April Governor's Mansion tours offer rare glimpse of unique library collection
Public tours available April 2 and April 9.
For National Library Month, April’s tours of the Governor’s Mansion are devoted to revealing elements of the library’s collection, curated over the years by the 17 governors who’ve called the Mansion home. Register now.
Among the library’s highlights on display will be:
- A rare artifact from the life of Governor Elisha P. Ferry (1825–1895), a book of Romantic-era poetry called Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality. A series of long free-verse philosophical meditations, this book originated the modern-day adage “Procrastination is the thief of time.” Ferry’s signature is inscribed inside.
- Kopet Wau-Wau, probably the collection’s rarest item, was written and bound in deerskin by a Centralia woman who loved Southwest Washington’s Native American culture. In the Chinook jargon used in the area, the title means “Stop talking.”
- Celebration: a Washington Cookbook, from 1988, features the work of former Mansion chef Kyle Denise Fulwiler (1953-2024). Fulwiler prepared gourmet meals at the Mansion for five administrations over three decades.
Built in 1908 and first occupied in 1909, the Governor’s Mansion is the oldest building on the state Capitol’s West Campus. Its library is curated by every sitting governor, their families, and partners from the nonprofit Governor’s Mansion Foundation and the Washington State Library. The Foundation, an independent nonprofit, works with the Department of Enterprise Services (DES), the governor and his family to organize events and tours. When tours are available to the public, volunteers organize new exhibits monthly.