John Hughes

WHEREAS, John Hughes has diligently served the state of 1
Washington, providing information and protecting the heritage of 2
Washington for over 50 years; and 3
WHEREAS, John Hughes is a lifelong resident of Grays Harbor 4
County, starting his career in journalism by delivering copies of the 5
Aberdeen Daily World at age 9; and 6
WHEREAS, Hughes graduated from Aberdeen High School and Grays 7
Harbor College before joining the United States Air Force in 1962 as 8
an operations specialist, serving four years before being discharged 9
as a sergeant in 1966; and 10
WHEREAS, During his military service, John continued to further 11
his education by studying American history at the University of Puget 12
Sound and the University of Maryland; and 13
WHEREAS, In 1966, John married Patricia "Patsy" Drescher in 14
Hoquiam. The pair adopted their two daughters, Claire and Sarah, from 15
Korea; and 16
WHEREAS, John began working at the Aberdeen Daily World as a 17
sportswriter and photographer in 1966, and quickly rose through the 18
ranks, becoming the City Editor in 1973; and 19
WHEREAS, In 1977, John became the Editor in Chief of the Aberdeen 20
Daily World, a position he held until 2005, when he was promoted to 21
Editor and Publisher; and 22
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2025-4657, by Representatives Jinkins and Thai
p. 1 HR 4657
WHEREAS, In 2004, John was honored with the June Anderson 1
Almquist Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Professional 2
Journalists; and 3
WHEREAS, John served as a Representative on the Washington Bench 4
Bar Press Committee for 20 years and as the president of both the 5
Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington and the Associated Press 6
Managing Editors; and 7
WHEREAS, Upon its founding in 2008, Hughes joined Legacy 8
Washington as Chief Historian after being recruited by then Secretary 9
of State Sam Reed to head the project as part of a proposed State 10
Heritage Center on the Capitol Campus; and 11
WHEREAS, Washington's historic legalization of same-sex civil 12
unions in 2009 was memorialized in time through John's work on the 13
Marriage Equality Legacy Project; and 14
WHEREAS, John's work emphasizes the importance of oral histories, 15
documenting almost 50 unique stories in this fashion; and16
WHEREAS, John's work has focused on highlighting the 17
contributions of notable Washingtonians, from Krist Novoselic to 18
Carolyn Dimmick; and 19
WHEREAS, As Chief Historian, John and Legacy Washington published 20
many books about the folks that made history in Washington as well as 21
documenting the history of the state; and 22
WHEREAS, John's recent contributions to the preservation of 23
Washington state history include "Lightning Boldt," a biography of 24
federal judge George H. Boldt who issued the landmark decision 25
upholding the fishing rights of Northwest treaty tribes in 1974, and 26
"New Land," documenting the story of Southeast Asian refugees finding 27
a home in Washington; 28
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives 29
recognize and applaud the work of John Hughes in the preservation of 30
Washington history; and 31
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That, as his contributions to our great 32
state are many and the importance of his work cannot be understated, 33
we congratulate him on his well-deserved retirement.34
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I hereby certify this to be a true and correct copy of36
Resolution 4657 adopted by the House of Representatives37
April 8, 2025 38
p. 2 HR 4657
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__________________________ 5
Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk 6
p. 3 HR 4657