Museum honors former Herald journalists for spotlighting history

EVERETT — Jerry Hilson had to attend the Everett Museum of History’s annual meeting Sunday.

He’s not on the board and wasn’t necessarily there to help bolster its fundraising efforts. Instead, he came to thank Julie Muhlstein for her work in journalism after he was part of three stories she wrote about his family’s apple squeezing party, the Everett Norwegian Male Chorus and helping him reconnect with a long-lost friend.

“She is so approachable,” said Hilson, who gave them a bottle of homemade apple syrup and a homemade “Hilson’s apple of our eye” award. “Everybody you talk to, they know her name.”

In a room full of people dedicated to preserving history, two people who spent their careers sharing those stories were honored Sunday.

Dan Bates and Muhlstein, longtime journalists at The Daily Herald who retired in 2021, were recognized for their contributions to history in Everett and Snohomish County by the Everett Museum of History.

Bates and Muhlstein often worked in tandem and covered dozens of stories about historic items and places, as well as history-shaping people.

“We felt like we were just doing our jobs, covering our community,” Muhlstein said.

In a video, former Herald publisher Larry Hanson said he warmly remembered the energy they brought to the newsroom.

Hanson, who worked at The Herald for 45 years, was there when Muhlstein was hired as an intern in 1978 and when she began working full-time as a copy editor in 1981, as well as “recruiting” Bates from the Eugene Register-Guard newspaper.

“They’re wonderful, caring people,” Hanson said.

Those who may only know them through their bylines may be surprised to learn they married in October 2019 in the same room as the museum gathering, the Henry M. Jackson Conference Center at Everett Community College.

Bates and Muhlstein worked at The Herald for over 30 and 40 years, respectively.

After years as a copy editor and the features editor, Muhlstein began a community news column that ran 24 years and produced an estimated 3,500 stories.

Their photographs and words grace scrap books across the county.

Bob Drewel, a former Snohomish County executive, said in the video Bates and Muhlstein’s work helped people better understand who they are by reporting on history.

That ranged from an elephant named Rosie caged at the Forest Park zoo to chronicling the Everett burial of sailor Daniel Guisinger Jr. over 78 years after he died in the bombing at Pearl Harbor.

Muhlstein’s columns about history, often featuring photography by Bates, spanned a retrospective 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the Everett Massacre centennial, historic building and home restoration.

Their work often centered on people.

“That’s what I remember when I think back on my job, all the people who shared their stories with us,” Muhlstein said.

As thanks for their careers, museum president Barb George gave them lifetime memberships and a gift card to their favorite restaurant, which George did not disclose.

They used it for a Valentine’s Day lunch so they can use the rest of it another time, Muhlstein said.

Ben Watanabe: 425-339-3037; bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @benwatanabe.

This story has been modified to correct Larry Hanson’s time as publisher of The Daily Herald.