VIDEO: Log House Museum takes visitors ‘Beyond Alki’ as new exhibit officially opens

When you go see the new permanent exhibit at the Southwest Seattle Historical Society’s Log House Museum, set aside a considerable chunk of time, or plan on multiple visits – we couldn’t take it all in during our visit for the grand opening this past Thursday night, there’s so much to see and hear! There’s West Seattle Bridge history …

Other transportation history …

Native history …

Settler history …

Historic commemorations ..

Historic recreation …

And memories of celebrations …

Of course, someday the Thursday night event will be part of history too. So a ceremonial ribbon was cut:

So was a cake!

And of course key figures in making “Beyond Alki” reality had something to say – SWSHS board president Kathy Duncan talked about how it’s meant for a wide variety of museum visitors, and how an array of sponsors helped it become reality:

As introduced by Duncan, Natasha Varner from 4Culture spoke next, praising SWSHS for its recounting of this area’s “muanced, complex history”:

Much of that history begins with tribes, and two representatives spoke at the grand opening – Kristina Pearson of the Duwamish Tribe suggested that “Chief Seattle would be proud of us”:

As she said, Chief Seattle also led the Suquamish people, whose current chair Leonard Forsman spoke too, stressing the importance of sharing tribal culture “in this museum and beyond”:

Final speaker was the executive director of the historical society, Elizabeth Rudrud, who talked about “Beyond Alki” as a new way to discover West Seattle history:

The museum is open to the public 10 am to 4 pm Saturdays, as well as noon to 4 pm Thursdays and Fridays, at 3003 61st SW. Be sure to take time to stop and listen to audio that’s also part of “Beyond Alki,” as did this well-known visitor on Thursday night:

(That’s Easy Street Records‘ Matt Vaughan, in a corner of the exhibit featuring his corner – the exhibit’s audio, by the way, includes a special recording of a turn-of-the-20th-century classic:)

Learn about the museum’s own history, too, when you go.

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