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Westin Hotels & Resorts, J. William Keithan Archives, 1905-2004

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Westin Hotels & Resorts.
Title
Westin Hotels & Resorts, J. William Keithan Archives
Dates
1905-2004 (inclusive)
Quantity
500 Linear feet of shelf space, (513 Boxes)
Collection Number
Cage 656 (collection)
Summary
The archives of Westin Hotel and Resorts consist of reports, company documents, legal records, photographs, motion pictures and recordings, publications, advertising matter and objects assembled by the company archivist, J. William Keithan, from sources inside and outside the firm.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The firm known today as Westin Hotels and Resorts was formed in 1930 under the name Western Hotels, Inc. The idea for the company was conceived at an informal meeting in Yakima, Washington, between hoteliers Severt W. Thurston and Frank Dupar. Creating a management company to oversee the operations of all of their hotels, they reasoned, would help the hotels address Depression-era business conditions more effectively. Thurston and Dupar approached Peter and Adolph Schmidt, who operated five hotels in the Puget Sound area, with the idea, and the three groups agreed to pool their resources.

In 1930, Western Hotels operated seventeen hotels, all but one of them, The Boise, in Washington State. The firm expanded rapidly, however, to more accurately reflect its name. In 1931, Western Hotels ventured into both Vancouver, British Columbia, and Portland, Oregon. By 1941, Western had expanded into both Alaska and California. A decade later, Montana and Utah were added to the list of states served by Western Hotels. By then, a subsidiary company, Western Service and Supply Co., had been created to facilitate the operation of the growing number of Western Hotels.

Through the 1940s and most of the 1950s, Western Hotels remained focused primarily on management, supervising the policies and operations of its various hotels, but also emphasizing their individuality. Each hotel retained its own corporate and finan cial structure, and the notion of a "chain" of hotels was de-emphasized in advertising. Increasingly, however, the company began to wield greater influence on its properties, and in 1958, a decision was made to merge the better producing propert ies into a strong equity company. Western continued to expand not only in the western United States, but abroad as well, necessitating a name change in 1963 to Western International Hotels. In the mid-1960s, the capital structure of the firm was broadened , and Western International became a publicly-held company with its shares traded on the American Stock Exchange.

In 1970, Western International entered into a merger with United Airlines, Inc. Western International continued, however, as an autonomous, wholly-owned subsidiary of UAL Inc., with management and headquarters remaining in Seattle. During its associa tion with UAL Inc., Western simplified its name to the current form: Westin. The partnership with UAL Inc. came to an end after a failed attempt to unify Westin, United Airlines, Hertz, Hilton, and other travel-related companies as a one-stop travel compa ny under the name Allegis Corp. Subsequently, Aoki Corp., of Japan, purchased Westin in 1988 and sold it, in turn, to Starwood Capital Group, L.P. and Goldman, Sachs, and Co. in November 1994. In 1998, Starwood Capital assumed full ownership. In 2016, Marriott International acquired Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, including Westin.

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Content Description

The archives of Westin Hotel and Resorts consist of reports, company documents, legal records, photographs, motion pictures and recordings, publications, advertising matter and objects assembled by the company archivist, J. William Keithan, from sources inside and outside the firm. Materials fall into two types of record series: one is matter relating to the operation of Westin and its predecessors ("corporate" documents), the other is materials related to the various hotels owned or managed by the firm (" properties" documents).

Series 1: Corporate.

Subseries 1.1: Corporate governence and management. - Chiefly records of meetings held by boards, committees, management conferences, etc., including corporate minutes.

Subseries 1.2: General Subjects and Information. - Chiefly informational materials, memos, charts, manuals, etc. Arranged to reflect the offices and organizational structure of the firm.

Subseries 1.2.1: Corporate.

Subseries 1.2.3: Corporate offices.

Subseries 1.2.4: Corporate Planning.

Subseries 1.2.5: Design and Construction.

Subseries 1.2.6: Development.

Subseries 1.2.7: Financial Service.

Subseries 1.2.8: Food and Beverage.

Subseries 1.2.10: Legal-financial.

Subseries 1.2.11: Legal documents.

Subseries 1.2.12: Marketing.

Subseries 1.2.13: Operations.

Subseries 1.2.14: Personnel.

Subseries 1.2.16: Risk Management.

Subseries 1.2.17: Rooms.

Subseries 1.3: Offices and Departments, records. - Bulletins and memoranda.

Subseries 1.4: Planning. (vacant)

Subseries 1.5: Design and construction records. - Studies and manuals.

Subseries 1.6: Development. - Presentation materials, minutes.

Subseries 1.7: Financial services. - Bulletins, manuals, training materials.

Subseries 1.8: Food and beverage. - Committee meeting minutes, newsletters, bulletins, manuals.

Subseries 1.9: Growth Planning. (vacant)

Subseries 1.10: Legal/financial. - Contracts, agreements, corporate ownership and voting documents.

Subseries 1.11: Legal documentation. (vacant)

Subseries 1.12: Marketing. - Advertising, brochure, motion pictures, videos, bulletins news releases, records of marketing meetings/conferences, manuals. Some in large books.

Subseries 1.13: Operations. Bulletins and reports.

Subseries 1.14: Personnel. - Chiefly information folders concerning various Westin employees, many with pictures; also directories, and employee information.

Subseries 1.15: Real Estate. (vacant)

Subseries 1.16: Risk Management. (vacant)

Subseries 1.17: Rooms. - Newsletters, bulletins, manuals of the Rooms Division.

Subseries 1.18: 2004 database project - Printed reports from database of management progression histories.

Series 2: Project files. - Development, design and construction files, arranged by properties, all concerning new construction of hotels.

Series 3: Properties

Subseries 3.1: General. - Various papers re: specific hotels, by property.

Subseries 3.2: Marketing brochures. - Advertising and marketing materials, by property.

Subseries 3.3: Advertising and marketing. - Further advertising and publicity materials, by property.

Subseries 3.4: Marketing and general. - Further advertising, along with other general descriptive material.

Subseries 3.5: Pre-Opening / Operations. - Chiefly manuals and staff training documents.

Subseries 3.6: Oversize. - Chiefly scrapbooks, with large format materials similar in content to Subseries 3.5.

Series 4: Slides, negatives and transparencies.

Subseries 4.1: Properties (slides).

Subseries 4.2: Properties ("from binders" Additional slides).

Subseries 4.3: Properties, Negatives and transparencies. - Also negatives, transparencies by property; slides from Century Plaza, misc. interiors and exteriors, general corporate subjects

Subseries 4.4: Corporate (slides, etc.). - Some of advertising, material for presentations, etc.

Series 5: Photographs.

Subseries 5.1: Properties --- Photo prints, by properties. - Also "photos from binders"--USA, Canada, Far East, Central America, photo albums, and Oversize.

Subseries 5.2: Photographs -- Corporate. Conferences, meetings, events, staff and employees.

Series 6: Publications.

Subseries 6.1: In house publications from properties. - Newsletters from hotels, alphabetical by properties.

Subseries 6.2: In house publications-- corporate. - Westin employee magazines, magazine for customers.

Subseries 6.3: Collateral material, in house publications. - Mostly source material for Front, the company magazine.

Subseries 6.4: Other publishers. - Mostly Westin customer magazines from UAL, Allegis, and Aoki.

Series 7: Stock Certificates.

Series 8: Financial statements. - Periodic and annual reports, reports to annual meetings, financial statement by outside accountants. Statistics.

Series 9: Clippings.

Subseries 9.1: Clippings -- Properties.

Subseries 9.2: Clippings - Corporate.

Subseries 9.3: Clippings -- Clipping scrapbooks.

Series 10: Restaurant Menus.

Series 11: Oversize documents.

Series 12: Personal Collections of Employees and Executives.

Series 13: Memorabilia (Objects).

Series 14: Westin Management and Property database project report, 2008.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

The Series 14, Westin database project report: “Westin Management and Property Database” 2008 May 15, has been digitized and is available online.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

Westin Hotels & Resorts, J. William Keithan Archives, 1905-2004 (Cage 656)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arrangement of the Westin Archives is based on a system installed in the early years of its existence, with modifications made at the Washington State University Libraries. Corporate documents are arranged largely by along the lines of the administrative organization of the firm. Documents associated with properties are in alphabetical sequences based on the names of the hotels. This system is repeated for information files, photographs, projection slides and publications, resulting in a partial system of arrangement by form. Separate series of financial reports, news clipping, and menus were with the archives; these have been left as stand-alone record series. In addition, the Washington State University Libraries has emphasized the many record series included in the Archives, while relying less on the larger system of arrangement or filing for finding purposes.

Almost all film and video in the Westin Archives is located with Record Series 1.12 -- Marketing. The great majority of films and videotapes do relate to marketing matters and undoubtedly such was the original rationale for arranging them in that manner. Films and videos of other subject content are included in the archives, nonetheless, and arranged with the marketing material. Past practice has been continued to the present time, although a more-clearly identifed sequence for film and video may be established in the future.

Acquisition Information

The records of the Westin Hotels and Resorts were transferred to the Washington State University Libraries in 1997 by the Company. The records had previously been managed as the Westin Archives, a project of J. William Keithan, the Westin Vice-president who founded the corporate archives in 1975 and who was instrumental in arranging the transfer to the University Libraries. After transfer of the archives, the University Libraries maintained the practices of arrangement and order as had been used to that time. Additional unsorted material was arranged and added, and the entire archives reboxed and refoldered as necessary. In 2005, a printed report was added reflecting history of properties and management progression; in 2008, a more complete report was added (see Series 14).

Processing Note

This collection was processed by John Mann in 1997 and 1998.

Related Materials

Georgina P. Tucker Papers, 1920-1997 (Cage 732)

Westin Hotels and Resorts, Chef Walter Roth Papers, circa 1951-1980s (Cage 820)

Sid Copeland, "The Story of Western International Hotels," circa 2003 (Cage 834)

Westin Hotels and Resorts Management Conference Photographs, 1957-1988 (Cage 5148)

Preliminary Guide to the Westin Hotels and Resorts Records, circa 1920s-2004 (MSSM.095)

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Bars (Drinking establishments) -- History -- Sources
  • Hotels -- History -- Sources
  • Restaurants -- History -- Sources

Personal Names

  • Keithan, J. William -- Archives

Corporate Names

  • Western Hotel Company -- Records and correspondence
  • Western International Hotels -- Records and correspondence
  • Westin Hotels & Resorts -- Records and correspondence

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Keithan, J. William (creator)

    Corporate Names

    • Western Hotel Company (creator)
    • Western International Hotels (creator)
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