HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 5,000 daily visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images. The non-profit historical organization History Ink produces HistoryLink.org, stating that it is the nation's first online encyclopedia of local and state history created expressly for the Internet.

Walt Crowley Walter Charles Crowley (June 20, 1947 – September 21, 2007) was an American historian and activist from Washington state. He first entered the public sphere in Seattle through his involvement with the social and political movements of the 1960s, ...

was the founding president and executive director.

Foundation

In 1997, Crowley discussed preparing a Seattle- King County historical encyclopedia for the 2001 sesquicentennial of the

Denny Party The Denny Party is a group of American pioneers credited with founding Seattle, Washington. They settled at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. History A wagon party headed by Arthur A. Denny left Cherry Grove, Illinois on April 10, 1851. The par ...

. His wife Marie McCaffrey suggested publishing the encyclopedia on the Internet. They and

Paul Dorpat Paul Dorpat (born 1938) is a historian, author, and photographer, specializing in the history of Seattle and Washington state. He had a weekly column in the '' Seattle Times'' and is the principal historian of HistoryLink.org, a site devoted to ...

incorporated

History Ink HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of Washington state history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 5,000 daily visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images. The non-profit historical organization History Ink prod ...

on November 10, 1997, with seed money from Priscilla "Patsy" Collins, by birth a member of Seattle's wealthy and prominent Bullitt family. The prototype of HistoryLink.org debuted on May 1, 1998, and attracted additional funding for a formal launch in 1999. The website was noted for its coverage of the 1999 WTO protests in Downtown Seattle, maintaining a live

webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral d ...

feed pointed at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Pike Street. In 2003 HistoryLink.org expanded its content to cover

history. Meanwhile, History Ink continues, focusing on the production of history books.

Awards

Crowley and HistoryLink.org have won many awards, including * The Pacific Northwest Historians Guild's 2007 History Award * The Washington State Historic Preservation Office's award for media in 2001 * The Association of King County Historical Organizations award for best long-term project (2000)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.historylink.org
History Link video
American online encyclopedias History of Washington (state) Internet properties established in 1998 Creative Commons-licensed websites