This is a new project for Washington and we hope to make it a success by getting many local newspapers & funeral homes involved!

We encourage individuals with Washington Obituaries dated 1923 and before, to come forward with them. Please submit them in e-mail to Washington Obits, and include the source of your obituary. We will be glad to credit you as the source of this information.

Ways You Can Help:

You can help us by submitting a letter to the publisher of any local Washington Newspaper and get permission for current obits to be published. A sample letter can be found here.

Go through old newspapers (published prior to 1923) and copy the obituaries found. We will also accept single obituaries that you have in your files. You can submit either complete obituaries or abstracts (just the facts) of the obituaries. Check with your local library to see what old newspapers they have on microfilm.

Copyright Law:

The Washington Obituary Project will abide by today's copyright laws. Obituaries published after December 31, 1922, unless:

** you were the original author of the obituary, or

** the newspaper in question grants permission to reprint the obituary, or

** the obituary is that of a family member (you must give the relation), or

** you submit an abstract of your obituaries. A good abstract might give the paper's name, name of deceased, age, date of death, and date that the obituary appears in the paper (in parenthesis).
Do you currently receive a Washington Newspaper? If so you too could be part of this project by helping us create Abstract Obituaries from current data. Please contact us for further details on this.