Washington State Magazine

01/05/2026

Putting a little pep in your step on the first Monday of 2026. Go Cougs!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTIwxp6iYu8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== WSU Cougar Marching Band

01/01/2026

Throwback Thursday: The Washington State College football team defeated the Hawaii All-Stars 24-7 on Christmas Day, 1925, in Honolulu, then lost to Hawaii on New Year's Day, 1926, a hundred years ago today. With special thanks to Washington State University Libraries Pullman.

12/31/2025

Happy New Year, Cougs!

Sigma Delta Chi calendar girl Jean Dahlstrom poses with a paint brush in front of a Happy New Year sign for the SDX campus activities calendar in 1962. With special thanks to Washington State University Libraries Pullman.

12/30/2025

Signs in the windows on the north face of McGregor Hall read Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in 1953. From the archives at Washington State University Libraries Pullman

12/30/2025

"Jeremiah Allison (’16 Crim. Just.) exemplifies so much of the Coug spirit to me," Washington State Magazine editor Larry Clark says of his top story for 2025. "His story completely engaged me, from Jeremiah’s tough childhood in LA (but with strong family support) to playing linebacker at , to a law degree and his current work as a Minnesota Vikings attorney. What an amazing journey."

Former Washington State University football player Jeremiah Allison’s passion for football and law have converged.

12/30/2025

Seattle socialite Lillian McEwan led a push to designate Washington as “the Holly State” in the 1920s, rallying thousands of school children to plant to plant English holly in parks and forests. The non-native shrub quickly spread. “It’s up there with Himalayan blackberries as one of the most prolific invasives we deal with,” says Kevin Zobrist, WSU Extension forester.

In natural settings, the holly crowds out native plants, reducing forest diversity and degrading wildlife habitat.

“I liked this story because it shows how a well-intended, but misguided action can have long lasting impacts on forest ecosystems,” says Washington State Magazine writer Becky Kramer of her top story of 2025.

WSU experts warn that English holly, once planted for holiday cheer, has become a fast-spreading invasive species overtaking Northwest forests.

12/29/2025

A top story from 2025 for Washington State Magazine Associate Editor Adriana Janovich is "The Constant Diarist" from the Summer 2025 issue. Robert W. Shields wrote what's largely considered the world’s most voluminous diary, then donated his words—approximately 37.5 million of them, preserved in 97 boxes containing at least 112 linear feet—to the Washington State University Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections with the stipulation that the collection be unboxed after both he and his wife had died. He died at 89 on October 15, 2007. She died April 17, 2024, at 97.

Sparing no details, Robert W. Shields created the ultimate autobiography.

12/29/2025

A top story pick from 2025 for Washington State Associate Editor Adriana Janovich is "And Ladies of the Pullman Club" from the Fall 2025 issue. Back in 1893, Hattie Bryan, wife of the third—but first long-term—president of what would become WSU, founded a study group that's still going strong today. Fortnightly is no ordinary book club. Attending a meeting and getting the chance to talk with current members was a privilege and a delight.

Keeping alive Washington State University’s literary tradition from its earliest days

12/29/2025

As we slide toward 2026, Washington State Magazine has asked its writers to share some of their favorite stories from the past year. Here's a reflection from Addy Hatch:

Luana Sever's accomplishments almost defy belief. As a teenager she rode her bike from Chicago to Pullman, alone, to attend WSU. She became an expert weaver. In late middle age took up hot-air ballooning and opened a balloon-repair shop in her basement. I first wrote about her for Women's History Month, and after that story ran I was contacted by Walter Fertig of the Marion Ownbey Herbarium on the Pullman campus. He told me Sever had another notable accomplishment: as a botany student in the 1930s she helped preserve plant specimens from the banks of the Columbia River before the area was submerged behind the Grand Coulee Dam. Those specimens and photos are all that remain to document the vegetation there, he said, and the herbarium still has more than 100 specimens in its collection attributed to her. An incredible life.

https://magazine.wsu.edu/2025/08/07/a-ride-of-a-lifetime/

12/29/2025

It's not too late to get your 2026 Washington State Magazine wall calendar!

Order here: https://www.washingtonstatemagazine.org/calendar/

12/26/2025

Merry and bright: Holiday lights shine in downtown Pullman in December 1954. With special thanks to Washington State University Libraries Pullman.

12/23/2025

Pullman postmaster James Roberts leads a couple of camels up the front steps of the post office on December 2, 1955. The camels were part of a Kiwanis-sponsored touring holiday play performed on campus December 2nd through December 5th. With special thanks to Washington State University Libraries Pullman.