Pacific Northwest Collection: Research Ideas, Guides & Exhibits

A list of go-to reference books in many PNW subject areas.

This site provides an extensive digital collection of original photographs and documents about the Northwest Coast and Plateau Indian cultures, complemented by essays written by anthropologists, historians, and teachers about both particular tribes and cross-cultural topics. These cultures have occupied, and in some cases still live in parts of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Maps are available that show traditional territories or reservation boundaries.

This guide provides sources and search tips for research about Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.

Under the Homestead Act of 1862, an individual could claim 160 acres of public land in the Pacific Northwest for a small fee. This exhibit provides information about claiming land, daily life, family histories, and settlement areas.

This exhibit looks at the Pacific Northwest, especially the Puget Sound country, and considers how the frontier experience in the Pacific Northwest differed from elsewhere in the country.

Special Collections in the University of Washington Libraries holds extensive materials relating to the history and culture of the visual arts in the Pacific Northwest. This guide showcases a small portion of these holdings. Presented here are highlights of artistic works -- primarily book illustrations, but also original artwork and decorative maps -- which document the exploration, discovery, and settlement of this region, dating from approximately 1770 to 1910.

This guide highlights archival and printed materials, photographs, and moving image collections available in Special Collections and UW Digital Collections that relate to Black communities, political groups, and civil rights movements in the Pacific Northwest.

This site provides an extensive digital collection of original photographs and documents about the Northwest Coast and Plateau Indian cultures, complemented by essays written by anthropologists, historians, and teachers about both particular tribes and cross-cultural topics. These cultures have occupied, and in some cases still live in parts of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Maps are available that show traditional territories or reservation boundaries.

This guide provides sources and search tips for research about Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.

With topic areas including archaeology, language, stories, and seasonal activities, this exhibit provides a look at traditional Makah culture.

The stories and photos in this exhibit document the rich culture and history of Latinos in Forks, WA.

This guide provides a brief history of the Japanese American experience and points to collections and resources related to pre-war era primary sources, WWII era sources, and post-war sources.

The Japanese American Exhibit and Access Project was created in 1997 to provide access to UW Libraries projects related to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

The interviews in this exhibit make up a unique record of the lives of South Asians who have contributed greatly to the fabric and texture of the region. These interviews reflect religious, linguistic, occupational, and gender diversity and provide rich insight into changing experiences of South Asians in the Pacific Northwest.

A guide to the Washington State Jewish Archives held in the Pacific Northwest Collection.

A bibliography highlighting archival and print resources in Special Collections relating to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer community.

This exhibit celebrates the 100th anniversary of women’s permanent right to vote in Washington State, and the women who worked so diligently to make it happen.

Throughout his career, Clark Kinsey produced more than 10,000 images of logging camps, milling operations, equipment and crews.

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. LAW is part of the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

A portal for digital resources associated with the UW Libraries Special Collections' Labor Archives of Washington. This portal makes hundreds of primary textual and visual resources relating to Pacific Northwest labor history more accessible to the public through the UW Libraries Digital Collections.

This exhibit page shares the memories of Harry C. Hall, who worked for Merrill & Ring and other logging companies in Washington state.

This exhibit resulted from a collaborative campus-wide project in early 1999 at the University of Washington to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the Seattle General Strike of 1919 and the 65th anniversary of the Maritime Strikes of 1934.

DURING THE 1920s, many Japanese immigrants on the West Coast found a successful way to both express themselves and to share in the culture of the West by making and exhibiting Pictorial art photography. So many of them were making photographs that they came together to form amateur camera clubs to share their love of the medium.

The collections listed in this guide include records, photographs, scrapbooks, and programs from Seattle dance companies, schools, individuals, and organizations.

The collections listed in this guide include records, photographs, films, oral histories, scrapbooks, and programs from Seattle theatre companies, drama schools, individuals, and organizations.

This bibliography highlights holdings or archival papers and library materials relating to conservation and the environment in the Pacific Northwest.

In honor of the centennial celebration of Mount Rainier National Park in 1999, the UW Libraries presented an introduction to the history of our region's backyard national park and the mountain.

A guide to the printed and archival sources about the Mount St. Helens eruption on May 18, 1980.

This exhibit highlights the Mountaineers' three-week summer outing to Mount Olympus in 1920.

A portal for digital resources about mountains and mountaineering from the collection of the UW Libraries Special Collections. This portal makes textual and visual resources about the history of Pacific Northwest mountaineering available online through the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collection.

In honor of the centennial celebration of Mount Rainier National Park in 1999, the UW Libraries presented an introduction to the history of our region's backyard national park and the mountain.

This exhibit featuring posters, postcards, advertisements, road maps, travel guides, photographs, and more from the last several decades of travel in the region.

The portal provides a general overview of key archival, printed, and visual resources in UW Libraries Special Collections that document Senator Jackson's long and distinguished career in public service.

These photographs of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909 show how the fair shaped the University of Washington campus in ways that are still visible today.

This page highlights exhibits and digital collections related to Alaska, including topics such as the Klondike Gold Rush, Cannery Worker Unionism, and the Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899.

The photographs in this exhibit depict scenes of life in Washington, the Evergreen State, during the past century. They are taken from the extensive collection of historical photographs located in the of the University Libraries.

The journal entries featured in this exhibit describe life on the Olympic Peninsula between 1914 and 1922.

The Postcard Collection originated with the personal accumulation of a faculty member, Prof. Caroline Ober, who taught Spanish at the university from 1897 to 1929. Ober was a notable victim of the postcard-collecting craze that swept the nation at the beginning of the twentieth century, and she initiated postcard trades with dozens of other collectors around the world. She also used postcards to maintain ties with former pupils, and with her well-traveled family.

This exhibit presents King County, Washington, through 12,000 historical images carefully chosen from twelve organizations' collections. The 19th and 20th century images portray people, places, and events in the county's urban, suburban, and rural communities.

This exhibit highlights the journey of Gold Rush "stampeders" in 1897 and 1898 who believed riches lay waiting for those who could reach the remote Canadian Klondike region.

This exhibit looks at the Alaksa Yukon Pacific Exposition, which was held at the current University of Washington campus between June 1 and October 16, 1909.

The images and text in this exhibit detail the story of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge from its inception to the reopening of a reconstructed bridge in 1950.

On September 20, 1951, a forest fire larger than any in memory on the Olympic Peninsula struck the Calawah River and the community of Forks, WA. Videos of residents who remember the fire are included in this exhibit.

This Special Collections guide provides links to a selection of archival, print, and photographic materials relating to Century 21, the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, the debut of the Space Needle.

These photographs of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909 show how the fair shaped the University of Washington campus in ways that are still visible today.

The drawings included in this exhibit were selected to highlight graduates of the UW Department of Architecture program who proceeded to have influential careers both regionally and nationally.

This exhibit tells the story of the approximately twenty-five Indian men who came to Seattle to study at the University of Washington between 1908 and 1915.

This exhibition was created to mark the centennial of the move in 1895 of the University of Washington from its original campus in downtown Seattle to the current campus.

This exhibit showcases materials documenting Dr. Birnbaum's career as a mathematician and his service to the University of Washington and includes correspondence, diaries, and drafts of unpublished materials

This exhibit includes photographs and biographical information about all presidents of the University of Washington, beginning with Asa Shinn Mercer in 1861.

This exhibit looks at the Alaksa Yukon Pacific Exposition, which was held at the current University of Washington campus between June 1 and October 16, 1909.