View XML QR Code

Small Towns Institute Records, 1956-2002 (bulk 1969-1997)

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Small Towns Institute (U.S.)
Title
Small Towns Institute Records
Dates
1956-2002 (bulk 1969-1997) (inclusive)
Quantity
60.0 cubic feet, (110 letter sized document cases; 11 letter half sized document cases and 2 legal half sized document cases)  :  Correspondence, newspaper clippings, records, subject files, photographs, slides and photographic negatives in good condition
Collection Number
RG042a-05-82
Summary
The collection consists of correspondence, subject files, newspaper clippings, photographs, publications and financial and organizational records kept by the Small Towns Institute of Ellensburg, WA, from 1969 to 2002.
Repository
Central Washington University, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Central Washington University
400 E University Way
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Telephone: 509-963-1023
Fax: 509-963-3684
archive@cwu.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to the public for educational research

Languages
English
Return to Top

Historical Note

The Small Towns Institute was incorporated by the State of Washington on January 8, 1969, as a non-profit organization to research and disseminate information on the plights and problems associated with small town communities primarily in the United States and Canada in the latter part of the 20th century. The concept for a research institute was first proposed by Clayton E. Denman, a professor of anthropology at Central Washington University, on November 1, 1966, as an academic program to be added to the college’s curriculum. On February 13, 1967, Dr. Denman called for the selection of a committee of interested faculty members and administrators to organize the program. After a series of committee meetings on organizational structure and program development, a constitution and by-laws were devised and ratified by the committee on January 4, 1969, and an application for incorporation sent to the Secretary of State of Washington. The Institute was housed on the Central Washington University campus, where it remained until 2001.

The Institute began publishing a short newsletter titled Small Town in July 1969. By the mid 1970s the newsletter had expanded into a monthly magazine and in 1980 it became a bimonthly journal. The Institute also published resource guides, booklets and various pamphlets and brochures related to the preservation of small town communities. From the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, the Small Towns Institute received international recognition and was involved in formulating national policy on rural development, particularly during the administration of President Jimmy Carter. A significant transition occurred during the spring of 1983, when founder and Executive Director Clayton Denman resigned as director after fourteen years. His wife Anne, the Editorial Director for over a decade, submitted her resignation later the same year. Financial woes that had plagued the Institute since the organization’s early years were made considerably worse during the recession of the late 1980s. Sizable private loans, declining memberships and waning journal subscriptions led to financial instabilities in the 1990s. In 2001 the Institute ceased publication of its journal and the following year its offices closed on the Central Washington University campus.

Return to Top

Content Description

The Ellensburg-based Small Towns Institute records contain clippings from local and regional newspapers, articles from national magazines and journals, government and organizational pamphlets, newsletters, brochures and miscellaneous other publications related to the preservation of small town communities or organizations that support conservation and preservation projects. Also present in the collection are correspondence, photographs and drafts of articles submitted for publication and published in the Institute’s journal Small Town. Included in the correspondence files are letters from members of the United States Congress and other notable state and national politicians.

Return to Top

Historical Background

Central Washington University began as the Washington State Normal School in 1891. In 1937, the school was rechristened the Central Washington College of Education. In 1961, the school became Central Washington State College and, finally, in 1977, Central Washington University.

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number]. RG042a-05-82, Small Towns Institute Records. Archives and Special Collections, Brooks Library, Central Washington University.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into seven series: I. Correspondence. II. Subject files. III. Organization files. IV. Article submissions and drafts. V. Photographs for articles. VI. Publications. VII. Financial and miscellaneous records. Arranged alphabetically by subject heading or surname.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Dieter C. Ullrich
2012

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

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West