Collection is open to the public.
Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room.
Mildred Colbert was one of eight children of Frederick (1840-1924) and Catherine (1853 -1940) Colbert, born on October 13, 1889, in the town of Ilwaca, Washington. The family was prominent in the early fishing industry, and known for their home on the corner of Quaker and Lake Street. The house is still a prominent landmark, and is currently on The National Register for Historic Places.
As a child, Mildred attended Bellingham Normal School, eventually graduating with a focus on education. She went on to teach fourth grade in a logging camp in Pacific County, and then in Naselle, alongside her sister Ruby. After retiring from teaching, Mildred pursued writing, documenting the history of the Chinook people in her book, Kutkos, Chinook Tyee, and writing for the Oregon Historical Quarterly. Mildred's primary residence was in Portland, Oregon, where she lived with her mother, Catherine, and her two sisters, Ruby and Hilma, but she kept the family's home in Ilwaco for summer use.
[Source: "The Colbert House: The House That Time Forgot." Chinook observer.com. 17 Jan. 2017.]
The Mildred Colbert papers contain materials documenting the history of the Colbert and Petit family, as well as Mildred's time spent growing up in one of the first pioneer families of Washington. Included in this material is correspondence dated between 1929 and 1978, as well as many early newspaper clippings about Oregon, the Colbert family, and the Native American tribes of the region. Also included are manuscripts, manuscript drafts, and related material for a number of Colbert's works, including Folk Tales from the Chinook, Kutkos, Chinook Tyee and an unpublished book, Portland on the Willamette.