At the turn of the 20th century, Asahel Curtis was a prolific photographer who traveled throughout Washington. His work captured the state as it underwent big changes, owing to rapid industrialization. For decades, a massive collection of Asahel’s glass plate negatives has been held at the Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma.

The plates, however, are aging. In the 1980s, historians and staff were able to digitize around 3,000 of his most essential photographs. That left about 58,000 to go. Now, thanks to renewed interest and funding, historians are working on preserving the rest of the Curtis images.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

Guests:

Margaret Wetherbee, Head of Collections at the Washington State Historical Society

Recommended Links:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Asahel Curtis' photography continues to surprise archivists nearly a century later