The original 1889 copy of Washington’s Constitution will be on display outside the bronze doors of the House chamber at the Capitol building in Olympia on Thursday afternoon.
From 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., Washington State Archives representatives will answer questions about the document, which will be in a special glass case guarded by a state trooper, the Secretary of State’s Office said in a news release last week.
The State Patrol will escort the constitution from the archives and back to a fireproof safe in a climate-controlled vault.
“It is important for Washington residents to be able to see how our state’s government got its start more than 135 years ago,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in the news release. “The constitution is the basis for every aspect of how our state is run today. Its impact on our foundation and our history should be recognized and cherished by our state’s citizens.”
Delegates drafted the state constitution in 1889 as Washington became the 42nd state to be admitted into the U.S.
Voters approved the constitution that year, with Olympia as the state capital rather than North Yakima or Ellensburg, but not before voting down an amendment that would have given women the right to vote and one that would have banned alcohol, according to HistoryLink.
The constitution has been amended more than 100 times since then, according to the University of Washington School of Law.
The original copy of the state constitution has been shown in public before, including in 2023.
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