The goals of the WSRID are to educate, to support and to promote the certification of interpreters/transliterators and to provide information to the general public. The principal purposes of this corporation are to initiate, sponsor, promote and execute policies and activities that will further the profession of interpretation and transliteration.
History
On September 21, 1968, 65 people from throughout the State of Washington attended a meeting organized by Mildred Johnson and Don Pettingill to hear Al Pimentel, Executive Director of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). This meeting, held at the Seattle Speech and Hearing Center, was to inform interpreters and potential interpreters of the national professional organization of interpreters and to discuss the possibility of establishing a state chapter in Washington. The people attending the meeting voted to create a state chapter of RID, thereby becoming one of ten state chapters. Officers were elected, a formal name selected, membership dues of $3.00 established, and a by-laws Committee was selected.
The officers elected at this organizational meeting were:
President: Alice Burch (Seattle)
Vice President: Henry Lombness (Yakima)
Secretary: Irene Stark (Renton)
Treasurer: Theresa Smith (Seattle)
The Bylaws Committee was composed of:
Don Pettingill (Seattle)
Clyde Ketchum (Seattle)
Lois Johnson (Ephrata)
The year of 1969 was a year of firsts for the 51 charter members of the Washington State Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (WSRID) with the publication of the first newsletter in January and the first workshop and formal business meeting for interpreters in Washington in November.
WSRID Milestones
Established the WSAD/WSRID Legislative Committee which then was successful in lobbying the Washington State Legislature for passage of the 1974 Interpreters in Court Act and the 1985 Revisions for Interpreters in the Legal Setting Act.
Two people from WSRID: Kathern Carlstrom & Mildred Johnson, attended the first RID Evaluation/Certification meeting in Memphis in October, 1972 and were awarded Comprehensive Skills Certifications.
The first RID evaluations were held in Washington on January 20, 1973 to establish an evaluation team.
WSRID hosted the RID National Convention in Seattle in June, 1974 with 397 registrants.
Two people from WSRID: Kathern Carlstrom & Judie Husted, attended the first RID Legal Workshops at Wayne State University in Detroit in 1975 and achieved the Specialist Certificate: Legal.
The membership of WSRID voted to charge registration fees for workshops to pay interpreters at WSRID meetings and workshops.
The Deaf Caucus was established in 1980.
Evaluator training of the Local Evaluation Team was first done in 1982.
WSRID won the first RID National Chapter Award at the RID Convention in 1982.
The first three day once/yearly workshop/meeting was held in 1985.
WSRID Contributions to RID
Four WSRID members attended the first national RID Convention in Delavan, Wisconsin in 1970.
A WSRID member, Mildred Johnson, served as Vice President of RID
Sixteen WSRID members attended the RID Convention in Long Beach, California in 1972.
WSRID made a bid for the 1974 convention to be held in Seattle which was accepted.
Eight WSRID members attended the 1976 RID Convention in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Eight WSRID members attended the 1978 RID Convention in Rochester, New York.
A WSRID member, Judie Husted, was elected to the RID Board of Directors.
Ten WSRID members attended the RID Convention in Cleveland, Ohio in 1980.
WSRID member Judie Husted was selected to be President of RID and served for two terms.
Ten WSRID members attended the 1982 RID Convention in Hartford, Connecticut.
The Deaf Caucus was presented to the RID membership.
Between ten and twenty WSRID members attended the RID Convention in Denver, Colorado in 1983.
Seventeen WSRID members attended the RID Convention in San Diego, California in 1985.
