Looking Back’s theme for 2025 features Thurston County area photographers, artists, and their subjects. William Duckering was an Olympia-based photographer, active in the latter part of the 19th century. Here he captures a dress rehearsal for a production of H.M.S. Pinafore, featuring some of Olympia’s most prominent citizens.
Duckering photo, about 1895, Susan Parish Collection, Washington State Archives
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2025