Title Info: The Development of Washington State’s Constitution

This collection includes the original 1889 Constitution of the State of Washington as signed by the Governor, approved by the voters, and accepted by the President of the United States, thus granting Statehood to Washington. It is signed by the members of the Constitutional Convention. This document consists of 78 pages hand-written on vellum.

This collection also includes a “Constitution of the State of Washington” as drafted in Walla Walla in 1878. It was approved by the voters, but it was not approved by Congress. As such, it is not a legal document. However, it was used extensively during the drafting of Washington State’s 1889 Constitution, and is an important historical document which shows the political thinking of the time. This document consists of 59 hand written pages.