Ed Garretson signs a copy of the book at the Bookieon Dec. 3, 2010, in this photo by Tim Marsh of WSU Today.
From Whitman County Gazette, Colfax, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010, with a slight bit of editing.
Historical society collection, research turns out new Pullman photo book
A new book featuring 127 pages of Pullman and Washington State University photos has been produced by Arcadia Publishing as part of their Images of America series. Set for release next week, the book evolved from the work of the late Robert Luedeking and members of the Whitman County Historical Society.
Luedeking, who died in October of 2009 at the age of 85, served as a professor of chemical engineering at Washington State University for more than 25 years before he retired in 1981. Among his community interests was active membership in the historical society.
Luedeking became involved in researching photos in the society’s archives at the Gladish Community Center. He normally went down to Gladish on Wednesdays and spent hours researching the background of a photo for a series of pictures which ran in the Moscow Pullman Daily News.
Historical society collection, research turns out new Pullman photo book
A new book featuring 127 pages of Pullman and Washington State University photos has been produced by Arcadia Publishing as part of their Images of America series. Set for release next week, the book evolved from the work of the late Robert Luedeking and members of the Whitman County Historical Society.
Luedeking, who died in October of 2009 at the age of 85, served as a professor of chemical engineering at Washington State University for more than 25 years before he retired in 1981. Among his community interests was active membership in the historical society.
Luedeking became involved in researching photos in the society’s archives at the Gladish Community Center. He normally went down to Gladish on Wednesdays and spent hours researching the background of a photo for a series of pictures which ran in the Moscow Pullman Daily News.
Ed Garretson of Uniontown, editor of the society’s Bunchgrass Historian, said Luedeking was very meticulous to getting all the details correct for each photo he submitted for the newspaper series.
Garretson said many of the photos came from the estate of the late Esther Pond Smith who acquired a massive collection of photos of Pullman and the Palouse. Her collection eventually wound up at the society’s archives.
Arcadia Publishing, which was launched in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1993, has become the largest publisher of local and regional history books in North America.
Representatives of the company have made contact with the society and others about doing a book on Pullman. Garretson said the society began negotiations with Arcadia’s Northwest editor to get out a Pullman book in the weeks after Luedeking’s death.
A contract was assigned last December and a team of WCHS volunteer researchers went to work to prepare the book and send it off before the March 15 deadline this year.
Monica Peters of the Whitman County Genealogical Society, Tim Marsh of WSU University Relations (WSU Today) and Pullman native Robert King, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, but researches and writes about his home area's history, and Garretson assembled photos and captions for the book. Peters and King are WSU graduates.
The book’s cover features a photo of a 1909 automotive parade which followed the purchase of a new Stoddard-Dayton car by banker James S. Klemgard. Pullman at that time had 15 automobiles, and the parade was conducted to welcome Prof. E.K. Knapp of Chicago, one of the country’s most noted Sunday School teachers.
Garretson said the contract with Arcadia called for the society to prepare all the copy for the book and receive an eight percent share of the publisher’s sales. Arcadia covered production and distribution costs.
One of Garretson’s favorite photos is a depiction of former U.S. President Taft receiving a trophy from freshman Catherine Mathews (Friel) during a 1920 visit to the campus. The silver cup for the presentation had hastily been borrowed from the WSC agriculture department.
Arcadia plans to have the book available at all area book stores by Monday.
Garretson said many of the photos came from the estate of the late Esther Pond Smith who acquired a massive collection of photos of Pullman and the Palouse. Her collection eventually wound up at the society’s archives.
Arcadia Publishing, which was launched in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1993, has become the largest publisher of local and regional history books in North America.
Representatives of the company have made contact with the society and others about doing a book on Pullman. Garretson said the society began negotiations with Arcadia’s Northwest editor to get out a Pullman book in the weeks after Luedeking’s death.
A contract was assigned last December and a team of WCHS volunteer researchers went to work to prepare the book and send it off before the March 15 deadline this year.
Monica Peters of the Whitman County Genealogical Society, Tim Marsh of WSU University Relations (WSU Today) and Pullman native Robert King, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, but researches and writes about his home area's history, and Garretson assembled photos and captions for the book. Peters and King are WSU graduates.
The book’s cover features a photo of a 1909 automotive parade which followed the purchase of a new Stoddard-Dayton car by banker James S. Klemgard. Pullman at that time had 15 automobiles, and the parade was conducted to welcome Prof. E.K. Knapp of Chicago, one of the country’s most noted Sunday School teachers.
Garretson said the contract with Arcadia called for the society to prepare all the copy for the book and receive an eight percent share of the publisher’s sales. Arcadia covered production and distribution costs.
One of Garretson’s favorite photos is a depiction of former U.S. President Taft receiving a trophy from freshman Catherine Mathews (Friel) during a 1920 visit to the campus. The silver cup for the presentation had hastily been borrowed from the WSC agriculture department.
Arcadia plans to have the book available at all area book stores by Monday.
