The newest exhibit in the Train Shed Exhibit Hall is on loan
to the Museum for the next year from the University of Puget Sound. This new
exhibit follows the life of artist Abby Williams Hill. You might ask, “Who was
Abby Williams Hill and what does she have to do with Pacific Northwest railroad
history?”
Abby Williams Hill (1861-1943) was a landscape painter who
is known for her commissioned works for the Great Northern Railway and Northern
Pacific Railway companies in the early 1900s. Her paintings were exhibited at
the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland
in 1905, the Jamestown Centennial in 1907, and the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific
Exposition in 1909. Her works promoted rail tourism including being printed in a
travel pamphlet for the Great Northern Railway entitled Scenic Washington Along The Line (of the)
Great Northern Railway in 1904.
The University of Puget Sound has graciously loaned the six
panel exhibit to the Northwest Railway Museum through February 4, 2022. The
collection was donated to the University by Hill’s daughter, Mrs. Ina
Hill. Many of Hill’s paintings are on permanent display in the
Collins Memorial Library and other spaces on campus. Hill’s personal papers are
held in the Archives & Special Collections of the University’s Collins Memorial Library. The Abby
Williams Hill Collection contains approximately 150 paintings and drawings and
includes letters, diaries, day books, postcards, news clippings, ephemera, and
artifacts documenting the life of Hill and her family. The Hill Collection
documents her travels across the nation and in Europe, her relationship with
her husband and four children, her experiences hiking and painting in the
Pacific Northwest wilderness, and her passion for social causes including her
work with the Congress of Mothers.
Thanks to the curatorial staff of the University of Puget
Sound, now you can view the exhibit and learn about the incredible life of Abby
Williams Hill when you visit the Train Shed Exhibit Hall. The Train Shed
Exhibit Hall is open Thursday- Sunday, 11AM-4PM. Tickets are available online
or admission is free when you purchase a train ride ticket.
