If anyone could tell you about the importance of archiving local news, it would be Blaine history buff Jim Zell. The retired Air Force veteran has been photographing issues of the Blaine Journal for the past few years in his home.
The Blaine Journal newspaper was active from the 1880s until 1971. For nearly 100 years, it reported the news of Blaine.
“There’s a lot of beautiful things about Blaine,” Zell said about his motivations to archive the aging newspapers. “I’ve always loved Blaine and the area.”
Zell initially took pictures of old photographs. He transitioned to focusing on old issues of the Blaine Journal, working with the Ferndale Record and the Blaine Library to borrow the newspapers for photographing. He also has issues left to him from his late friend Murray Goff, who owned Goff’s Department Store in Blaine until its closure in 2009.
His photographing process has evolved since starting the project. He began by taking photos at an angle on a tabletop, but now places his tripod horizontally, anchored on a bookshelf, over a low platform so he can take photos looking straight down. When papers are wrinkled, he places them under plexiglass and uses variable light to eliminate glare.
Zell estimates that it takes him a half an hour to photograph one month’s worth of issues. He uploads the photos to his computer, using external hard drives to keep up with the growing number of digital files. He’s taken 5,000 photographs of the newspapers so far.
“It’s been a thrill to do it,” Zell said. “It’s been hard. I think it’s going to be all worth it.”
Zell hasn’t been able to track down every issue of the Blaine Journal. He said he does have 50 different issues from 50 different years. He’s been able to complete a total of 35 non-consecutive years’ worth of issues. Three months from now, he will have finished photographing and processing the rest of the issues at the Blaine Library.
“If I find any more that I don’t have, I will add them,” Zell said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be finished.”
When reading issues from the 1950s, Zell recognized the names of people he knew when he was stationed at the Blaine Air Force Base. He finds that news has drastically changed since the 1880s: in one issue, he recalls a story of a chicken thief who was forced to walk the half mile of Peace Portal Drive carrying the dead chickens.
“Everyone’s calling me the Blaine historian, but all I’m doing is recording it and putting it in the computer,” Zell said.
Zell hopes others will join him in his efforts of creating a museum of Blaine history and a Blaine historical society, two of his longtime dreams.
To ask questions about his newspaper archiving or to share stories of Blaine’s past, call Zell at 360/739-1028 or email him at jimzellwa3@gmail.com.
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