Olaf Pitt Jenkins Geology Lantern Slides, 1910s-1928

The collection consists of lantern slides primarily tied to geology in the Pacific Northwest, most created in the 1910s to 1930s. They include both commercial lantern slides and personally created lantern slides; the majority of the latter, where dated, seem to be from 1921 and from 1928, and bear the initials O.P.J. This was almost certainly Olaf Pitt Jenkins, a professor of Economic Geology in what was then known as Washington State College’s School of Mines and Geology.

Sources of commercial lantern slides include Asahel Curtis; Seattle; Arthur M. Prentiss, Portland (primarily in the Columbia River series); Keystone View Co., Meadville, PA; and others. Only between 5 and 15 percent of the images were commercially produced.

The slides were likely created and organized either for instruction or for personal research. They include series on northwest rivers and gorges; waterfalls; the Columbia River; lakes; mountains; the Palouse region, scablands, and basalt; and what appears to be a hiking trip (or trips) in the North Cascades.

The majority of the images are undated, but almost all are labeled.