SPA 2025 Winter Lecture Series

The first two lectures in this series are free but we do ask you to register to attend due to limited space. Please register by sending an email to [email protected]

January 9, 2025, 6pm, Liberty Park Library

Erika Deasy, “Early Rural Schools of Spokane County”

This presentation by Erika Deasy will be based on her book :Early Rural Schools of Spokane County” and will explore her two-year research project of mapping the locations and documenting the history of the 187 original rural pioneer schools that peppered the County’s landscape between 1880 and 1929. We will also delve into rural school life, county curriculum, and how it all progressed from the one-room schoolhouse built  by the hands of early settlers too modern schools we have today.

Erika Deasy is a local historian and author born and raised in Spokane. Formerly a print graphic designer, a plot twist in life led Erika to take an interest in local history. Two years later she wrote and released her first of five books – all on history, events, and people of the Spokane area.

February 13, 2025, 6pm, Liberty Park Library

Glenn Davis “Rediscovering Architect Earl Wilson Morrison (1888-1955)”

In the November 1928 issue of Pacific Builder and Engineer, a biography of 40-yeear-old Seattle architect Earl W. Morrison noted: “He is perhaps one of the best-known architects at least as far as the general public is concerned, in the  State of Washington. Scarcely a town in the state cannot show an example of his handiwork.” Morrison began his career in Spokane in 1909 while a student at South Central High School. In 1923 he moved to Seattle where he continued his practice until his unexpected death in 1955. His numerous, varied, and distinctive projects can be found in and near Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Wenatchee, Everett, Seattle, Bellingham, Hoquiam, the Tri-Cities, San Francisco, Alaska and Hawaii. Today, he has been almost completely forgotten by  the general public and is remembered by architectural historians as little more that a footnote to Pacific Northwest architecture built in the first half of the twentieth century. However, it can be argued that Earl Morrison was one of the most consequential architects to emerge from Spokane in that period. Retired Spokane architect Glenn Davis will present a detailed account of Earl Morrison’s extraordinary career.

March 13, 2025, 6pm, the Historic Davenport Hotel

Walking Tour with Appetizers at the Historic Davenport, $50 per person, alcoholic beverages available for purchase.

The Historic Davenport Hotel opened in 1914 as a destination in its own right. It was to be a place where guests could experience a singular combination of world-class service, palatial splendor and inviting warmth. Constructed under the auspices of Louis Davenport, The Historic Davenport Hotel has serves as a beacon of culture and refinement throughout the region for the better part of a century. Come and take a historic walking tour and learn about and tour the beautiful ballrooms. After your tour you can have some amazing appetizers and enjoy a cocktail with your friends. Space is limited and ;this will sell  out, get your tickets while you can! To purchase tickets online click HERE!