Pacific Northwest/ Local History Resources
Databases
America: History and Life
Index to articles on all topics of history in the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Coverage includes all key English-language historical journals as well as selected state, local, and international historical journals.
Anthropological Literature
Index of articles and essays on archaeology, biological and physical anthropology, cultural and social anthropology, religious studies, and linguistics. Includes works published in English and other European languages.
Digital Sanborn Maps of Washington
Digitized street level maps of cities and towns throughout Washington.
History Cooperative
Includes full text of the Western Historical Quarterly, and the Oregon Historical Quarterly.
Proquest Northwest Newspapers Library
Index of major newspapers from the Northwest, including the Columbian, Oregonian,
. . . more databases
Other Online Resources; many of these are Primary Resources
Yakima Memory Project
The website includes information about the history of Yakima. Features collections of photographs from Yakima agriculture, irrigation and transportation industries. Project provided by the Yakima Valley Regional Library and Yakima Valley Museum.
Willamette Basin Streams Survey Photograph Collection
Over 1000 field images from around the Columbia River Basin taken by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. Date range of Photographs are from 1934 to 1945. An Oregon State University collection.
Pacific Northwest History
Links to websites for the Pacific Northwest. From the University of Washington.
Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Archive
The archive includes over 1,000 photographs, documents and oral history interviews relating to the history of ethnic groups living in regions of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Dates of materials range from 1860 to the 1980s.
Digital Collections: Washington State University
Includes historical materials from around the Northwest. Features map collections, oral history interviews, photographs, texts and video.
American Indians of the Pacific Northwest
Covers tribes from Alaska, Oregon and Washington.
Braceros in Oregon
The images document the life of Mexican migrants who arrived in 1942 following a labor agreement between the United States and Mexico during World War II.
Centralia Massacre Collection
Includes essays on the Centralia massacre and The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Materials are from 1900-1930.
Historical Societies
Clark County Historical Museum
Washington State Historical Museum
Archives Division (Oregon State Archives)
Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society
The National Archives in Seattle, Washington
Reference Books/ Print Resources
Atlas of westward expansion
WSU Vancouver Reference G1201.S1 W44 1995
Washington State place names
WSU Vancouver Reference F889 .P47 1972
Encyclopedia of the American West
WSU Vancouver Reference F591 .E485 1996 v. 1 - v.4.
Lewis and Clark trail maps, a cartographic reconstruction
WSU Vancouver Reference G1417.L4 P5 2000 v.1 - v.4.
Catalogs
Griffin
Catalog of the items owned by the WSU Libraries. Includes all four campuses (Vancouver, Pullman, Tri-Cities and Spokane).
Summit Catalog
Joint catalog of libraries across the Pacific Northwest. Includes items owned by over 32 libraries.
WorldCat
Over 35 million records of any type of material owned by libraries throughout the United States and several other countries.
To Search For Primary Sources in Catalogs
To find primary sources: search for books written by key participants and organizations; do a keywords search and limit your search by publication date; do a keywords search for your subject and add special terms that designate primary sources: sources, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence, interviews, church records and registers, wills, probate records, sermons.
Subject Librarian
Kathi Fountain
kfountain@vancouver.wsu.edu
360-546-9694
y!m: kathi.fountain
msn im: kcfount@hotmail.com
last updated: January 9, 2008
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