Governor's Heritage Award - Joseph Locati

Joseph J. Locati of Walla Walla, Washington was born of Italian parents. Locati grew up in a community of Italian immigrants who were establishing themselves as Washington’s leading truck gardeners. Locati became the first Italian-American child in the Walla Walla Valley to graduate from high school and was the first Italian-American agricultural inspector in the state, devoting much of his career to improving grading, inspection, and pest control. Always interested in heritage, Locati began to research the history of horticulture and of the Italian-American community in southeastern Washington, publishing the definitive history in 1978. He also took an active role in the founding of the Walla Walla Italian Heritage Association and in researching and lecturing about horticultural and Italian-American history. Joseph J. Locati passed away in 1998.