Greater Kent Historical Society Museum

Our annual meeting will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 21st at the First Christian Church of Kent. The agenda will include our annual business meeting and a video tour of Historic Downtown Kent, guided by GKHS founding member Rae Reitan. Attendance is free, so bring all your friends!

The Kent Historical Museum will be closed Friday, December 23rd and Saturday, December 24th in observance of Christmas Day, and Saturday, December 31st in observance of New Year’s Day. Happy Holidays!

Photo:

In the Second World War, the 442nd regiment was made up almost entirely of Japanese-American soldiers. The regiment fought in Europe from 1944 to the end of the war. The families of many of its soldiers were subject to internment.

The 442nd became the most highly decorated regiment in the history of the United States armed forces, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients.

This Christmas postcard from the Museum’s archives, sent from the 442nd in Italy to the Schaffer family back home in Kent, reads, “Merry Christmas” on the front, continuing on the back (below) with “and a Happy New Year,” with a red circle around the city of Rome.

It is signed “Sincerely, Frank Okimoto.” Mr. Okimoto passed away last year; his family still resides in the Kent area.

The Autumn 2011 issue of the Recorder was sent out last week. It contains information about our upcoming programs for the fall, a story about Kent’s earliest store, and much more! You can read it here.

The auction was a stunning success! Over 150 guests from GKHS, the City of Kent and the community came to support our local heritage! We also exceeded our fundraising goal of $15,000. Our sponsorship and in-kind donations totals were also exceeded, and the fund-a-cause for education raised over $5000.

The GKHS board would like to extend a huge Thank You to our wonderful servers—City of Kent Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Watling, City Councilperson Elizabeth Albertson, City Councilperson Deborah Ranniger, City Councilperson Ron Harmon, KDP Executive Director Barbara Smith and KDP Administrative Assistant Charlotte Turpin. We also would like to thank our speaker, Dr. Vargas, who gave a wonderful presentation on education, our auctioneer, Fergus Prestbye, and Brad Bell, our master of ceremonies.

But the ones who made it all happen were our guests, who bought tickets and sponsored tables, bid on auction items and made this a wonderful evening. This event has helped ensure the future of Kent’s history, and we could not have done it without the support of the Historical Society and the community—hats off to you!

The Museum has just finished a new permanent period room display that depicts a child’s bedroom circa 1908.

The display was developed especially with children in mind, to give young visitors a glimpse of what home life was like for children their own age a century ago, though adults will find interest in it as well.

The concept for the room was inspired by the family that first lived in the house the Museum is located in, the Bereiters, who built the house in 1908. The family had two young boys, but the display room is reflective of any child’s bedroom between the years of 1900 and 1910, girl or boy.

Donald and Stewart Bereiter on their front porch with their mother, Bessie, c. 1912

The Museum acquired two period brass beds, a twin size and a crib-like “child size,” or toddler bed, for the room, as well as authentic linens, drawing from its extensive toy and antique book collections to furnish the finishing touches. The exhibit has been complete since late May, finished in time for the field trips of several Kent elementary school classes in June.

The Kent Museum’s Another Place, Another Time installation is included in 4Culture’s Destination Heritage Interactive Map. Discover more historic sites in western Washington at DestinationHeritage.org.