|
|
Archives Collections
JOEL E. FERRIS RESEARCH LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES
Ground Level, Cheney Cowles Center
2316 W. First Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201
(509) 363-5342, (509) 363-5303 (fax), archives@northwestmuseum.org
Collection Purpose and Scope
The Joel E. Ferris Research Library and Archives:
- Collects and makes available for research primary and secondary sources that document and interpret the history, art, and culture of the Inland Northwest/Pacific Northwest that are not readily available at other institutions in the Inland Northwest or Pacific Northwest
- Provides research and exhibit-quality primary and secondary materials for the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture’s exhibits, programs, and staff, including regional history, art, and American Indian departments; provides access to research and exhibit-quality materials to individuals and institutions outside the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture
- Houses the institutional archives of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture/Eastern Washington State Historical Society
Collections include:
- photographs and negatives
- manuscripts
- ephemera
- architectural drawings
- reel-to-reel film
- oral histories
- maps
- books and periodicals
These materials reflect the broad collecting categories of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture/Eastern Washington State Historical Society: regional history, visual art, and American Indian and other cultures.
Access
Online access is currently unavailable at this time. Visit the research library and archives in-person to conduct research.
Some collection records are available via the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) WorldCat database. Contact your local library for information on using this resource.
Some photograph collections are available on other institutional websites, including:
Funeral Home records held by the research library and archives include:
- New England Undertaking Company, MS 73 (Mar. 10, 1905 - Dec. 12, 1929)
- Turnbull Undertaking Co. and Turnbull-Merager Funeral Home, Ms 74 (Jan. 11, 1911 - Jan. 27, 1949)
- Thornhill, Thornhill-Carey and Thornhill-Geraghty Funeral Home, Ms 80 (Nov. 1, 1929 - Dec. 28, 1966)
- Bumgarner Funeral Home (Davenport, WA), MsSC 265 (Aug. 31, 1938 - Apr. 15, 1954)
Indexes to these records are available at the Spokane Public Library and the Joel E. Ferris Research Library and Archives.
Online Finding Aids
Online finding aids are available from the Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA) database for the following collections:
- Spokane Japanese Business Men and their Enterprises Photograph Album (L2003-11), 1913 December 25
Photograph album of Japanese businesses and owners in Spokane, WA in 1913.
- Harriet Klein Allen Papers (Ms 137), 1887-1989
Harriet Klein Allen recieved a degree in Home Economics from Washington State College in 1926. She worked as a dietitian and was active in civic affairs. Much of the collection deals with the St. John's Cathedral Soldiers and Sailors Club; a smaller portion pertains to her career, and the remainder is materal pertaining to other organizations and family papers.
- American Association of University Women, Spokane Branch Records (Ms 184), 1909-1995
The Spokane branch of the AAUW was founded in 1909 as a branch of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae and was incorporated in the AAUW in 1921. The group focused on advancing women's status through education, philanthropy, and civic engagement. The collection includes minutes, treasurer's reports, annual branch reports, yearly directories, bulletins, and scrapbooks containing primarily newspaper clippings. It also includes general correspondence from the 1970s and project files pertaining to the group's diverse projects and activities.
- Mary W. Avery Research Files (Ms 32), 1932-1975
Historian and archivist, of Washington. Research files in regional and local history, including correspondence, clippings, copies of secondary sources, pamphlets, ephemeral items, ms. drafts for Avery's book Washington: The Evergreen State (1965), book reviews, bibliographical material, copies of her articles, typescripts of history lectures delivered by her at Washington State University, where she was archivist, and maps, photos, and graphic materials gathered for inclusion in her publications.
- Ballou Family Papers (Ms 81), 1871-1934
Born March 27, 1862 in Illinois, Miss Myra Ballou never married. Apparently she remained at the family farm near Milton, Oregon with her parents. This collection consists primarily of letters written to Myra Ballou from members of her large and extended family, and letters written by Myra Ballou to family members and friends.
- Henry C. Bertelsen Papers (Ms 57), 1906-1968
Henry Bertelsen studied at the Chicago Institute of Fine Art. After finishing his work there, Bertelsen came to Spokane in 1905. He went to work as a draftsman for the architectural firm of Cutter & Malmgren, continuing to work for Cutter after Karl Malmgren left in 1917. When Cutter departed for California in 1923, Bertelsen took over what remained of the business in payment for back wages. Bertelsen continued to practice until his death in 1963. The collection consists of office correspondence, 1940-1954; financial and tax records, 1938-1948; and building specifications, 1927-1939.The Eastern Washington State Historical Society also has 150 sets of architectural drawings by Bertelsen.
- Edward Boyce Papers (Ms 50), 1881-1941
Financial and business records, correspondence, diaries, and publications of an Irish-born laborer, miner, labor leader, and state legislator, of Idaho, and businessman, of Portland, Or.
- Eleanor B. Day Boyce Papers (Ms 51), 1887-1951
Diaries (1901, 1907-1950) chiefly recording personal income, but containing occasional brief personal entries; and correspondence mainly with her brothers, Harry L. and Jerome Day, regarding mining and other financial matters.
- Amasa B. Campbell Papers (Ms 38), 1905-1922
Businessman of Spokane, Wash., and investor in mines in the Coeur d'Alene Region of Idaho and other enterprises. Incoming business correspondence (1905-1911); copies of outgoing correspondence in letterpress books (ca. 5000 letters); and personal check registers (1905-1922) of Campbell's wife, Grace F. Campbell.
- Chase Family Papers (Ms 159), 1871-1995
African American family of Spokane, Wash. James E. Chase (1914-1987) was a civic activist, leader in the African American community, businessman, and Mayor of Spokane (1982-1985). His wife Eleanor (b. 1918) was equally involved in the community as a social worker, trustee for both Whitworth College and Eastern Washington University, civic activist, and talented vocalist. Includes newspapers and clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence, and other memorabilia from their respective involvement. Also includes Eleanor Chase's family photographs and history, plus records of the Pierian Literary Club.
- Charles Woodruff Clarke Papers (Ms 27), 1866-1933
C. W. Clarke came to Spokane in 1884 with his brother Robert and was active the commercial development of Spokane Falls and Post Falls and in real estate for many years. The collection consists of both personal business papers, including extensive diaries, materials relating to his real estate business, and promotional items for Post Falls.
- King F. Cole Papers (Ms 45 and Ms 165), 1962-1996
In 1963, King F. Cole came to Spokane to spearhead an effort to revitalize Spokane's downtown. After establishing himself in Spokane, Cole suggested that the downtown revitalization might be done by hosting a world's fair. He served of president of that fair, Expo '74, and went on to establish a successful consulting business based on his experiences with Expo '74. Ms 45 consists of the presidential files of Expo '74; Ms 165 contains material relating to King's post-Expo '74 career.
- Lawrence F. Connolly Papers (Ms 8), 1924-1954
Chiefly receiver's files (1929-1937) relating to Exchange National Bank, Spokane, Wash., the assets of which were purchased by Connolly when it went into receivership in 1929; together with bank correspondence (1924-1929) prior to the receivership and Connolly's correspondence (1942-1954) attempting to collect the remaining debt.
- Cutter & Malmgren (Spokane, Wash.) Records (Ms 49, L84-207), 1889-1923
Architectural firm, headquartered in Spokane, Wash.; founded ca. 1889 by Kirtland Kelsey Cutter and John Poetz as Cutter & Poetz; with retirement of Poetz, reorganized as Cutter & Malmgren with addition of new partner, Karl Gunnar Malmgren; partnership ended in 1917 and Cutter continued practice in Spokane until 1923 when he moved to Long Beach, Calif. Correspondence, contracts, and bids, chiefly with suppliers of materials for the following Spokane, Wash., structures: W.H. Cowles Building (1910), Davenport Hotel (1911-1913), residence of L.M. Davenport (1904-1911), J.P. Graves residence, "Waikiki" (1910-1911), C.P. Lindsley residence (1911), Spokane Club (1910-1911), and Washington Water Power office building (1910-1919); check registers for personal and office expenses; and other papers; together with architectural drawings and sketches (290 sets of plans in various mediums, including ink or pencil drawings on linen, vellum, or tissue, watercolors, and blueprints) of residences and commercial buildings, designed by the firm, chiefly in the Pacifc Northwest, especially in Seattle, Spokane, and other cities in Washington State, but also in Montana, California, New York, and Colorado.
- Clarence C. Dill Papers (Ms 2), 1913-1970
Lawyer, U.S. representative and senator, of Spokane, Wash.; d. 1978. Correspondence (1953-1975) relating to Dill's private law practice in Spokane; typescripts of speeches (1916-1972) to U.S. Congress and various organizations; mss. of his published and unpublished books, including his autobiography entitled Where Water Falls (1970) and related research material (correspondence, documents, and photos); documents and ephemera, concerning the Grand Coulee Dam and other hydroelectric power projects and public utilities in Washington and the Pacific Northwest; and fragmentary family and personal papers of Dill and his second wife, Mabel A. Dill. Subjects include public broadcasting, taxation, and Indian affairs.
- Clifford M. Drury Papers (Ms 17), 1932-1983
Correspondence, diaries, journals, records, research notes, clippings, photos, mss. of writings, and other papers, relating to Drury's research on Congregational and Presbyterian missions established by the Oregon Mission of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to work with Pacific Northwest Indians, including Cayuse, Nez Percé, and Spokane Indians, and concerning the following missionaries: Marcus Whitman, Narcissa (Prentiss) Whitman, Henry Harmon Spalding, Eliza (Hart) Spalding, Elkanah Walker, Mary (Richardson) Walker, Cushing Eells, Myra (Fairbanks) Eells, Asa Bowen Smith, Sarah Gilbert (White) Smith, William Henry Gray, Mary Augusta (Dix) Gray, Henry Thomas Cowley, and Lucy Abigail (Peet) Cowley; and personal correspondence (1938-1983). Subjects include the Whitman Massacre (1847) and Whitman Mission National Historic Site. Bulk of material relates to research for Drury's First White Women over the Rockies: Diaries, Letters of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission, 1836 and 1838 (published 1963, 1966).
- Expo '74, World's Fair Records (Ms 35), 1965- 1975
The collection includes correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, bulletins, calendars of events, planning papers, printed materials, newsclippings, blueprints, site maps and drawings, slides, photographs, videotapes, films, transcripts of oral history interviews, and other records relating to the exhibitions and the planning, promotion, building, and operation of the 1974 world's fair at Spokane, Wash.
- Family Counseling Service Records (Ms 11), 1911-1983
Records of the mental health and social service organization found in 1905 as the Associated Charities of Spokane; the name was later changed to Family Counseling Service.
- Greenacres Woman's Club Records (MsSC 428), 1920-1941
Greenacres Woman’s Club was founded in 1920 by Spokane school teacher, Emily Hard, for women of the Greenacres community interested in a means for social gathering and civic improvement. The collection includes club records, minutes, constitution and by-laws, and general correspondence from 1920-1941.
- Marion E. Hay Papers (Ms 5), 1909-1916
Businessman, lieutenant governor, and governor of Washington State; d. 1933. Collection includes personal and business correspondence during his term as governor, and private business papers.
- Hecla Mining Company Records (Ms 71), 1891-1977
Correspondence (1900-1977); letter books (1905-1917) of James F. McCarthy, Hecla manager; ore shipment ledgers (1898-1948); Douglas Mining Company records (1926-1929); ground leases (1925-1931); legal records (1948-1953) of Day Mines (acquired by Hecla in 1981); records of Minnie Moore Mine (1925- 1926); and miscellaneous legal records (1900-1955).
- Hirata Family Papers (Ms 202), 1900-1973
Japanese American family who, by 1925, had made their residence in Spokane, WA. Kazuma Hirata managed the Spokane Vegetable Growers Association and the family operated the Clem Hotel. These materials consist of letters written while Mr. Hirata was interned as an enemy alien during World War II, business records from the the Vegetable Association and Clem Hotel, and materials related to the Hirata children's schooling. Also books and photographs.
- Reba J. Hurn Diaries (MsSC 223), 1907-1908
Diaries relating to Hurn's daily activities, her teaching career in Spokane, studies at University of Heidelberg, and work with Nathan Straus, New York City philanthropist, in milk depots he established for the distribution of pasteurized milk for prevention of disease among babies and children in 1908.
- May Arkwright Hutton Papers (MsSC 55), 1908-1912
Boardinghouse operator in Coeur d'Alene mining district, Idaho; author; suffragette; and resident of Spokane, Washington. Personal letters relating to suffrage activities, social and political events in Spokane, and family matters; manuscripts for speeches on equal rights; photograph; and scrapbooks.
- Eric A. Johnston Papers (Ms 118), 1920- 1963
The collection contains papers and other items pertaining to Johnston's activities as a businessman, industrialist, four year president of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and nearly twenty years as president of the Motion Picture Association of America. Also there are items pertaining to his youth, education and family; a number of 78 RPM phonograph records of his speeches and tapes to which these speeches have been transcribed.
- Agnes M. Kehoe Papers (Ms 13), 1918-1959
Businesswoman, state legislator, and civic leader, of Hillyard, Wash. Correspondence (1937-1959) and records of community organizations in which Kehoe was involved, including Hillyard Commercial Club (1953-1959), Hillyard Community Club (1937-1941), and Spokane Visiting Nurses Association (1942- 1958), which she helped organize in 1942. Includes material relating to Kehoe Hardware Company, Spokane, Wash., owned by Kehoe and her husband, Thomas E. Kehoe.
- Joseph M. Kelley Papers (MsSC 392), 1867-1898
Major Joseph M. Kelley (1844-1911) spent most of his military career as Captain of the famous 10th colored cavalry, known as the "Buffalo Soldiers" during the Indian Wars in the Southwest against the Apaches, Comanches, Southern Cheyennes, Arrapahoes and Kiowas. The collection includes photographs of the famous 10th cavalry, army manuals, and an officer roster.
- Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Butte, Montana Records (Ms 131), 1924-1928
Records created by or received by the Kontinental Klan, No. 30 of the Ku Klux Klan, in Butte, Montana. The collection includes correspondence, publications of the Klan, and financial, legal, membership, and organizational records.
- Ladies' Benevolent Society/Spokane Children's Home Records (Ms 42), 1884-1950
The Ladies' Benevolent Society, a charitable and educational organization, was founded in 1884 chiefly to establish an orphanage in Spokane, Wash., which was incorporated in 1886 as Spokane Children's Home; closed in 1950. Secretary's and trustees' reports (1891-1941 (broken run)); records of individual children and caseworker studies (1924-1950); financial records (1919-1935); and fragmentary correspondence relating to adoptions and birth information (1938-1943).
- League of Women Voters, Spokane Chapter, Records (Ms 128), 1950-2007
The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization whose purpose is to encourage informed and active participation of all citizens in government and politics. The league actively functions at the local, state and national levels. This collection consists of records of the Spokane Chapter from 1953-2007, in addition to materials produced by the Washington State league and the national league.
- William Stanley Lewis Papers (Ms 25), 1916- 1941
William Stanley Lewis came to Spokane Falls with his parents in 1884. He studied law at Stanford University and after graduating returned to Spokane to practice. He published many articles on the early history of the Pacific Northwest and the Inland Northwest. The collection includes research correspondence, typescripts of oral interviews, copies of documents, photographs, and graphic materials used in Lewis' publications.
- Joseph L. Maloney Papers (Ms 60), 1926-1968
Records relating to Maloney's service as supervisor (1936) of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp at McGee Ranger Station, Idaho, detailing work in eradicating Ribes (wild current or gooseberry), an intermediate host of the fungus, blister rust, devastating white pine; records (1943-1945), chiefly bulletins, forms, and instructions, reflecting his activities as district manager of the Spokane, Wash., office of U.S. War Manpower Commission; and correspondence and printed material (1950-1964), concerning Maloney's tenure as employee and later postmaster (1951-1964) with U.S. Post Office Dept., in Spokane; and various financial records.
- Harold J. McCoy Papers (Ms 58), 1905-1956
Correspondence, maps, and brochures, documenting McCoy's logging, land investment, and banking interests. Includes correspondence with Frederick Weyerhaeuser (1929-1939) and T.J. Humbird (1920-1931), relating to timber industry labor problems and I.W.W. organizing activities; memos (1918-1934) regarding I.W.W. and radical activities in logging camps; records (1918) of McCoy's involvement with Spruce Production Division, U.S. War Dept., during World War I; and miscellaneous files concerning logging and milling operations in the Pacific Northwest and the failure (1930) of First National Bank of Sandpoint, Idaho. Includes information relating to McCoy's various management positions with Bonners Ferry Lumber Company, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and other timber firms, and his private engineering consulting business.
- New England Undertaking Company Funeral Records (Ms 73), 1905-1929
The New England Undertaking Company operated in Spokane from 1905 to 1929, when it was merged with the Ball-Bumgarner-Swanson Funeral Home. The collection contains funeral records from all 24 years of the company's existence.
- Northwest Mining Association Records (Ms 41), 1932-1975
Organized in Spokane, Wash., in 1895 to support and provide information on the mining and smelting interests of the Inland Empire. Correspondence, clippings, reports, memoranda, and other papers, relating to national and state legislation affecting the industry, activities (1950-1969) of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, wilderness land legislation, and the mining exhibit organized for Expo '74.
- Northwestern and Pacific Hypotheek Bank Records (Ms 46), 1885-1972
The Hypotheek banks were real estate mortgage lenders whose operations included parts of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. The materials in this collection pertain to the affairs of the following corporations: Northwestern and Pacific Hypotheek Bank, Hypotheek Bank voor Amerika, Holland Land Company, Arcadia Holding Company, Amstodel Corporation, Wall Street Reality Company, Hypotheek Land Company, Realty Mortgage Company, and Holland Bank. The companies involved eventually operated as one enterprise.
- Estelle Reel Papers (Ms 120), 1895-1959
Estelle Reel was elected as Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1895. From 1898 to 1910 she served as Superintendent of Indian Boarding Schools, during which time she prepared a text book for Indian schools. She later married rancher Cort Meyer and settled in the Yakima, Washington area. The collection includes biographical material, curriculum and lesson plans related to Indian schools, information on Indian education and Indian affairs, newspaper clippings and photographs related to Indian schools and Indian education.
- Spokane Area Development Council Records (Ms 1A), 1940-1980
Spokane Area Development Council, an offshoot of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce, was incorporated in May of 1974. Its purpose is to create new employment opportunities by attracting new business and industry to the Spokane, Washington area and to assist local business and industry to achieve recognition and growth. This file consists largely of statistical information gathered by an in-house economic research team in support of both its own efforts and those of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce.
- Spokane Chamber of Commerce Records (Ms 1), 1885-1997
The Spokane Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1897. It has been in operation continuously since that time, offering volunteer services, encouraging business development, and stimulating interest in the city's quality of life. The collection consists of the office files of the Chamber and includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, memos, photographs and other documents.
- Spokane Federation of Women's Organizations Records (MsSC 219), 1928-1972
The Spokane Federation of Women's Organizations was formed in 1911 to consolidate and coordinate the activities and interests of women's organizations in the Spokane area. The collection includes membership booklets, bulletins, correspondence, convention brochures, a written history of the organization, and newspaper clippings.
- Anna M. Stratton Diaries (MsSC 174), 1886- 1894
Diaries relating to Stratton's daily activities, the weather, family members, and her move from Michigan through Saint Paul, Minns., to Spokane, Wash., via the Northern Pacific Railroad (1889). Persons represented include her son, Rev. Howard W. Stratton, and son-in-law, J.J. Browne (who accompanied her for part of the trip).
- Julia Stuart Papers (Ms 97), 1911-1990
Julia Davis Stuart (Mrs. Robert J.) was the first president of the national League of Women Voters from west of the Mississippi. The collection reflects Stuart's wide interests in the LWV, government, youth and the political process, crime control, gun control, energy and conservation, and other national issues.
- Thornhill-Geraghty Funeral Home Records (Ms 80), 1929-1966
The Thornhill-Geraghty Funeral Home operated in Spokane from 1929 to 1966. Prior to 1940, the business was called the Thornhill-Carey Funeral Home. The collections consists of funeral records from 1929 to 1966.
- Sister Providencia Tolan Papers (Ms 116), 1888-1975
Sister Providencia Tolan was born in 1904. After joining the Sisters of Charity of Providence in 1928, she taught school in Seattle, WA and Des Plaines, IL before coming to the College of Great Falls awhere she taught Sociology. While working in Great Falls, she became concerned with the plight of the American Indian tribes in Montana. The collection covers a wide variety of materials relating to her work with American Indian populations.
- Turnbull-Merager Funeral Home Records (Ms 74), 1900-1949
The Turnbull Funeral Home operated in Spokane from the turn of the 20th century to 1929, when it became the Turnbull-Merager Funeral home, which remained open until 1949.
- Whitehouse and Price Records (Ms 55), 1939-1972
The architectural firm of Harold Whitehouse (1884-1974) and Ernest V. Price (1881-1975) was established in 1914. Its work included business blocks, schools, many churches, large World War II military construction projects, as well as residences. The firm was especially known for the gothic design of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Spokane. The collection includes a substantial file of correspondence relating to the construction of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. In addition, the Eastern Washington State Historical Society has 20 flat files of drawings from the Whitehouse and Price firm.
- Abbie Widner Letters (MsSC 194), 1905
Abbie Widner was a prostitute who had quarters in the Colonial Hotel in Spokane in 1905. The collection consists of three letters from Abbie Widner to her “boy friend,” John Weber, who was living in Seattle.
- Woman's Christian Temperance Union, East Washington Chapter Papers (Ms 68), 1883-1986
Correspondence, scrapbooks, minute books, convention programs, and ephemera from two Spokane County unions, Margaret B. Platt Union and Frances E. Willard Union, and Frances E. Willard Union, Yakima, Wash. Includes minute book (1931-1938) of Margaret B. Platt Union and material relating to alcohol, tobacco, and drug abuse, issued by the national headquarters.
- Woman's Club of Spokane Records (Ms 199), 1910-2002
The Spokane Chapter of the Greater Federation of Women's Clubs was incorporated in 1905 and was one of a national organization devoted to women's activities. The collection consists of club membership booklets, publications, newspaper clippings, financial records, scrapbooks and architectural drawings.
- Young Men's Christian Association Records (Ms 148), 1884-1995
The Spokane Young Men's Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.) was established on November 4, 1884. It combined interests in social, physical and spiritual welfare to function as an agency promoting good will, fitness and Christian fellowship among young men. The collection includes materials on the history of the YMCA in Spokane, the capital campaign for a new building and its construction (1930- 1967), and photographs of activities and programs (1900s-1980s).
|
Archives Collections