How the Kitsap History Museum Innovates on a Shoestring
COURTESY OF THE KITSAP HISTORY MUSEUM
By QUINN PROPST
Ward Media Staff Reporter
The Kitsap History Museum in downtown Bremerton is more than just a quiet archive of dusty artifacts. It’s a place where the past is constantly being rediscovered and retold — especially the stories that haven’t always been heard.
“We focus on local history,” said Lisa Hope, the museum’s Director of Marketing and Development. “Everything we preserve or collect must have a connection to Kitsap County,”
But the museum’s mission goes beyond preservation. It’s about connecting people to their community through its stories.
“That is what we feel really brings the community together,” Hope said. “When you learn more about your local history and the place that you live in, you care about it more. You care about the people more.”
“Then you have a greater sense of community and involvement to where you are, and hopefully that makes you a better citizen and person and a steward of the place that you happen to be inhabiting,” she said.
As the museum’s only full-time employee, Hope wears many hats to keep the museum functioning. She handles everything from outreach and exhibit planning to fundraising and day-to-day operations. The museum’s volunteer Executive Director, Jeff Coughlin, a part-time employee, a dedicated board and a core of longtime volunteers round out the small team that keeps the museum running on a shoestring budget.
Operating without a full-time curator and no current registrar, the museum relies heavily on volunteers and community partnerships. Hope herself has taken on curatorial duties in recent years, especially after the museum was forced to cut back staffing due to funding constraints.
“About a third of our income is from lodging tax,” Hope said. “Every year we have to apply for that. Every year we don’t know how much we’re going to get as things change. It all depends on how well the city and the county are doing.”
The museum also applies for grants, but most of those are for specific projects — not for basic operations like keeping the lights on or staffing the front desk.
Despite the financial challenges, the museum has found creative ways to move forward.
Thanks to a grant from the Washington State Historical Society, the museum was recently able to hire an intern as part of an initiative to promote diversity in local history. The intern is actively exploring the museum’s archives to uncover and highlight stories that reflect the experiences and contributions of historically underrepresented communities.
A grant from the Secretary of State’s office helped fund a project to digitize the extensive Harry Ward photo collection — thousands of images captured by the former Kitsap Sun photographer between the 1920s and 1960s.
The museum also is working to make its photographic archives publicly searchable, adding detailed descriptions and tags that better reflect the diversity of Kitsap County’s past. For example, an image once simply labeled “shipyard, 1947” may now also identify the Filipino workers pictured — people whose stories might otherwise be overlooked.
Museum staff and volunteers are working hard to include the stories of people of color, but the reality is that many of those stories weren’t preserved or told in the first place. That’s why Hope and others are making a deliberate effort to reach out to those communities because their stories matter, she said.
“We work hard to include the stories of people of color,” Hope said. “Many of those stories weren’t preserved or told to begin with, so we’re actively trying to find them, highlight them, and give them the space they deserve.”
The museum’s current exhibits reflect that commitment to inclusion. On the main floor, “Trade: Indigenous Trade in the Northwest,” was curated by the Jayhawk Institute, a group of Suquamish elders. The exhibit, originally displayed at the Suquamish Museum, explores the complex trade networks that Indigenous communities used long before European settlers arrived.
Upstairs, the “Women of Kitsap” exhibit is nearing the end of its run and will soon be replaced by a new project focused on Black voices in Kitsap County — timed to coincide with the completion of the city’s Quincy Square project. The upcoming exhibit will be community-curated, with three sections dedicated to history, art, and culture, each shaped by different local contributors.
While the museum works to preserve history inside its walls, it’s also been grappling with a very real, very modern issue: the roof.
“It’s been years and years of too many repairs and every winter we get new leaks,” Hope said.
However, through a recent grant from the Washington State Historical Society, a contribution from the Lions Club, and a private donation, the museum is finally set to replace the roof this summer.
Beyond its walls, the museum connects with Kitsap residents through innovative and long-running programs like “Eat Your Way Through Kitsap History.” Now in its 23rd year, the program offers monthly, ticketed events through the spring, summer and into the fall held at historically significant sites across the county. Guests enjoy a meal while learning about the area’s history from local experts.
“I’ve been doing it now for four years, and I’ve learned so much about the county,” Hope said. “It’s incredible.”
Another popular event the museum hosts is a free monthly program called History Uncorked, held Thursday evenings with wine and snacks. Each session features a different topic, ranging from traditional local history to more unconventional subjects like UFOs, Bigfoot, bootlegging, and paranormal investigations. The program has been successful in drawing in new audiences and engaging the community in fun, accessible ways.
Recently the museum hosted a Kitsap History Trivia night fundraiser that was so popular it sold out. The event was hosted by Seattle Times writer and Bremerton history buff Josh Farley.
“That was all put together by our board,” Hope said. “A board member said, ‘let’s do a trivia night,’ and she went out and got sponsors. It was great. We really do rely on our board and our volunteers to do most everything.”
The museum partnered with Leadership Kitsap to create a self guided downtown history walking tour, featuring green plaques on historic buildings. They launched the tour last summer with a guided group walk and plan to do it again this year, Coughlin said.
All of the QR codes on the plaques lead back to more information on the museum’s website.
One of the museum’s most popular exhibits is the Main Street Exhibit which is a recreation of actual shops and storefronts from Kitsap County. There is an old watch shop, clothing store, doctor’s office and school house.
“It’s so immersive,” Coughlin said. “We get a lot of comments from visitors on how much they love the Main Street Exhibit.”
With a background in physics and astronomy, Coughlin’s favorite item in the museum’s collection is a letter signed by Albert Einstein. The letter is from the late 1940s to early 50s, after the war when Einstein was working with a lot of the Los Alamos scientists on nuclear Non Proliferation. He was writing letters to raise funds to kick start that effort. Einstein wanted to raise a million dollars for the effort so he sent a letter to a local wealthy connection.
Hope’s favorite museum piece is the Henry Ward photography collection.
“I personally love photography,” she said. “So I just think that is such a treasure, because it is incredible photographs from someone with a great eye and from the whole area of different events and parades and shops and restaurants.”
The Kitsap History Museum may be small, but it runs on passion. Longtime, dedicated volunteers are a key part of its success.
It’s that kind of personal connection that sets the museum apart, Hope said.
Despite the challenges, the Kitsap History Museum remains a powerful force for connection — bridging generations, backgrounds, and neighborhoods one story at a time.
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