After decades apart, Whidbey Island’s two historical societies are becoming one once again.
The Island County Historical Society and the South Whidbey Historical Society will merge June 1 under a single governance and operational model. According to leaders of the two organizations, they were previously under one umbrella until the 1980s, when part of the group split off to focus on South Whidbey history, forming a separate society.
“This is really more of a rejoining than doing something that’s totally new,” Dalva Church, executive director for Island County Historical Society, said Wednesday.
The new entity will simply be known as the all-encompassing Island County Historical Society, leaving the door open in case Camano Island someday wants to get in on the action. The museums in Coupeville and Langley will remain.
“We’re trying to think strategically and get ahead of any possible things that might happen in the future and keep both of these places intact because it’s really important for the history of this island,” Church said.
The merger is happening for a variety of reasons, including reductions in funding, changes in local demographics, new technologies and opportunities to share resources and artifacts. Recent cuts at the federal level have trickled down to the Whidbey museums, which normally receive grants from historic and cultural arts institutions that have since been eliminated. In addition, with the ongoing economic uncertainty, donors have been more hesitant than ever to open their pocketbooks.
Diane Monroe, advancement manager for the South Whidbey Historical Society, said the Langley museum was hit particularly hard by COVID. Most of the volunteers are aging, and it’s been difficult to find new ones in addition to docents and board members. The little museum on Second Street is currently open a limited number of hours, 1-4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, but may be able to expand with more resources thanks to the merger.
“I’m really glad that we’re moving forward with it because it is a necessary step for this organization, especially in our current political climate of nonprofits and cultural institutions getting defunded,” Monroe said. “I think we have to stick together and collaborate, so I think it will be really exciting to see what we can do as one organization with two museums.”
Combining forces also ensures that exhibits won’t get repetitive between the two museums. The Langley museum is located in a former bunkhouse and has always had a focus on the history of the region’s logging industry, while the Coupeville museum contains many treasures celebrating Central Whidbey’s prairie heritage. And more recently, both museums have displays dedicated to the indigenous inhabitants of Whidbey Island.
The Langley museum’s revamped front room exhibit, the Coast Salish (sduhubš) Snohomish Gallery, opened earlier this year with items on display from the Garhart Collection and Kyle Walker’s Tangled Web of History project. New illustrations by South Whidbey artist Melissa Koch decorate the walls. Towards the back of the museum, artifacts excavated from the recently discovered Langley Road log cabin tell the story of the people who lived there.
The Coupeville museum, which is open daily and changes out exhibits more frequently, currently has a temporary one celebrating 100 years of the schooner Suva. Next week, a new permanent exhibit on the region’s maritime history is set to open. As Church pointed out, the water was the only way to get around Whidbey until the 1930s.
“The Salish Sea is really the heart of this area,” she said. “It has been since forever, since the glaciers retreated.”
Island County Historical Society is now searching for new board members, especially those from South Whidbey. The society is also looking for a place to jointly store artifacts in an environment where temperature and humidity can be controlled to better preserve items. The merger will combine websites and databases all into one place.
“It’s not terribly surprising that we’re merging back with Island County,” Monroe said. “That’s where we started, and I think it makes sense to be a part of one big Island County organization rather than a bunch of little ones.”
Artifacts found in the recently discovered Langley Road log cabin are on display in the Langley museum. (Photo by David Welton)
A stuffed flying squirrel soars in a newer Whidbey wildlife exhibit in the Coupeville museum’s lower level. (Photo by David Welton)
Dalva Church, executive director for Island County Historical Society, gets behind a ship’s wheel in the new maritime exhibit at the Coupeville museum. (Photo by David Welton)
