Newell, Gordon: Rogues, Buffoons, and Statesmen

In the 1970s, journalist Gordon Newell published Rogues, Buffoons, and Statesmen, a sometimes irreverent look at the history of Olympia and neighboring communities. The Society and Museum was contacted by friend Anthony Collins who had scanned the book on behalf of the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library, and offered to provide the scans to us to post on our website. The copyright holder, Newell’s daughter Jacqueline Newell Bland, has graciously agreed to make these scans available to researchers and those interested in local history. Please respect the copyright holder by contacting us for permission to quote from or excerpt the book.

We are grateful to Anthony Collins for creating these scans. Anthony notes:

“Thanks to the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (https://www.wtbbl.org), for introducing me to this book. Thanks also to Salesforce.org, whose volunteering program got me involved with WTBBL in the first place. Thanks a million to Ms. Bland, for permission to make this book available to researchers and those interested in local history. Finally, thanks a million to Gordon R. Newell, for without his persistent toil we’d have lost this wonderful compilation of Washington history.”

The book scans are in 9 sections. Each PDF is fully searchable within the document by using your browser’s search function (generally, CTRL-F). If you are looking for a specific topic you may wish to consult the index to the book for page references, and then go to the file that contains the pages sought.

Front cover to page 7

Chapters 1 and 2: page 8 to page 45: 1845 to 1863

Chapters 3 and 4: page 46 to page 98: 1864 to 1883

Chapters 5 and 6: page 99 to page 178; 1883-1903

Chapter 7: page 179-255; 1903-1917

Chapters 8 and 9: page 256-363; 1913-1933

Chapter 10: page 364-423; 1933-1943

Chapter 11: page 424 to 486; 1943-1953

Chapter 12 and index: page 487 to end: 1953 to 1970s (index begins after page 506)

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