Research Archives
The Joel E. Ferris Research Archives, home to the Eastern Washington State Historical Society, is located in the Cheney Cowles Center of the MAC (Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture). The archive collects and preserves first-person primary source materials (letters, diaries, photographs, audio-visual recordings, architectural drawings, maps, and regional business records), which reflect the evolution of the Inland Northwest including the tribes of the Columbia Plateau and 20th century commerce and community development. The Archives Collection is available to researchers for personal, educational, and commercial projects. It is an excellent resource for historians, students, artists, designers, architects, publishers, cultural resource managers, and businesses that want to learn more about our region's heritage.
Archives Moratorium 2026-2027
Starting on Monday, January 5, 2026, the Joel E. Ferris Archives at the MAC will temporarily stop adding new donations to its collections. This moratorium is expected to last for 18 months, until July 2027. This temporary pause in donation activities includes site visits, curatorial review, acquisition paperwork, and new collection processing. All mail in donations will be returned to their donor. Drop off donations will continue to be prohibited.
The museum must prioritize processing its current collections with a focus on access and digitization. These projects include digitization of the MAC’s rare format cellulose nitrate negatives and the development of a digital catalog in the Museum’s new collection management system. The completion of these activities is vital work that will broaden public access to its collections. Due to the large scale of these projects, there is no staff capacity to accommodate new archival donation activities.
Limited Appointments
The Joel E. Ferris Archives appreciates all the support we have from our community of researchers, museum members, and supporters. Reference and access to the collections will remain open to the public on a reduced schedule. Research appointments are available on Fridays and Saturdays. Email reference will continue but due to limited staff availability, please allow 7-10 business days for a response. For more information about our collection holdings or to make an appointment, please email us at archives@northwestmuseum.org or by phone at 509-363-5342.
Donations During the Moratorium
This moratorium only affects archival collections. If you have offers of donation for the museum’s other collecting disciplines, please contact those curators directly, or email at collections@northwestmuseum.org.
If you would like more information on the moratorium or have questions regarding the archives, we recommend contacting Anna Harbine, the Johnston-Fix Curator of Archives and Special Collections directly. She will be able to advise you and make sure your requests and any questions you may have are not overlooked during this moratorium.
Contact Us
Anna Harbine, Johnston-Fix Curator of Archives and Special Collections
anna.harbine@northwestmuseum.org; 509-363-5313
Digital Archival Images
The Digital Archives Collection of the Eastern Washington State Historical Society connects you to digital reproductions and descriptions of photographs, posters, drawings, objects, ephemera, and manuscripts as well as other archival material from the Society’s rare and special collections.
Our image availability will continue to grow as more of our digital projects are added, as more of our special collections are digitized and described, and as hybrid and born-digital archival collections are acquired.
The site does not currently include information about our entire collection nor our rare or out-of-copyright digitized books or digitized newspapers. However, these and other historical digital content will be available soon.
Licensing & Reproduction Services with Fees
Visit Digital Archives