WSHM from the Chihuly Bridge of Glass Native American beaded bags and beads color block Children enjoying the History Lab Time Connector The History Museum and the Museum of Glass color block Salish weavers in the Hall of History

Events and Programs

Hope in Hard Times Member Opening

Exclusive member opening!
Saturday evening, February 18, 5:30 to 8 PM

Come party like it's 1929! WSHS 1957.19.09.204.

See our new exhibit and meet our new executive director, Jennifer Kilmer. Join us for a brief behind-the-scenes talk with curator Gwen Perkins. Sample soup in a “Depression-era soup line” provided by Infinite Soups, and enjoy a libation during the performance of 1930s dances in the Grand Lobby.

RSVP by contacting Laura Berry at 253.798.5899 or send e-mail to laura.berry@wshs.wa.gov.


Hope in Hard Times Public Opening

February 20 > ALL DAY

This photograph was part of a 1930s public awareness campaign about child hunger. WSHS 1957.19.04.353.2

Want to see Hope in Hard Times at Depression-era prices? Bring a box or can of food to the museum on Monday, February 20 (Presidents' Day) and receive FREE admission.

All food donations benefit Northwest Harvest.


Community Cinema Tacoma

THIRD THURSDAYS @ 6 PM, FREE PUBLIC PROGRAM

The History Museum is proud to be the Tacoma host of Community Cinema, a ground-breaking public education and civic engagement initiative featuring free monthly screenings of films from the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. A lecture or open discussion follows each film. There will be adjunct screenings of the films at the State Capital Museum in Olympia.

Presented by the Washington State Historical Society and ITVS.

Courtesy of Independent Television Service

February 16, 7PM:
More Than a Month

Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 29 year old African American filmmaker, goes on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. With Morgan Freeman.

March 15, 7PM:
Revenge of the Electric Car

It’s not just the next generation of green cars that’s on the line. It’s the future of the automobile itself. Revenge of the Electric Car follows the race to the first and the best.


Model Railroad Operators' Hours

First Saturday of every month, 11 AM-4 PM

A model train passes over a bridge in the History Museum's model railroad display, the largest permanent model train display in the state. (Washington State Historical Society)

The Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers (PSMRE), the all-volunteer organization which operates the History Museum's permanent model railroad exhibit, holds a special Operators' Hours on the first Saturday of every month. Operators' Hours is an opportunity to watch the masters at work and ask questions of the model railroad experts!

Using a fast clock (a clock six-times faster than normal) PSMRE members operate the trains according to schedules followed by Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Union Pacific and Milwaukee Railroad companies in Tacoma in the 1950s. Each train is operated by a conductor, with a dispatcher on radio in another room to control the mainline. See priority passenger and scheduled freight trains, as well as local freights, and train make-up and break-down in the yards.

Washington State History Museum Logo
1911 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253) 272-3500
1-888-BE THERE
(253) 272-9518 Fax
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