Pacific Northwest
Collections
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American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Introductory essays, 2300 original photographs and 1500 pages of textual sources about the Northwest Coast and Plateau Indian cultures constitute an award-winning project developed for the Library of Congress' American Memory in partnership with the Museum of History and Industry and the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture.
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Architecture of the Pacific Northwest Selected architectural drawings representing regionally significant architects and designers spanning the period from the 1880’s into the 1980's. This collection showcases design and working drawings of important examples of both historic and more contemporary residential, commercial, and public buildings in the Puget Sound region.
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Albert H. Barnes Photographs of Western Washington Turn of the 20th century photographs documenting the landscape, people, and cities and towns of Western Washington.
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Boyd and Braas Photographs of Seattle and Washington State, 1888-1893 Photographs ca. 1888-1893 of early Seattle, especially the waterfront and street scenes, Madrona and Leschi parks, Native American hop pickers, portraits of Seattle pioneers, and the Great Seattle Fire.
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Centralia Tragedy and the Industrial Workers of the World Collection, 1912-1932 A selection of items drawn from the Seattle office of the Industrial Workers of the World labor organization. Includes pamphlets, leaflets and correspondence documenting the I.W.W.'s involvement in the Centralia Tragedy of 1919 and general publications from the national I.W.W. organization.
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Civil Works Administration Photographs of King County, 1933-1934 Images showing work projects in King County, Washington established under the auspices of the Civil Works Administration in 1933-34. Through such relief programs, Franklin Delano Roosevelt attempted to provide recovery for millions of Americans suffering from unemployment as a result of the Great Depression.
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Asahel Curtis Photo Company Photographs Photographs taken from the 1850s until 1940 depicting activities in Washington State, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska and the Klondike.
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Darrington Historical Society's SR 530 Landslide Collection Digital collection of artifacts related to the landslide that occured near Darrington and Oso, Washington on March 22, 2014. This collection is presented by the Darrington Historical Society as a way to relay the experience, and tell the story from the perspective of the Darrington Community.
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Everett Massacre of 1916 Collection Items documenting labor's perspective on the events of the 1916 Everett Massacre. The materials are drawn from the Seattle Union Record and the writings of Anna Louise Strong, among others.
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Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Photographs of King County, 1933-1935 Images documenting the Federal Emergency Relief Administration program in King County, Washington, 1933-35. This was one of the first relief operations organized under Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal designed to provide state assistance for the unemployed who suffered under the Great Depression.
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Grand Coulee Dam Construction, 1933-1942 Documentation using photographs and pamphlets of the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, built during 1933 to 1942 as part of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project for the development of the Columbia River for waterpower, irrigation, and flood control. Includes a look at the recommendations for and against building the dam, images of land clearing activities by the Public Works Administration, and the dam construction itself.
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Wilhelm Hester Photographs Photographs from approximately 1893-1906 of Puget Sound sailing vessels and ships' crews, the Alaska Gold Rush in Nome and vicinity in 1900, images of logging activities in Washington state, and San Francisco's Chinatown.
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Industries and Occupations Photographs Images, primarily from the 1880s to the 1940s, in an ever-growing digital collection of photographs documenting the workers of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
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King County Snapshots King County, Washington, through 12,000 historical 19th and 20th century images portraying people, places, and events in the county's urban, suburban, and rural communities. Items from Black Heritage Society, Eastside Heritage Center, Maple Valley Historical Society, Museum of History & Industry, Northwest Railway Museum, Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, Rainier Valley Historical Society, Renton Historical Museum, Shoreline Historical Museum, University of WA Libraries, White River Valley Museum, and Wing Luke Asian Museum
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Kinsey Brothers Photographs of the Lumber Industry and the Pacific Northwest, 1890-1945 Images from the period 1890-1939, documenting the logging industry and other forest related activities in Washington State. Includes images of loggers and logging camps, skid roads, donkey engines, loading operations, logging trucks and railroads.
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Frank La Roche Photographs, 1888-1910 Photographs from between 1888-1910 depicting scenes of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush, Seattle, Washington state, Alaska, western United States, and Canada.
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LGBTQ+ Collection Pacific Northwest LGBTQ+ materials in UW's digital collections: a project to improve and expand descriptions
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James Patrick Lee Photographs of Seattle, 1904-1940 Photographs of Seattle, from between 1904-1940, depicting regrading projects, municipal services, and local neighborhood architecture, as well as scenes from the Great Depression including "Hooverville" and labor rallies of the unemployed.
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Menus Collection A selection of historical menus and other graphic materials from restaurants and dining facilities in the Pacific Northwest from 1889 to 2003 including the Space Needle Restaurant, Ivar's Acres of Clams, the Dog House, and cruises aboard the Alaska and Pacific Steam Ship Lines.
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Modern Photographers Collection Images from the work of nationally and internationally renowned local photographers Art Hupy, Ernest Kassowitz, Kyo Koike, Frank Kunishige, Mary Randlett, Don Wallen and others. These photographers were active in the Pacific Northwest community from the late 1920's to the present.
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The Mountaineers Photographic Album Collection, 1907-1951 A selection of photographic albums and text documenting the Mountaineers official annual outings undertaken by club members from 1907-1951, primarily on the Olympic Peninsula, in Mount Rainier National Park and on Glacier Peak. The images depict camping and climbing activities, equipment and pack horses, portraits of members, and a variety of splendid scenic views of the Northwest.
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Mountains and Mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest Portal for digital resources about mountains and mountaineering in Special Collections at the University of Washington. This project has made textual and visual resources about the history of Pacific Northwest mountaineering available online through the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collection.
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Moving Image Collection One to four minute film clips from home movies, industrial films, documentaries, news footage, art films, and photomicroscopy techniques. Sub-collections include the Richard J. Blandau Film Collection, Ruth and Louis Kirk Moving Image Collection, the Mountaineers Film Collection, and the Newsfilm of Grays Harbor County Collection
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Northwest Historical Annual Reports Collection A growing collection of annual financial reports of companies currently or historically based in the Pacific Northwest.
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Olympic Peninsula Community Museum A web-based museum showcasing aspects of the rich history and culture of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula communities. Features cultural exhibits, curriculum packets and a searchable archive of over 12,000 items that includes historical photographs, audio recordings, videos, maps, diaries, reports and other documents.
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Pacific Fisherman Journal, 1903-1911 One of the most important publications for information about West Coast fisheries in the 20th century. This fishing industry journal was published from 1903 to 1966. The digital collection contains more than 5,000 pages dating from its earliest years.
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Pacific Northwest Historical Documents Database A collection of writings, diaries, letters, and reminiscences drawn from various sources within the Special Collections Division collections that recount the early settlement of Washington in the 19th century, the establishment of homesteads and towns and the hardships faced by many of the early pioneers.
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Pacific Northwest Sheet Music Collection The Pacific Northwest Sheet Music Collection contains music from and about Washington State, the Pacific Northwest and the University. This collection represents a fraction of the Ashford Sheet Music Collection which was built from a core collection donated by Paul Ashford to the University of Washington in 1959.
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Pamphlets and Textual Documents Collection Documents, pamphlets, booklets, flyers, and other original material drawn from the Pacific Northwest Collection of pamphlets and books, the Theater program collection, and various textual ephemeral collections.
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Theodore E. Peiser Photographs of Washington State Images taken by the pioneer photographer, Theodore Peiser, in the later part of the 19th century to about 1907. Among his subjects were images of troops preparing to embark from Fort Lawton to China in 1900, the Territorial University and early Seattle scenes.
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Lee Pickett Photographs of Washington State, 1909-1936 Photographs documenting scenes from Snohomish, King and Chelan Counties in Washington State from the early 1900s to the 1940s. These include the towns and people of Index, Gold Bar, Scenic, and Sultan. Contains images of local industries, such as the Heybrook Lumber Co. and Index Granite Works, as well as photos of the Great Northern Railway Company.
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Portraits Collection An ongoing database of historical portraits of men and women well known in the Pacific Northwest region and also nationwide. These include among others architects, artists and writers, government officials and politicians, and historians and educators.
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Prosch Albums, approximately 1851-1906 Photographic albums containing images collected and annotated by Thomas Prosch, one of Seattle's earliest pioneers. Images document scenes in Eastern Washington especially Chelan and vicinity, and Seattle's early history including the Seattle Fire of 1889.
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Rainier National Park Mountain-Glacier Wonderland Photograph Album, Photographs from around 1925 promotional album for Mount Rainier National Park depicting tourist facilities, scenic views of the mountain and surrounding parkland, and recreational activities including mountaineering.
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Salmon in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Collection, 1890-1961 Several hundred photographs and 23 documents describing the place of salmon in the Pacific Northwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the roots of the salmon crisis.
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Seattle Photographs Ongoing database of historical photographs of Seattle with special emphasis on images depicting neighborhoods, recreational activities including baseball, "The Great Snow of 1916", theaters and transportation.
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Seattle Power and Water Supply Collection Historical photographs and pamphlets documenting the construction of hydroelectric power and water supply facilities built in Washington State from the late 1890s to the 1950s including the Snoqualmie Falls Power Plant, the Electron Plant, the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, and the Cedar River water supply system.
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Society and Culture Collection Historical images from Western United States and the Pacific Northwest region covering political and social topics such as women's issues, labor and government, and ethnic groups with special emphasis on the Japanese internment camps in the Northwest during World War II.
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Tacoma Community History Project Images and text documenting the infamous collapse in 1940 of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Also covers "Galloping Gertie's" creation, subsequent studies involving its aerodynamics, and finally the construction of a second bridge spanning the Narrows.
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Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collection Images and text documenting the infamous collapse in 1940 of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Also covers "Galloping Gertie's" creation, subsequent studies involving its aerodynamics, and finally the construction of a second bridge spanning the Narrows.
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Tacoma Then and Again "Then and Now" photography of buildings, streets, neighborhoods, and parks in Tacoma. High quality digital scans of historic photographs of Tacoma's urban core have been paired with contemporary digital photos shot from the same vantages.
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Calvin F. Todd Photographs of Seattle, 1905-1930 Seattle images from 1905-1930, including the University of Washington campus, the waterfront, Denny Regrade activities, Pike Place Market, and apartment buildings.
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Transportation Photographs An ongoing database of over historical photographs of transportation in the Pacific Northwest region and Western United States including ships, railroads, aviation, automobiles and other motor vehicles.
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UW Campus Photographs Photographs reflecting the early history of the University of Washington campus from its beginnings as the Territorial University through its establishment at its present site on the shores of Lake Washington. The database documents student activities, buildings, departments, and athletics.
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Oliver S. Van Olinda Photographs of Puget Sound, 1880s-1930s Photographs depicting early pioneer activities, industries and occupations, recreation, street scenes, Native Americans, and boat traffic on Vashon Island, Whidbey Island, and other Puget Sound communities from the 1880s to the 1930s. Photographed primarily by Oliver S. Van Olinda, a career newspaperman and resident of Vashon Island, Washington.
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Alvin H. Waite Photographs of Tacoma and Washington State, 1892-1907 Images by photographer Alvin H. Waite from the turn of the century depicting panoramic scenes of Tacoma and his travels in Washington especially his mountaineering expeditions to Mount Rainier and vicinity.
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Arthur Churchill Warner Photographs of Washington State and Alaska, 1884-1945 Images by the pioneer photographer A.C. Warner from the late 1800s and early 1900s of Seattle conventional street scenes, waterfront activity, city parks and regrading of downtown.
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Washington State Localities Photographs Photographs in an ever-growing database of historical images from Washington State including cities and towns, fortifications, public works, and national parks.
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Dwight Watson Photographs of Washington State, 1933-1943 Photographs taken by alpine enthusiast Dwight Watson of hiking and skiing expeditions in the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges of Washington State, ca. 1930s-1940s. Includes, among others, scenic images of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, and Mt. Adams.
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WTO Seattle Collection A collection of interviews and images depicting the protests of the WTO ministerial meeting held in Seattle on November 29 - December 3, 1999. The collection illustrates the efforts to bring activists to Seattle as well as the diversity of the protests.
Essays
- Great Seattle Fire
- The Centralia Tragedy
- The Civil Works Administration
- What happened that day in Everett
- The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
- Book Excerpt about Grand Coulee Dam
- Building Washington: A history of Washington State Public Works
- Clark Kinsey and the Documentation of the Pacific Northwest Logging Industry
- Transcription from "John Muir's Ascent of Mt. Rainier
- World War II and the West End
Online Exhibits
- The Evergreen State in Black and White
- Fannie Taylor, Postmistress of Mora
- The Great Forks Fire of 1951
- Homesteaders and Pioneers
- Man to Machine: Peninsula Logging
- Northwest of the West: the frontier experience on the Northwest Coast
- Tacoma Narrows Bridge