state capital might not be the hoppin’ tourist hub that downtown Seattle is, but Olympia’s gigantic, spectacular market is one of the best I’ve ever seen, anywhere.

Asian pears photo by Chandler O'Leary

This is the place where you can find around forty different types of Washington apples, and another dozen or so kinds of pears (above are Asian pears, which count as honorary apples in my book).

Olympia Farmer's Market photo by Chandler O'Leary

And there’s plenty of everything else, too. The sheer variety is staggering, and distracting—especially when your mission for the day is to buy just one variety of overwintering apples for your root cellar.

Though I must say, I love seeing the transformation from this:

Mt. Adams and orchard photo by Chandler O'Leary

To this:

Apples photo by Chandler O'Leary

Ingredients for a perfect Sunday: crisp sunny weather, countless apple bins to dig through, a handful of friendly Olympians, and a dash of live bluegrass music for spice.

Olympia Farmer's Market photo by Chandler O'Leary

The apples are always a show-stopper, but our biggest goal for the day was something we can’t get at any of the three Tacoma farmers markets:

Thanksgiving photo by Chandler O'Leary

Fresh cranberries. Olympia is the first stop for cranberries coming in from the coast, and the season is now in full swing. We took home just five pounds this time, but you can bet we’ll be back for more. The Tailor and I have a deep and abiding love for cranberry sauce (it’s great on grits. Don’t look at me like that.), and we kicked off this year’s harvest by finishing off the last jar of our 2008 canning crop.

Homemade cranberry sauce is an incredibly easy thing—so much so that I really don’t understand why so many recipes call for Jello. Cranberries have so much natural pectin in them that with enough sugar they’ll jell on their own. In any event, the Tailor and I believe that cranberry sauce should be a sauce, not a can-shaped cylinder of jelly. So in honor of those little rubies from our rugged coast, here is our favorite recipe:

Cranberry sauce

– 1 lb. fresh cranberries, washed and drained
– 2 c. water
– 1 1/2 c. sugar

Combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Boil for about two minutes on high before stirring in the cranberries. Put the lid on and listen; when the cranberries start popping like crazy and the sauce has begun to foam up, it’s done. This takes less than five minutes. Serve hot or cold (or on grits!).

Note: remember to put that lid on, or you’ll have hot, popping cranberries everywhere!