Whidbey museums split again as Langley rebrands, Coupeville seeks director

Whidbey Island’s two historical museums are back to running separately, a governance split that puts collections, budgets and decision-making back in the hands of two boards after a brief merger that was supposed to steady both institutions. The break matters well beyond signage: it will shape how Island County history is preserved, who controls public programming and how each museum keeps donors and visitors engaged.

In Langley, the former South Whidbey Historical Society has rebranded as the South Whidbey Center for Cultural Heritage, with a new motto, “Learning From the Land, the People, and Their Stories.” Bill Haroldson, longtime president of the South Whidbey Historical Society and one of the new organization’s founders, said the change reflects decades of work building South Whidbey’s historical foundation. The museum, housed in a former logger bunkhouse that is more than a century old, is also widening its focus beyond traditional exhibits to include design and storytelling technology. An open house is set for June 20 to preview the new work.

The Langley site is also carrying forward exhibits that foreground Coast Salish history, including a Coast Salish, or sduhubš, Snohomish gallery and an indigenous window exhibit that was blessed by descendants of the Coast Salish Snohomish Tribe. Before the merger, the Langley museum had been open only Thursday through Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., a limited schedule that underscored the strain on staffing and operations.

In Coupeville, the Island County Historical Society is searching for a successor to executive director Dalva Church, who is leaving for health reasons. The society, founded in 1949 and based at 908 NW Alexander St., describes itself as the only year-round museum in Island County. Church, who has degrees in history, humanities and fine arts and has studied Indigenous peoples extensively, has overseen a period of investment in security and access, including Wi-Fi-enabled security panels, motion and fire detectors, cameras, a secure firewall and cybersecurity training for staff and volunteers. The upgraded network now supports a museum tour app designed for visitors with vision or hearing impairments and for people who prefer information in other languages.

The merger between the South Whidbey Historical Society and Island County Historical Society took effect June 1, 2025, after leaders said both institutions were squeezed by funding cuts, federal reductions to grants, donor hesitation, COVID-era losses and an aging volunteer base. The idea was to pool resources, artifacts and technology under one operational model. Instead, the partnership has ended, echoing an older split in the 1980s when South Whidbey broke away to focus on its own history. For Island County, the latest breakup is less about a museum name than about stewardship, trust and whether two smaller institutions can keep telling Whidbey’s story on their own.