Presentation: Weird, Wonderful, and Worrisome Objects in Washington State's Museums
When:
Saturday, Oct 18 2025, 7:00pm - 8:30pm PDT. copy to my calendar, iCal export
Where:
Northwest Maritime Center 431 Water St, Port Townsend, WA 98368, USA (map)

The Jefferson County Historical Society is thrilled to host this Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau presentation by Harriet Baskas: "Weird, Wonderful, and Worrisome Objects in Washington State's Museums."

  • Saturday, October 18th from 7pm to 8:30pm
  • Northwest Maritime Center (Oliver & Morris Room)
  • This program is pay-as-you wish. Donations are appreciated in order to cover overhead for this event; however, all are welcome to attend for free.
  • Pre-registration recommended.

ABOUT THE TALK:

Most museums display no more than 10 percent of their holdings, often citing “not enough space” as the reason. But there are also a wide range of cultural, philosophical, political, environmental, historic, and even superstitious reasons why museums keep some objects from public view.

In this talk, author and journalist Harriet Baskas explores a wide range of hidden objects found in the back rooms of museums in our state and around the country. Examples include a Spokane institution that holds Bing Crosby’s toupées and a museum in Lynden that’s home to a 150-year-old pickle. When possible, Baskas invites local museum curators to answer questions, participate in discussions, and unbox a few hidden treasures. For this event, the JCHS research team will be on hand to discuss some weird, wonderful, and/or worrisome objects from the JCHS collections.

More info + event registration here.

Questions about this event or other JCHS programs? Email [email protected].