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Labor Archives of Washington: FAQ: Primary Reference Sources

LAW contains records from individuals and organizations that document the local, national and international dimensions of the labor movement in the Pacific Northwest.

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What's in this Guide

The Labor Archives of Washington (LAW) was founded to preserve the records of working people and their unions and to serve as a center for historical research, ensuring that new generations have access to the rich labor history of the region. For more information about LAW visit the website.

The Labor Archives contains more than 300 separate collections of labor related materials from individuals and organizations documenting the local, national and international dimensions of the labor movement in the Pacific Northwest. 

Many unions have made the Labor Archives the official repository for their historical records -- minutes, office correspondence, membership files, publications and contracts.

Labor leaders, attorneys, arbitrators, and rank-and-file workers, and labor rights supporters have donated their personal papers.

Records from organizations that supported organized labor, worker's rights, and civil rights and also records from labor critics and opponents. Also included are records of employers, some of which were the collective bargaining partners--and sometimes opponents--of unions.

Selected resources and research tips for labor history researchers and those interested in ethnic, social, local, political, and women's history.

Donating Items to the Labor Archives

Our current collecting focus is labor organizations, labor union members and officers, and workers in the Pacific Northwest. Organizational donors may have a statewide, regional, or even a national mission, but usually have a strong tie with the local area as well.

Consult Conor Casey (206.685.3976 or cmcasey@uw.edu) for donating labor-related organizational records or personal papers.

Related Links and Guides

Labor Union Members and Officers

Labor Studies/Labor History Organizations

Labor Scholars and Researchers

Labor/Civil Rights Activists & Supporters

Workers' Rights and Civil Rights Organizations- Records of organizations that advocated equality in the workplace, fought discrimination on the job, or advocated new pro-labor sociopolitical relations but were not labor unions.

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Conor Casey
Contact:
Conor M. Casey, MA, MLIS, CA
Head, Labor Archives of Washington


Libraries Special Collections

Labor Archives of Washington

Mail: Box 352900, Seattle, WA 98133-2900

Allen Library South, Basement/B81D

206.685.3976 fax 206.543.1931
206.685.3976
Website

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Listing of Labor Archives Collections

Guides to Personal Papers

Personal papers donated by labor union leaders, attorneys, arbitrators, rank-and-file workers, and labor rights supporters.

Papers of individuals who were labor union officers, members, and activists. 

Papers of academics, authors, and other researchers who investigated labor history and the lives of workers. Some of these collections contain the research files and manuscripts of published works.

Papers of individuals that advocated equality in the workplace, fought discrimination on the job, or advocated new pro-labor sociopolitical relations but may not have been members of labor unions. 

Occupational histories of individual workers. Many of these collections contain narratives or documentation of their worklives. 

Guides to Organizational Records

Records from organizations that supported organized labor, worker's rights, and civil rights and also records from labor critics and opponents. Also included are records of some employers, some of which were the collective bargaining partners--and sometimes opponents--of unions.

 

Records of the organizations that are the collective bargaining agents of workers. Also includes regional labor councils, which are composed of local union affiliates.

Records of organizations that advocated equality in the workplace, fought discrimination on the job, or advocated new pro-labor sociopolitical relations but were not labor unions.

Records of organizations formed by workers in a particular trade or profession but which were not collective bargaining agents.

 

Records of government bodies that are related to labor.

 

Records and papers from employers.

Union Collections

Social Media

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Organizational records for labor unions, organizations which serve as the collective bargaining agent of workers in relation to employers

Labor Unionists

Labor Union Members and Officers

Labor Scholars & Researchers

Labor Scholars and Researchers

Labor/Civil Rights Activists & Supporters

Labor/Civil Rights Activists & Supporters

Workers' Occupational Histories

Workers' Occupational Histories

Professional Associations

Professional Associations

Worker Rights & Civil Rights Organizations

Workers' Rights and Civil Rights Organizations- Records of organizations that advocated equality in the workplace, fought discrimination on the job, or advocated new pro-labor sociopolitical relations but were not labor unions.

Pro-Labor Organizations

Pro-Labor organization records

Northwest Committee Against Repressive Legislation mailings

Regional chapter of a national organization founded to oppose the activities of the House Un-American Acitivities Committee, changed name to the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation; defends the right of political dissent.

Portland Central America Solidarity Committee records

The Portland Central America Solidarity Committee was founded in 1979 to educate and mobilize community members, workers, and student around struggles for human rights and social justic throughout the Americas. In addition to working to improve conditions in Central America, PCASC also advidcated for rights locally in the Pacific Northwest. PCASC is also affiliated with the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) and the Committee in Solidiarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES).

Seattle Union Record Business Records

Cashbooks, subscription records and other business records.

Socialist Labor Party Seattle Section records

Records of a Seattle political labor organization. The Seattle Section of the Socialist Labor Party (SLP) was founded in the early 1890's as a branch of the Socialist Labor Party of America. The SLP was founded as a Marxist political party in 1876, the first nationwide socialist party in the United States. The party promoted the doctrines of Daniel DeLeon, theorist of the SLP, which advocated a classless, stateless, industrial democracy in which private property would be abolished and all natural resources and means of production would be operated by the workers through Socialist Industrial Unions. The SLP planned to achieve its goals through national and local elections and by capturing the trade union movement. However, the party's narrow sectarian ideology, its insistence on doctrinal unity and party discipline, together with its rejection of social reform alienated it from the trade union movement. After modest success in the 1890s, the party declined and never numbered more than a few thousand. It survived however, and continued to run candidates for national and state office. The Socialist Labor Party was the first socialist organization of any importance in the Pacific Northwest but it never established ties with the labor movement and never developed beyond a small cadre.

Washington Committee for Academic Freedom records

The Washington Committee for Academic Freedom was a state-wide group of citizens drawn from both ends of the political spectrum who formed the Committee in June 1948. Frances W. Herring was executive secretary for the organization. Records document the efforts of the Committee to protect academic freedom in response to the Joint Legislative Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities (Canwell Committee) hearings investigating possible Communist activities at the University of Washington and the firings of three professors by the University of Washington. Records were those of Ethelyn M. Hartwich, a member of the executive board.

University Baptist Church Sanctuary Movement records

Records of the University Baptist Church, Seattle, concerning its 1980s sanctuary program for Central American refugees. UBC becamse the first publicly declared sanctuary in the Northwest, the first American Baptist sanctuary in the U.S., and the seventh publicly declared church sanctuary in the nation. UBC successfully petitioned the city of Seattle to declare itself a Sanctuary City, sent relief workers and supplies to El Salvador, and toured the Northwest advocating the sanctuary program's implementation in those areas. In addition, UBC was an active local voice in opposition to U.S. foreign policy.

Washington Association of Churches records, 1935-1996

The Washington-Northern Idaho Council of Churches was first incoporated in 1935, with Dr. Gertrude Apel serving as an executive staff member. She also served on the executive staff in the Seattle Federation of Churches until 1958, at which point the state council and King County Council of Churches split after a consultation with the long-time ecumenical leader, Ross Sanderson. In 1967, the state council's title was changed to the Washington Council of Churches and later, in 1975, it was renamed the Washington Association of Churches. The Washington Association of Churches (WAC) continues to serve as an association of 10 Christian denominations and 11 ecumenical organizations who live and work together on the task of ecumenism in Washington State. Since 1975, WAC has served as a focal point for dialogue, advocacy, action and reflection, facilitating meetings between member churches and forming partnerships with a diverse range of organizations and communities.

Washington State Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born records

Washington state chapter of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born, founded to defend the rights of the foreign born, especially radicals and Communist Party members, thereby filling a void left by other civil rights defense groups.

Pro-Labor Organization Records

Government Bodies

Organization records of government bodies and those who served on them related to labor

Civic Unity Committee Records. 1938-1965

Seattle’s Civic Unity Committee (CUC), a primarily white civil rights organization, lobbied for civil rights laws and sought to persuade the white community not to discriminate. A large-scale migration of blacks to Seattle during the Second World War increased racial tensions, prompting Seattle Mayor William Devin to create the CUC in 1944. Devin appointed prominent business, civic, religious, and labor leaders to the CUC--seven white men, two white women, two black men, and one Chinese-American man in all--but pointedly refused to select anyone seen as “left-wing.” The CUC negotiated with a number of firms that refused to hire blacks, but generally failed to end the discrimination. The CUC did, however, play a major role in ensuring that the return of interned Japanese Americans to Seattle went peacefully. The CUC ran employment and rental referral services for returning Japanese Americans and convinced local newspapers to condemn anti-Japanese discrimination.

Frederick G. Hamley papers

Lawyer, public official, judge. Chair of the Governors' Lumber Fact Finding Board during the Pacific Northwest Lumber Strike of 1954, an industrial strike. The subgroup Washington Governor's Lumber Fact Finding Panel includes Hamley's correspondence as chair of this seven-member board in 1954 as well as documents and transcripts from the formal hearings. The panel completed its work in late December, recommending a wage increase but a smaller one than requested by the woodworkers' union.

Dwight Edwards Robinson papers

University of Washington business professor. In addition to his teaching, Robinson was a member of the Washington Governor's Lumber Fact Finding Panel that was created a result of the Pacific Northwest Lumber Strike of 1954.

Seattle Human Rights Commission, 1958-1968

Minutes, correspondence, subject files, reports and related items, including a large quantity of Civic Unity Committee files; ca. 1958-1965.
In part I of the Seattle. Human Rights commission you will find large quantity of Civic Unity Committee files.

Washington Emergency Relief Adminstration Photograph Collection

Photographs are housed together with two volumes of the WERA Work Division report for 1934-1935.Photographs included with report of the Washington Emergency Relief Administration (WERA) documenting the efforts of the agency between 1934 and 1935. Includes images of woodyards, mattress production, and various maintenance and construction projects in Washington State

Labor Critics & Opponents

Organization records of labor critics & opponents

Employers

Records & papers from employers

Carbanado, Washington Photograph collection, c.1890-1905

Carbonado is located near the Carbon River in northern Pierce County, Washington, approximately 50 miles southeast of Seattle and 12 miles northwest of Mt. Rainier National Park. Carbonado served as an important coal mining community in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the town operated the largest coal mine in Pierce County. Carbonado was a company town.

 Frederick T. Haley Papers, 1931-2001

Frederick T. Haley was a Tacoma businessman and civic leader. His chief interests in civic life were education, civil rights, and civil liberties. Haley's father, J. Clifford Haley, co-founded Brown & Haley, a candy manufacturing company known for its signature product, Almond Roca, in 1912. Fred Haley earned a B.A. from Dartmouth in 1935 and returned to Tacoma to work as a salesman for Brown & Haley. He also studied business at the University of Washington. During WWII Haley served in the Pacific as a Navy harbor pilot. There he developed both a lifelong love of the Pacific Islands and, in the face of the stark realities of war, a drive to dedicate himself to meaningful and difficult civic causes. After the war, Haley married Dorothy Geyer and had four children. He became chairman and chief executive officer of Brown & Haley after his father’s death in 1954. In the succeeding years, Haley involved himself in a myriad of civic causes. In the 1950s and 1960s his efforts were focused mainly on education and civil rights and liberties. During his tenure on the Tacoma School Board, on which he served two terms as chair, Haley was an outspoken critic of de-facto school segregation and advocated bussing programs as a remedy. He charged that segregated schools hindered the development of all children in a racially diverse society. As a school board member, Haley took another stand on a controversial issue when he spoke out in defense of Jean Schuddakopf, an elementary school counselor who refused to submit to questioning by the House Un-American Activities Committee. He served as president of the Pierce County School Directors’ Association in 1957. Haley continued his work for civil rights as a founding member of the Washington Citizens’ Committee for Civil Rights Legislation. During this time he also served on the Washington State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and on the boards of the Washington State Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Washington State Board Against Discrimination.

King County Industrial Association records, 1887-1886

Agricultural organization

Farmers' Union records, 1887

Agricultural association

Palmer Coking Coal Company records, circa 1895-2005

Coal mining company operating in the southeastern King County area

Haytian Republic engineer's log, 1890-1892

Steamship

Frank D. Hobi papers, 1960

Logging industry executive

Dillis Charles Knapp papers, circa 1920-1981

Trade association executive of Seattle, Washington

Merrill and Ring Lumber Company records, 1865-1976

Thomas Merrill, son of a Maine lumbering family, began a series of logging companies in Michigan in the 1860s. In 1886 he joined Clark Ring to form the Merrill & Ring Lumber Company, headquartered in Saginaw. In 1902 the company moved its headquarters from Saginaw to Hoquiam, Washington. The center of Merrill & Ring logging operations was in the rugged territory near the Pysht River, west of Port Angeles, Washington.

Correspondence, legal documents, business records, plats, and other records, including those of affiliated firms, relating to the company's business, legal, and fiscal activities; together with materials concerning its labor and political relations, and dealings with trade associations, state and federal agencies, such as United States Forest Service, and Spruce Production Division of the War Dept., and others.New England Fish Company records, 1902-1983

Fish cannery. NEFCO's West Coast activities spanned Washington, Alaska, and Canada; once the largest producer of salmon products in North America. Collective bargaining partner and employer with the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 37 (Seattle, Wash.); defendent in the landmark anti-discrimination case Domingo v. New England Fish Company, 742 F.2d 520 (1984). The case went on to the Supreme Court as Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U.S. 642 (1989).

Oregon Improvement Company records, 1880-1935

Business to own and operate coal mines, railroads, and steamship company in Washington and California. Financier Henry Villard launched the Oregon Improvement Company in 1880 as a central component in his attempt to dominate the economic development of the Pacific Northwest. Villard wanted to link rail, river and ocean transport, and he was interested in developing coal both as fuel and as payload.

Pacific Coast Company Records, 1883-1927

The Pacific Coast Company puchased the property of the Oregon Improvement Company (OIC) on December 1, 1897. The newly-formed Pacific Coast Company absorbed the insolvent OIC, taking control of all its operations. The PCC inherited the Pacific Coast Railway in California, three Washington railroads, the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, and an extensive mining operation in western Washington, the company’s backbone. From the very beginning, the OIC found its mining operations vexing, and the PCC would fall heir to the same difficulties.  The PCC also acquired with the mines a relationship with its mine workers that was tense at best, tumultuous at worst. After 1908, did avoid much of the acrimony and the conflicts which had characterized labor relations under the OIC. The new management, no doubt unwilling to jeopardize its new-found good times with labor dischord, even agreed in 1908 to a contract providing an eight-hour day and a 10¢ per day raise. The relative calm lasted until 1919. The miners, and their union, became increasingly dissatisfied that prices continued to rise, but wages remained frozen under existing contracts. The company, now faced with less economically propitious times, proven intransigent to all demands. With the two sides deadlocked, a bitter series of strikes and lockouts began. In 1921, two state commissions investigated the impasse, and the last one suggested that miners’ accept a 25% to 28% wage reduction, exasperating the situation. The coal company proved the stronger of the two combatants, however, and had broken the union by 1923. The papers also contain extensive interoffice communication. Topics relating to coal operations includes labor reports, information on the briquette plant, financial reports, coal prices, foreign markets and tariffs, mine blueprints and maps, and other general material relating to the mining industry.  Accession 2241-003 contains interoffice correspondence from 1919 and 1922 concerning the acquisition of the Carbonado mine in Pierce County.

Pacific Coast Maritime Industry Board records, 1942-1945

Established to govern longshore labor relations on the Pacific Coast during WWII

Pacific Northwest Loggers Association Records, 1917-1962

The Pacific Northwest Lumber Association was established in 1933. Its activites included promoting the logging industry, engaging in contract arbitation, and gathering and publishing statistics. The predecessor organization was the Loggers Information Association.

Parachute (Ship) records, 1856-1859

A whaling ship

Pope & Talbot records, circa 1849-1975

Records of the lumber company.

Port Blakely Mill Company Records, 1876-1998
Established in 1876 by Renton, Homes & Company of San Francisco to buy timber lands and to conduct lumber operation in Washington. The operation was sold to David Skinner and John W. Eddy in 1903. Milling operations ceased in 1917 when Skinner and Eddy transferred to shipbuilding in Seattle. It became the Eddy Family business in 1924 and was primarily engaged in the sale of stumpage.

Seattle Port Commission records, 1899-1960

Publicly owned governing body for the Seattle waterfront. The Seattle Port Commission was established by King County voters in September 1911 as a publicly owned and controlled governing body for the City's waterfront area. The Commission had the power to authorize and control improvements to Harbor and transportation facilities on the waterfront, to purchase land, to levy property taxes and issue bonds. The first Port Commissioners were Robert Bridges, Hiram Chittenden and Charles Remsberg.

Harold H. Smith papers, 1911-1918

Alaska cannery superintendent

St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company records, 1876-1958

St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company was established in 1888 by Chauncey W. Griggs, Henry Hewitt and associates. Its predecessor companies were Griggs & Johnson, and Griggs & Foster, both of St. Paul, Minnesota. The company's subsidiaries include Cascade Timber Company, Chehalis & Pacific Land Company, Consolidated Lumber Company, Los Angeles; Griggs and Company, grocers, St. Paul Minnesota; Griggs and Foster investment firm, St. Paul; Griggs and Johnson, real estate and loans, St. Paul; Interlaken Water Company, Natches Pass Railway Company, Tacoma; Pacific Meat Company, Tacoma; Puget Sound Dry dock and machinery Company, Riverside Land company, Tacoma; Tacoma Bitouminous Paving Company, Tacoma Land and Improvement Company, Union Stockyards Company, Tacoma; and Wilkerson Coal and Coke company, Pierce County, Washington.

Stimson Mill Company records, 1879-1957

Business records of a major regional lumber milling company.

Lane Summers papers, 1917-1959

Attorney specializing in maritime law. He was associated with the Maritime Law Association of the U.S. and the Republican Party. Attorney for Matson Navigation Company.

Svenska Posten Records 1925-1961, undated

Collection of a Swedish-language newspaper (Svenska Posten means: Swedish Post). Collection includes a list of Industrial Workers of the World members reported as undesirable as employees. Correspondence, clippings, ephemera, photographs, scrapbook of Gerda Risberg.

Albert Tuohy papers

Albert Tuohy managed the Hanford Street Grain Elevator in Seattle during the 1930s and 1940s and had a close working relationship with many longshore workers.

John Work papers, 1823-1862

Company official with Hudson's Bay Company

Washington Mill Company records. 1857-1890

Established 1857 at Seabeck, Washington Territory. Mill destroyed by fire, 1886.

Labor Studies/Labor History Organizations

Digitally Preserved Union and Labor Related Websites

Overview of Union/Labor Websites

 Digital archives of labor union and labor related websites and social media. The Labor Archives crawls hundreds of websites and social media accounts of labor unions and labor-related organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest. These captures includes older versions of previous websites, as well as some websites that have disappeared. The collections are similar to the captures available via the Internet Archive's WayBack Machine, but the Labor Archives' captures are done more regularly, contain more information, and are not the same as those in the regular WayBack Machine.

FAQ: Primary Reference Sources

UW Special Collections Reference Tools

Finding Aids for Special Collections

What is a Finding Aid?

Collections of unpublished personal papers, organizational records, and historical photographs are described and inventoried in detailed guides known as finding aids. A finding aid helps the researcher to identify boxes or folders of interest that may be retrieved from the stacks for study.

Prepared by the staff, the typical finding aid provides background information on the organization, person, or family who created the papers or photographs, an overview of the collection and its arrangement, and a detailed container list.

Not all of our finding aids are currently available online. If you don't see what you are looking for, please be sure to check with Reference Services for assistance.

Databases and Online Lists

Detailed listing of Special Collections Search Tools including online databases, digitized collections and bibliographies.

For information on finding specific items by format (books, periodicals, photographs, architectural records, maps etc.) consult the Special Collections How do I find...? guide.

UW Libraries Catalog

Some of the collections are not listed in the online finding aids. Searching the Libraries online catalog provides another point of access into our collections. 

Tips for Using Special Collections

Research using Special Collections material is different from more typical library research.  The unique nature of the material dictates that there are stricter security procedures -- users need to register, manuscript materials need to be requested, personal belongings are placed in lockers, photocopying is limited, etc.  The following tips can help you when using the material in Special Collections:

  • Check Special Collections hours, they are open fewer hours than the rest of the library.
  • Read the Special Collections pages: Help for Our Users and Using the Collections.
  • Do preliminary research first so that you can place the manuscript material in historical context.  Since manuscripts tend to be either personal papers or organizational records, it is essential to know the important people and groups associated with your research topic.
  • Make sure the collections you need are housed on site.  Some collections are kept off-campus and must be requested prior to use.  If this information is not provided in the online finding aid (or if there is no online finding aid), contact Special Collections to check.
  • Peruse the online finding aid, if available, prior to using this collection so that you can identify the boxes and folders you will need to examine.
  • Allocate sufficient time.  Research using these materials takes time.

Bibliographies

Washington State Labor Bibliographies

Highlighted secondary sources and topical bibliographies that are particularly useful overviews of the workers and industry in Washington State. Included are sources which have made heavy use of UW Special Collections. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Instead, it serves as a point of departure to aid researchers in locating primary resource collections in UW Special Collections.


Richard C. Berner was the head of the University of Washington Manuscripts Division (now part of Special Collections) from 1958-1983. His three-volume historical survey of Seattle’s history in the 20th century contains comprehensive lists of citations and makes heavy use of the manuscript collections at the University of Washington. Berner’s interest in labor and social history make his books good sources for historical narratives but--perhaps more importantly for historical researchers--serve as detailed maps of where to look in within the collections to find primary sources materials by topic.

Berner, Richard C. 1991. Seattle in the 20th century. Seattle, Wash: Charles Press. [A series of three volumes. volume names are listed below with call number]

Call numbers:

F899.S457 B47 1991 v.1 Berner, Richard C. 1991. Seattle 1900-1920: from boomtown, urban turbulence, to restoration. Seattle, Wash: Charles Press. [Seattle in the 20th century, v. 1 ]

F899.S457 B47 1991 v.2 Full text available online  Berner, Richard C. 1992. Seattle 1921-1940: from boom to bust. Seattle in the 20th century, v. 2. Seattle, Wash: Charles Press. [Seattle in the 20th century, v. 2 ]

F899.S457 B47 1991 v.3 Berner, Richard C. 1999. Seattle transformed: world war II to cold war. Seattle in the 20th century, v. 3. Seattle, Wash: Charles Press. [Seattle in the 20th century, v. 3 ]

UW Seattle Locations:

Odegaard Stacks--Vol. 1- 2

SpecColl Reference (Library Use Only)-Vol 1-3

SpecColl Pacific NW (Library Use Only)- Vol. 2-3

Suzzallo/Allen Stacks-Vol. 1-3

Find closest library copy by zipcode


Jonathan Dembo received his PhD from the University of Washington. Along with researching a broad dissertation on the history of Washington state’s working people and their unions, he compiled several useful topical bibliographies. Note that Dembo’s bibliographies only go up to 1978 and 1984.

Dembo, Jonathan. 1978. An Historical bibliography of Washington state labor and laboring classes. Seattle: [s.n.].

Full text available online

Library Location                       Notes                                Call number                 

SpecColl Reference                   LIB USE ONLY                     Z7164.L1 D45 1978          
Suzzallo/Allen Stacks                                                        Z7164.L1 D45 1978          
Suzzallo/Allen Stacks                                                        Z7164.L1 D45 1978 

Find a copy at another library nearby

Dembo, Jonathan. 1983. Unions and politics in Washington State, 1885-1935. New York: Garland Pub.

Full text available online


Library Location                       Notes                                Call number                

SpecColl Pacific NW            LIB USE ONLY                           HD8079.W3 D45 1983

Find closest library copy by zipcode


Schwantes, Carlos A. 1994. Hard traveling: a portrait of work life in the New Northwest. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.


Library Location                       Notes                                Call number                 

Bothell/CCC 3rd Floor Stacks                                             HD5856.U5 S34 1994          
Odegaard Stacks                                                            HD5856.U5 S34 1994          
SpecColl Pacific NW                LIB USE ONLY                      HD5856.U5 S34 1994          
Suzzallo/Allen Stacks                                                       HD5856.U5 S34 1994          
Tacoma Auxiliary Stacks                                                   HD5856.U5 S34 1994 

Find closest library copy by zipcode
 


Find Archival Collections

Search for Archival / Manuscript Materials

 

How to Use Collection Guides/Finding Aids

You can search our online archival finding aid database Archives West. The finding aid (collection guide) is a detailed guide or inventory of the contents of a manuscript or archival collection. The guide helps researchers identify the boxes or folders of interest within a collection. A typical guide also provides biographical or historical information on the person or organization that created the material, an overview of the collection, and how it is arranged plus a detailed container list and any use restrictions.

Other Resources

Pacific Northwest Scrapbook Collection

Special Collections collects scrapbooks that document Pacific Northwest history. The term scrapbook refers to an album or book made up of derivative materials. Often scrapbook compilers arranged their collected material around a common theme. Scrapbooks offer unique glimpses into a subject, or into the interests of a compiler. The personal compilations illuminate community issues, and as unique items, they make a valuable contribution to our regional collection. Our collection at present includes approximately 120 scrapbooks, or scrapbook sets, covering a variety of subjects from the 20th century. 

Online Searching Tools

Special Collections also maintains a simple A-Z list of databases and online tools to help you identify relevant archival material.

Reference Services

Staff can also direct you to print sources describing our collections or conduct searches in staff databases. If you are not finding what you need, please ask for assistance by email, chat, or request a consulation.

 

Manuscripts and archives are unique documents (handwritten or typed letters, diaries, meeting minutes, photographs, financial records, etc.) produced by people and organizations. Manuscripts generally refer to personal papers while archives usually refer to organizational, institutional or business records. Oftentimes the terms are used interchangeably. Some collections may be a single folder containing a few letters while others can span hundreds of boxes containing thousands of documents.

The UW Libraries Special Collections contains manuscripts and archival records that document the history and culture of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Included in the collection are personal papers of early pioneers and settlers, labor and civic leaders, citizen activists and important writers, artists and activists and organizational records from labor unions, the University, important industries, conservation groups and local community and ethnic groups. 

Personal Papers

Special Collections holds papers from individuals that range from a single item, such as New York Times correspondent Roger Conant's account of the voyage of Asa Mercer's "belles" from New York City to Seattle in 1866, to the 1,790-linear-feet of Congressional papers of the late Senators Henry M. Jackson and Warren G. Magnuson.

Other papers may be handwritten drafts by poets, correspondence among members of an extended family, or notes of historic preservationist Victor Steinbrueck at Seattle City Council meetings.

Organizational or Corporate Records

Files of organizations and businesses typically contain meeting agendas and minutes, correspondence and notes, reports, and miscellaneous other items.

The collections of PNW non-profits represent a wide variety of advocacy groups devoted to specific causes: public education, urban development, civil rights, environmental protection, women's rights, and good government. Others -- trade unions, professional organizations, and religious bodies -- protect and nourish the welfare of their members. Business firms, especially those with a long history in the Puget Sound area, are documented by extensive correspondence, reports, financial records, and other material distinctive to their businesses.

Find Books & Other Library Items

Tips for Searching for Books

  • The UW Libraries Catalog is especially useful when searching for a known item (a specific title or author's work).
  • Limit your search to items in Special Collections by selecting "UW Special Collections" under "Search Scope" in Advanced Search.

Other Resources

If you are looking for information about Pacific Northwest topics, get started with our Pacific Northwest Reference Collection.

If you are looking for articles about the Pacific Northwest in newspapers or periodicals, you can search for citations in the Pacific Northwest Regional Newspaper and Periodical Index. Citations since 1996 and select other entries are available online; however, most of the citations are only available in the card files in the Special Collections Reference Area.

The America History & Life database indexes scholarly publications and the Washington State Newsstand indexes 18 Washington newspapers since the mid-1980s, but access to these resources is limited to the UW community.

If you want to know which Pacific Northwest city directories and phonebooks Special Collections owns, consult our list of City Directories or database of Phonebooks.

Some of the special features of the collection include pre-1972 clippings on a wide range of Pacific Northwest subjects (pamphlet files), fiction set in the Pacific Northwest, explorers' journalsplat atlases, and materials on local theateroutdoor recreationNorthwest Coast Native Americanslocal histories, and some funeral home records.

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Search for Maps

Special Collections' historical and rare maps range from 16th-century world maps to 19th and early 20th-century Pacific Northwest maps and bird's-eye views.  Most Special Collections' maps are cataloged in the Library's online catalog. Once you identify an appropriate call number, ask reference staff to also bring you related uncataloged maps to peruse as well.

Browse some collections online.  Find others in the Special Collections Reading Room:

  • Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Seattle
  • Select Kroll Atlases of the Puget Sound area
  • Metsker's Atlas of King County (other Metsker atlases housed in Special Collections are described in a separate list)
  • an atlas produced in 1975 by the Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority about Seattle neighborhoods. 
  • Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps may be consulted on microfilm in the Suzzallo Library's Microform department. Seattle Public Library users may also access them online.
  • Early Washington Maps is an online map collection ranging from large-scale geographical maps to small hand-drawn sketches of settlements. The maps were selected solely from the collections University of Washington Libraries Map Collections and Washington State University's Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections. 
  • Cities from a Bird's Eye View is a guide of bird's-eye-view maps from the population boom of Pacific Northwest cities from 1870 to 1910.

Find Visual Materials

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Visual Materials Research Guide

Check out the guide from our Visual Materials Curator, Nicolette Bromberg, to learn more about photograph, moving image, and architecture collections. 

Digital Collections

Photos can be found in photograph collections or within collections of personal papers, organizational records, or university records. Many are added to Digital Collections.  Not all of our photograph holdings are digitized and online.

Photograph Collection Finding Aids

Most photograph collections are described in the online Collection Guides/Finding Aids database. Finding aids provide detailed descriptions of a collection, including background information about a collection and its context, identification of and description about the content of photographs or groups of photographs, and restriction information. 

Postcard Collection

There are nearly 60,000 postcards in Special Collections, including a specific Northwest and Western Canada Postcard Collection. Most are arranged by topic or locality.

The Pacific Northwest postcards are especially strong in images depicting Native Americans, architecture and the built environment, transportation, town and city scenes, and depictions of industries such as logging and agriculture. The worldwide holdings include major European nations such as Germany, France, and Italy, as well as smaller groups from such places as Russia, Japan, China, South Africa, Argentina, and Egypt.

Biography

How I Can Help You

For Students:

  • Research Guidance: I can offer valuable advice on research strategies specifically tailored to labor collections.
  • Collection Recommendations: I'll suggest the most relevant labor collections and reference materials to support your research.
  • Database Expertise: I can guide you to the most suitable databases for your research topic.
  • Q&A Support: Feel free to reach out with questions via email, phone, or arrange in-person meetings.
  • Individual Consultations: I'm available for one-on-one discussions to refine your research topic and strategies.
  • Library Services Overview: I can provide insights into the wide range of library services available to you.
  • Hands-On Experience: You can gain practical experience in describing, arranging, preserving, and making primary source materials in labor history accessible. Ask about opportunities to volunteer, intern, or participate as a service-learning student: cmcasey@uw.edu

For Faculty:

  • Citation Assistance: I can help track down elusive citations for your academic work.
  • Student Workshops: I can introduce your students to valuable research tools and strategies through specialized workshops.
  • Custom Webpage: I'll create a dedicated webpage tailored to your class assignments.
  • Curriculum Integration: We can discuss effective methods to incorporate research skills and library resources into your class assignments.
  • Student Consultations: I'm available for one-on-one meetings with your students.
  • Community Engagement: I can assist in bringing labor-related collections from community members you've collaborated with or researched.
  • Library Services Overview: I'll provide information on the full spectrum of library services.
  • Liaison Support: I can act as a bridge between you and the labor community to facilitate your research efforts.

For Labor Union Members, Officers, and the General Public with Labor-Related Collections:

  • Collection Transfer Assistance: I can work with you to seamlessly transfer your records to the Labor Archives of Washington.
  • Educational Engagement: I offer engaging tours and presentations about the labor archives to your organization.
  • Research Guidance: I'm available for tours and presentations on how to effectively utilize labor collections for your organization.
  • Individual Consultations: One-on-one meetings are an option for discussing your research topic and research strategies.
  • Records Management Workshops: I can teach workshops on "How to Keep Union Records," suggesting records management strategies for your existing records and how to select and donate your inactive historic records of enduring value.
  • Archival Services Overview: I'll inform you about the services provided by the Labor Archives of Washington State.
  • Support for Members and Communication Officers: I can assist in locating archival materials to support your organization's activities.

Profile

Profile Photo
Conor Casey
Contact:
Conor M. Casey, MA, MLIS, CA
Head, Labor Archives of Washington


Libraries Special Collections

Labor Archives of Washington

Mail: Box 352900, Seattle, WA 98133-2900

Allen Library South, Basement/B81D

206.685.3976 fax 206.543.1931
206.685.3976
Website

More Help

Library Guides

Subject and class guides created by me to help you with your academic work:

Labor Archives Social Media

Donate to the Labor Archives of Washington

Friends of the Labor Archives Fund