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Searching collections:

• Odessa Heritage

The Odessa Heritage Collection documents the birth and development of the Town of Odessa, located in Lincoln County, Washington. Settled in the late 1800s, and already an important agricultural center by the early 1900s, the town was named by its large community of German-speaking wheat farmer immigrants from Russia. Incorporating material from the holdings of the Odessa Historisches Museum, the collection tells the story of those pioneer farming families, including their efforts to transform a rugged yet fertile section of Washington's Channeled Scablands Region into what today ranks as one of the most productive wheat-growing areas in the United States.

Material selection, digitization, and description has been a collaborative effort undertaken by the following project partners: The Odessa Public Library; Odessa Historisches Museum; Odessa High School; local independent researchers; and members of the Big Bend chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR). A significant portion of the digital collection has been researched and described by Odessa High School students in cooperation with project partners.

Collection highlights include:

• Joshua Elmer Collection: The work of a local professional photographer who documented many of Southwest Lincoln County's working farms and farmers roughly a century ago. The collection includes many of Elmer's original panoramic prints and also depicts aspects of his family and home life.
• Historisches Museum barn collection: A collection of vehicles, agricultural implements, objects, and artifacts unique to the Odessa area.

The goals of the Odessa Heritage digitization project include:

• Highlight the historical collections of participating institutions by making selected materials freely available to the world.
• Serve the specific needs of audiences including: the general public; local students; and genealogists (especially those researching their German heritage or family ties to Odessa's founding Germans from Russia).
• Provide a digital preservation component to the management of rare and fragile materials susceptible to damage or loss.

Rights & Use

Some items from the Odessa Heritage collection are under protection of copyright. You must contact the Odessa Public Library or the Odessa Historisches Museum for permission to use the items in this collection.

By the use of these digital images, texts, audio, and video recordings, users agree to the following:

• Materials may not be used for any commercial purpose without prior written permission from the copyright holder and/or owning institution. The Washington State Library does not have authority to grant such permission.
• Materials may be used for purpose of research, teaching, and private study.  You must contact the holding institution and copyright owner for permission.
• Credit must be given to the contributing institutions (e.g. 'photo courtesy of the Odessa Historisches Museum and the Odessa Public Library').
• Materials may not be re-published in print or electronic form without prior written permission from the holding institution and copyright owner.
• Materials may not be mounted on an additional server for public use, or for use by a set of subscribers without prior written permission from the holding institution and copyright owner.