Central Washington University Archives & Special Collections

09/14/2026

Happy Monday, Wildcats! We want to share this new online collection of interviews conducted with United States military veterans in Kittitas County as part of the 2026 celebration of 250 years of the United States, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/america_250/.

This project was jointly sponsored by The Kittitas Chamber of Commerce, VFW Post 1373 Cle Elum, Washington State Historical Society, Upper Kittitas County Senior Center, Kittitas County Public Health Department, and is hosted online by the CWU Archives and Special Collections.

09/10/2026

Happy Thursday, Wildcats! National Read a Book Day was September 6 and today we share these images celebrating that day! Images are from the John Foster Photographs Collection, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/john_foster_photos/.

Image Descriptions:
• Teacher helping her students read books, undated.
• A woman looking at a Science Education book display in 1951.
• A “Be A Nature Knower!” book display inside the library in 1957.
• A teacher and her young students looking at a book display at a reading event in 1955.

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day, Wildcats! In honor of the holiday, we share these images of past Labor Day parades in Cle Elum from the Frederick Krueger Photographs Collection, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/frederick_krueger/.

Image Descriptions:
1912 Parade, Unionized Coal,Mine Workers.
1917 Parade on Pennsylvania Avenue.
1935 Parade, McKay Coal Company float.
1951 Parade, the award for first prize for floats goes to the Cle Elum Eagles club.

09/04/2026

09/01/2026

Happy Tuesday, Wildcats! In honor of yesterday being National Eat Outside Day, we share these images form our online collections.

The first two images (undated) are from the H. Glenn Hogue Collection, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/glenn_hogue_photos/.

The third image was taken in 1940 and from the Thorp Mill Collection, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/thorp_mill/.

08/27/2026

Happy Thursday, Wildcats! Yesterday was National Dog Day and today we share some of our favorite images of dogs from our online collections.

The first image is from the John Foster Collection and shows a dog in the 1950 Freshman registration line at Central.

The second image is from the Frederick Krueger Collection and shows a woman with her child and dog in their automobile in Upper Kittitas County in 1915.

The third image is also from the Krueger Collection and shows a man and dog taking in the mountain view in 1930.

08/20/2026

Happy Thursday, Wildcats! As we approach the Annual Ellensburg Rodeo, today we share these images from past Rodeo Parades.

The image of the 1940 Rodeo Parade is from the Thorp Mill Town Historical Preservation Society Collection, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/thorp_mill/.

The second undated image of the Parade is from the John Allen Nicholson Diaries and Pictures Collection, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/nicholson_photographs/.

08/17/2026

Good morning, Wildcats. Today we honor Margaret Nancy Lester who passed away earlier this month.

Dr. Lester grew up in New a Jersey and graduate from Middlebury College with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature in 1949. She then attended the University of Colorado where she received a Master’s degree in Spanish Literature in 1968 followed by a Ph.D. in Spanish in 1973.

Before coming to Central, Dr. Lester taught at South Dakota State University. She began her tenure at Central in 1970 as an Associate Professor of Spanish and later received the rank of Full Professor. During her time at Central, she served as chair of the Faculty Senate Code Committee and was president of Central’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. She also traveled throughout Europe and Mexico.

Dr. Lester retired in 1992 and was awarded the honor of Emeritus Professor.

Dr. Lester’s oral history interview on her tenure at CWU is at https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cwura_interviews/69/.

Her obituary is at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailyrecordnews/name/margaret-lester-obituary?id=62109859.

08/13/2026

Happy Thursday, Wildcats! In looking through some past Summer Session booklets, I noticed these great covers from the 1970s and 1980s. Enjoy!