Hastings memorabilia dedicated at Pasco museum

The items on display in a basement corner at the Franklin County Historical Museum brought the memories flowing back Thursday for former Rep. Doc Hastings.

About 75 people, including Hastings, attended a dedication ceremony for the display.

A video on an interactive touch screen shows Hastings and the rest of Congress singing “God Bless America” on the Capitol steps after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Hastings learned about the attack on the World Trade Center while leaving a White House breakfast. His staff got him to run down the street to a Catholic Church, where he called his wife, Claire, and father, Ivan.

Three bills hang on the wall, including one signed in 1997 by President Clinton that resolved a dispute with the Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation District and another signed in 2002 by President Bush that dealt with investigations into the deaths of Forest Service firefighters. A North Cascades National Park Fish Stocking Act was signed by President Obama in 2014.

Also on display is the gavel that Hastings, 74, used when he served as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee from 2011 until he retired in January 2015 after 20 years representing the 4th District. Hastings explained that his staff had the gavel made from a tree that fell on Yakima Avenue in Pasco.

On the desk is a copy of the portrait painted of Hastings because of his service as chairman. The original hangs in the committee’s offices in Washington, D.C., which Hastings joked that he had to pay for and give to the government.

Hastings’ congressional license plate, along with his voting card and pins made for both himself and his wife, sit on a frame on the wall. He told a story about how then-new Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, R-Spokane, tried to give him one of her pins, not realizing that each is engraved with the Congress member’s seniority ranking.

Users of the interactive display can touch each of the loaned items on the screen to find out more about them. They can also read Hastings’ biography, learn about the presidents he worked with or even about the House office buildings.

For the younger — or nostalgic — viewers, the display has the classic Schoolhouse Rock cartoon, “How a Bill Becomes a Law.”

Hastings worked with the historical society to make the display interactive, something he hopes will spread to other parts of the 47-year-old museum, which sits in a former Carnegie Library built in 1911.

“I think that would just enhance the historical society in a way that would really just be a boon to the community,” he said.

The museum hopes to install interactive displays for exhibits like the Pasco Naval Air Station and American Indian artifacts, administrator Sherel Webb said.

“We have a lot of stories to tell that really blend well with that kind of display,” she said.

Hastings started talking with museum officials about what to display more than a year ago, he said. He credits his son Colin and Colin’s wife, Laura, with the idea for the interactive display.

“One thing led to another as to what it was going to be and what we’re going to display,” Doc Hastings said.

The display is particularly important since Hastings is the only member of Congress to ever come from Franklin County, said C. Mark Smith, a Richland historian and author.

“It’s great for people to be able to see his desk, his plaque, his bills and license plate,” Smith said.

The museum, located at 305 N. Fourth Ave. in Pasco, is open noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Call 509-547-3714 for more information.

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Hastings memorabilia dedicated at Pasco museum."