PORT TOWNSEND — Kryptonite couldn’t kill him, but the Smithsonian will, said Jefferson County Historical Society director Bill Tennent as he announced that Superman will leave the museum this month to make way for a Smithsonian traveling exhibit.
The last day to see Superman and the History of American Comic Books — comics from Tennent’s private collection — at the Jefferson County Historical Museum at 540 Water St., Port Townsend, will be next Sunday, Aug. 22.
The exhibit features many rare Superman comics from the 1940s through the 1990s including Superman’s 1988 visit to Port Townsend depicted in the comic Animal Man.
The Smithsonian exhibit, Journey Stories, will open to the public Sept. 4 with a preview for historical society members on Sept. 3.
The exhibit will remain on display through Oct. 17.
Journey Stories brings to life — through a range of visuals, audio clips, music and artifacts — the personal paths of immigrants, slaves, explorers, business tycoons and historical figures whose travels have led from the Mayflower to the Pacific Northwest, the historical society said.
Local stories
Local stories will be part of the exhibit.
Ann Welch, the historical society’s oral history chairwoman, is collecting local journey stories to include in the display.
She will record stories at the historical society’s drop-in booth at the Jefferson County Fair, which will be held from today through Sunday at the fairgrounds at 4907 Landes St., Port Townsend.
Becky Schurmann, the historical society’s exhibit designer, will incorporate local stories and artifacts from the society’s collection into the traveling exhibit.
Student work will be part of the exhibit as well.
Participants in July’s Victorian Living Summer History Camp, which is for children from 8 to 12 years old, studied four women who settled in Jefferson County.
Their reports on these women — Lucinda B. Hastings, Dorette H. Rothschild, Kate Brinnon and Sarah Cheney Willoughby — will become part of the Journey Stories exhibit.
“We believe that the Smithsonian name will draw visitors from throughout Washington, but all of this local participation will make the exhibit particularly relevant to the people of Jefferson County,” Tennent said.
The traveling exhibition is part of the Smithsonian’s Museums on Main Street, which serves museums, libraries and historical societies throughout the country.
Only Peninsula stop
The exhibit, which is not now planned anywhere else on the North Olympic Peninsula, is at the Orcas Island Historical Museum through Aug. 29.
Other Washington state stops will be at the Harbor History Museum in Gig Harbor from Oct. 23 through Dec. 5, the Cowlitz County Historical Museum in Kelso from Dec. 11 through Jan. 23, and the Kirkman House Museum in Walla Walla from Jan. 29 through March 13.
Major funding is from Congress. State humanities councils such as Humanities Washington sponsor the exhibitions within each of their states and work with the host museums to develop public programs and local exhibitions to supplement the Smithsonian exhibition.
Those who want to help sponsor the exhibit in Port Townsend are asked to phone the historical society at 360-385-1003.
Museum visiting hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Admission is $4 for adults and $1 for children from 3 to 12 years old. Admission is free to historical society members. It is free for all Jefferson County residents the first Saturday of each month.
