This Week in Odessa History

There was much excitement early in April when Odessa High School’s debate team won the state championship and the right to represent Washington in the national forensic contests in 1937.

Although it’s a forgotten activity, debate teams flourished among the high schools of the region, and Odessa often had a winning team. The national competition in 1837 took place the first week in May in Jacksonville, Ill., and if Odessa’s state champions were to attend, it would be up to the citizens of the community to send them there.

The Record reported the progress of a fund-raising campaign in its issue...