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Galen Biery Papers and Photographs, 1861-1992

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Biery, Galen.
Title
Galen Biery Papers and Photographs
Dates
1861-1992 (inclusive)
1880-1992 (bulk)
Quantity
50 linear feet
Collection Number
XOE_CPNWS0027biery
Summary
Galen Biery, a longtime employee of Pacific American Fisheries, was one Bellingham, Washington's best-known local historians. The Biery Papers comprise subject files, scrapbooks, newspapers, audio and visual materials, maps and photographs. These records reflect Biery's fascination with the local history of Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington, as well as his other interests including Alaska, the fishing and salmon canning industries, photography and early radio. Items of particular interest include Biery's recordings of oral interviews with notable local individuals, scrapbooks of clippings and photographs, and materials pertaining to Pacific American Fisheries. The collection also contains maps and a large number of photographs documenting the landscape and communities around Bellingham Bay and Whatcom County and the development of local and regional industries.
Repository
Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Archives Building
808 25th St.
Bellingham, WA
98225
Telephone: (360) 650-7534
cpnws@wwu.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding the finding aid was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Galen Alvord Biery (1910-1994) was one of Bellingham's most well-known local "armchair" historians. During the summer 1930, Biery was introduced to Beverley B. Dobbs, who had become famous for filming some of the first motion picture travelogues of the Alaskan Gold Rush. In Fairhaven Biery began working for Dobbs as he photographed the fish processing operations at Pacific American Fisheries during the 1930s. Biery later travelled with him to Seattle to learn more about motion pictures and photographic techniques.

Galen Biery set up a newsreel laboratory in Bellingham in 1932 and captured the Nooksack River floods on film which was aired nationally. In 1935 Biery's inventiveness, with the help of Bob and Joe Dunn, led to a patent for a post-card printing machine. Later, Biery and Erwin Hube invented a revolutionary salmon skinning and boning machine used in a Pacific American Fisheries cannery in Alaska. Throughout his career, Biery worked as a machinist, mechanic, researcher and cannery foreman at Pacific American Fisheries.

After his retirement in 1976, Biery was able to concentrate on his passions of history, photography, film and gardening. He shared both his knowledge of local history and the thousands of photographs he had taken through his famous "Magic Lantern" slide shows. The "Magic Lantern" slide shows began in 1958 for the Fairhaven Lions' Club and expanded to include historical societies, museums, community clubs and local elementary schools. The shows presented Biery's recollections and research on local history, including Lake Whatcom, Pacific American Fisheries, local theaters and the Mount Baker country.

Biery collaborated on many books, including Looking Back, with Dorothy Koert, wrote several newspaper columns titled, "Bellingham…A Look Back," in the Bellingham Buyer, and had photos published in the Bellingham Herald. His historic photos grace almost every newspaper in the region, as well as several books. In 1984, Biery was named "Whatcom County's Living Treasure" by the Bellingham Arts Commission, and proclaimed "Honor Citizen" by the City of Bellingham.

Although Galen Biery died on September 26, 1994, his heritage is deeply ingrained in the residents of Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington. His "Magic Lantern" slide shows have been carried on by several friends and most recently by his grandchildren. The Galen Biery Papers reflect his commitment to the history of Bellingham.

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Content Description

The Galen Biery Papers and Photographs at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies comprises subject files, scrapbooks, newspapers, audio and visual materials, maps and photographs spanning the period ca. 1861-1992, with the bulk of records dated 1880-1992. The collection reflects Biery's fascination with the history of Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington, as well as his other interests including Alaska, the fishing and salmon canning industries, photography and early radio.

Subject Files dated 1861-1985 document Biery's varied research interests, containing clippings, notes and manuscripts pertaining mostly to local events, businesses, public institutions and well-known individuals. These files are arranged alphabetically, and reflect Biery's own file arrangement wherever possible. Biery's Lake Whatcom Research files are also arranged alphabetically, and contain typed extracts from newspapers and interviews regarding the history of Lake Whatcom.

Biery's records include a significant number of newspapers spanning the period 1873-1988. Newspapers published in Whatcom County are arranged separately from other regional newspapers, which include materials generated in Alaska and California. The majority of these papers are dated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and comprise papers which are not available on microfilm elsewhere. Biery's records also include a small number of bound volumes generated by local businesses including Bellingham Shipyard Company, and also Whatcom County and Bellingham Directories spanning the period 1920 – 1988.

Biery's recordings of local television and radio shows, together with the oral histories and interviews he conducted with local individuals such as Roland Gamwell and Hugh Galbraith comprise a valuable resource for researchers interested in local history. Recorded on reel-to-reel and cassette tapes (often with multiple interviews contained on one tape) these interviews address topics including the interurban railroads, coal mining, fishing and Mount Baker. The tapes include sound recordings of many of Galen Biery's presentations regarding local history, including several of his "Magic Lantern" slide shows. Both reel-to-reel tapes and cassette tapes are arranged alphabetically by name of interviewee or subject. There is a small amount of duplication between material on reel-to-reel and cassette tapes.

The Biery papers also contain a significant number of visual records, including reel-to-reel films documenting vessels and activities at the Bellingham Shipyards during the 1940s. The collection includes a significant number of photographs and slides documenting the landscape and communities around Bellingham Bay and Whatcom County and the development of local and regional industries. Item-level description of photographic images is provided in the photo database on the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies website.

The collection also contains a large number of maps, many of which document the development of Whatcom County communities including Sehome, Fairhaven and Bellingham, as well as the emergence of local and regional industries such as mining and railways. Maps are arranged into subject folders for ease of access and ttem-level description is available in the Center's map database.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research. Researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use materials where such is required by law. Please note that the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies requires advance notice for use of reel-to-reel films.

Preferred Citation

Galen Biery Papers and Photographs, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Galen Biery Papers and Photographs are organized in accordance with the following series arrangement:

  • Series I: Subject Files ca. 1861-1985
  • Series II: Lake Whatcom Research undated
  • Series III: Scrapbooks 1900-1958
  • Series IV: Newspapers 1873-1993
  • Series V: Bound Volumes & Books ca. 1889-1954
  • Series VI: Directories 1920 – 1988
  • Series VII: Ephemera & Oversized Material ca. 1896-1986
  • Series VIII: Artifacts undated
  • Series IX: Audio: Reel to Reel Tapes 1956-1989
  • Series X: Audio: Cassette Tapes 1955-1992
  • Series XI: Visual Material: Video Tapes 1983-1993
  • Series XII. Visual Material: Reel to Reel Films ca. 1940-1949
  • Series XIII: Photographs and Slides ca. 1870-1980
  • Series XIV: Maps ca. 1858-1988 (bulk 1890-1988)

Custodial History

Although Galen Biery transferred materials to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies over the course of his life, the Biery family donated the bulk of his records to the Center on March 18, 1995, September 13, 1995, and January 2, 1996. On March 6, 1996 (the date of their formal deeding to the Center), these donations were officially recognized as the Galen Biery Papers. At least half of the materials transferred by Galen Biery and the Biery family to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies were records generated by Pacific American Fisheries (PAF). As a long-term PAF employee, Biery played an integral part in the preservation and collection of the the company's records. In 1965, following PAF's closure, Biery was allowed to salvage selected company records before the remainder were piled in the parking lot and burned. He later co-ordinated the transfer of these and additional PAF materials to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, where they are available in the Pacific American Fisheries collection. The Biery family transferred further of Galen Biery's manuscript and photographic records to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in 2002.

Processing Note

Terence Badger processed the Galen Biery Papers and Photographs for the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in 1997. The material of the Galen Biery Papers was transferred to the Center pre-arranged by type of media. This basic arrangement by format was retained during processing. In 2004, Ruth Steele re-engineered the collection and its finding aid, integrating additional manuscript and visual materials which the Biery family transferred to the Center in 2002.

Separated Materials

A companion collection of Galen Biery materials is housed at the Whatcom Museum of History & Art Photo Archives.

Processing Note

To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see the following Statement About Potentially Harmful Language and Content.

Bibliography

Koert, Dorothy, and Galen Biery, Looking Back. Vol. 2, (Lynden: Lynden Tribune, 1982).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Salmon canning industry--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Photographs.
  • Salmon canning industry--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Salmon fisheries--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Photographs.
  • Salmon fisheries--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.

Personal Names

  • Biery, Galen--Archives.
  • Biery, Galen--Interviews.

Corporate Names

  • Pacific American Fisheries, Inc.

Geographical Names

  • Alaska--History--Sources.
  • Bellingham (Wash.)--History--Photographs.
  • Bellingham (Wash.)--History--Sources.
  • Bellingham (Wash.)--History--Maps.
  • Whatcom County (Wash.)--History--Sources.
  • Whatcom County--Washington (State)--History--Maps.
  • Whatcom County--Washington (State)--History--Photographs.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Interviews (Sound recordings)
  • Maps.
  • Records (Documents)

Finding aid created by Terence S. Badger, with revisions by Ruth Steele.
1997

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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