June 15: William Winlock Miller High School Marker Dedication
Presented by the Olympia High School Alumni Association

We'll step back 100 years to examine the high school on the hill, curiously built amid long-standing ambitions for Washington's 
permanent capitol in Olympia.  The school's brief existence stood as promise of a quality public education at a time when any free-
standing high schools were rare and only in their infancy.  A public high school sharpened Olympia's appeal when legislators were deciding 
Washington State's government's permanent home.

We'll hear about WW Miller's contributions to Washington Territory dating back to when it was called Northern Oregon, the gracious gift 
from Miller's wife, Mary McFadden Miller, whose forthright gesture launched the new era of Olympia's secondary education.  We'll explore 
the days of "Olympia High School" from 1882 until the WW Miller School era, and examine what high school in Olympia was like a 
century ago.

We'll hear about the early legislature's decisions that nearly eluded Olympia as the state capitol, and the inevitable modern-day campus 
that grew out of the neighborhood surrounding Olympia High School.

The June 15 program will feature biographer of William Winlock  Miller, Bill Lang, author of Confederacy of Ambition; Chief Justice 
and historian Gerry Alexander, '54; OHS history author Jim Kainber, '87; historian, author, retired educator Winnifred Olsen, '34 and OHS 
faculty and history author Bill Curtis, '62.

The bronze plaque being dedicated features a durable image of the original school and is being set into a sculpted block of Tenino 
sandstone that we have firm evidence came from that first school.

Richly steeped in history, the dedication will be a treat for  your family, friends, classmates, young and old.  Please make this 
dedication part of your 2008 Father's Day.

For more information, call Charlie Kirry, '76, (360) 790-9138 or email: charlie@wamedia.com