Highline Historical Society Programs
One popular program we offer is taping or filming oral histories. We now have done 200 of them. Sixteen recent interviews have been made into a 40-minute DVD, "I Am Highline," featuring 16 people that have come here from other countries and have melded into this area with their families. We are continuing this project.
Another service we provide is history lessons for students. These are history curriculums for elementary teachers that relate to local history, meeting state requirements for history instruction.
We have recently been awarded a grant to republish a history of this area, which will fill a large need. We are contacted frequently by people looking for this information.
The most important thing we do is protect the objects and archival materials relating to Highline. Our archives hold 75,000 photos, 45,000 negatives, and 35,000 3-dimensional objects. It is our obligation to protect and preserve these items. We have a professional curator on staff to oversee this task. Current as many as 40 volunteers assist with our projects and programs.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
One of our recent successes has been the publicity an exhibit has received. The City of SeaTac funds three exhibits a year in museum cases in their City Hall. One of them relating to SeaTac Airport received three television stories and a write-up in our local papers. We saw an immediate increase in membership. People love stories about their hometown.
One of our current needs is to fund more education programs by building education boxes. Each box costs about $500 per year for production and materials replacements. We would like to create a series of these for each grade level. It is our most frequently asked-for item from school teachers.