Introduction
Title: Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Project The River Basin
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Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) serves upper division and graduate students in southwest Washington and northwest Oregon. The Washington State University Vancouver Library is part of an integrated information services division that also includes information technology, multimedia, educational, and videoconferencing and broadcasting services. The WSUV history program provides students with a broad background in European, African-Caribbean, United States, and Pacific Northwest history, and offers Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts degrees and training in secondary education and public history. The Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections (MASC) department in Pullman contains significant materials on the history of the Columbia Basin. MASC uses the CONTENT software to create and maintain digital archives, including projects funded through the Washington State Library’s Digital Imaging Initiative.
The Oregon Historical Society and Museum (OHS) has been collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and publishing Oregon's history for over 125 years. Today, the OHS complex is a landmark in the heart of Portland's Cultural District and offers Oregon's rich multicultural history through museum exhibitions, research collections, and publications. The research library holdings are particularly strong in historical photograph and motion picture collections, archives of business firms and political and social organizations, oral history, and maps. OHS is also the institutional home of the state’s Folklife Program that for over ten years has been documenting through tape-recorded interviews and photography the cultural traditions and folklife of many ethnic communities. OHS has digitized a portion of its collections; more than 15,000 digitized images are searchable online.
The Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS) was established in 1881 as the Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers and became a state agency in 1907. All work groups within the ISHS support the Society’s overall mission: To educate through the identification, preservation, and interpretation of Idaho’s cultural heritage. The ISHS Library and Archives holds a large collection of material relating to the history of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. It includes manuscripts, books, periodicals, oral history interviews, motion picture films and videos, microfilm, maps, and the state archives. The ISHS Museum features objects from its collection that tell the stories of Idaho from prehistoric times through the fur trade, the gold rush, and pioneer settlement to the present. Included are exhibits about the state's Native American, Chinese and Basque populations.
The Washington State Historical Society and Museum (WSHS) is dedicated to inspiring people to make history a part of their lives by presenting exhibits, programs, and publications; collecting materials that reveal stories of Washington and its people; educating students of all ages; encouraging the heritage activities of others; and fostering a sense of identity and community. Located next to old Union Station in downtown Tacoma, the Washington State History Museum presents the people, places, and events that shaped Washington’s past. The new History Lab Learning Center features hands-on training, online activities, and resources for teachers and students. The WSHS Research Center, complete with a new conservation lab, houses both the Society's artifact collection and special collections.
 These institutions represent major public cultural heritage and higher education institutions in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, which are three of the seven states and one province in the Columbia River Basin region.