Our theme for 2024 is Many Voices, celebrating our rich and diverse history. Japanese immigrants began arriving in our area in the late 1800s, and by the 1930s were the dominant labor force in the harvesting and processing oysters for the area’s important industry. Pictured here is the “opening room” of the J.J. Brenner company, located where the Bayview Thriftway is now. Photograph selected and captioned by Deborah Ross on behalf of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum, https://olympiahistory.org/many-voices-a-resource-guide/.
Asahel Curtis photo, 1910, courtesy Washington State Historical Society