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University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division records, approximately 1941-2022

Overview of the Collection

Creator
University of Washington. Libraries. Special Collections Division
Title
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division records
Dates
approximately 1941-2022 (inclusive)
Quantity
approximately 223.86 cubic feet (approximately 248 boxes, 1 oversize folder,1 flash drive, and 3 tubes)
Collection Number
UW Resource No. 00752
Summary
Records of the Division responsible for Manuscripts, University Archives, and Special Collections
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Public records, but advance notice is required to allow for screening of materials protected from disclosure by law. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Some records stored offsite; advance notice required for use.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The University of Washington Library began collecting historical materials as early as 1905 when the catalog listed a "University History" section. In 1919 the purchase of Clarence Booth Bagley's collection of Northwest Americana helped establish what would become the Manuscript collection. Additions to the Collection were contributed regularly through the close collaboration of Bagley, historian Edmond S. Meany, and librarian Charles Wesley Smith. File indexes were added to the collection in the 1930s and 1940s, including a Regional Index of Newspapers and a Human Relations Area Files in 1948.

Large collections continued to come into the Library through the 1930s to the 1950s. In 1958 a Manuscripts section of the Library was formally established, previously having been administered by the Reference Division. In 1961 the Northwest Collection, the Manuscripts Collection, and Rare Books and Special Collections comprised the units of Special Collections. Shortly thereafter collecting areas expanded into photographs, architectural drawings, newspapers, and microforms. Until 1966 many of the Manuscripts collections focused on Northwest businesses, such as forest industries and coal as well as conservation efforts.

The 1964 Annual Report for Special Collections notes "it has been noted that President Odegaard makes frequent reference to the "University Archives" as if there were a specific agency in which materials and memorabilia relating to the history of the University is housed." University Archives was formally established in 1967 under the new University Archives and Manuscripts Division. Prior to this, archival materials were collected under Manuscripts and the Northwest Collection. The new University Archives and Manuscripts Division was also separated for the first time from the Special Collections Division, which still included the Northwest Collection, Rare Books, photographs, maps, and drawings. By the 1980s Special Collections also housed a Preservation unit.

By the early 2000s the two sides, Special Collections and Manuscripts and University Archives, had been brought back together under the Special Collections Division.

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Content Description

Correspondence, exhibit materials, donor files, project files, manuals, training documents, committee files, subject files, reference requests, audio duplication CDs, and other materials related to the Special Collections division.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Public Records; not subject to copyright. Copying, quotation, publication and other uses are unrestricted if records are open for public release.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into 65 accessions.

  • Accession No. 01-012, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1971-2000
  • Accession No. 01-020, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives Division records, 1998-2000
  • Accession No. 04-077, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives Division records, 2003
  • Accession No. 05-031, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives Division records, 1964-2004 (bulk 1982-2004)
  • Accession No. 05-062, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1958-2003
  • Accession No. 11-009, UW Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division technical services records, 1979-2005
  • Accession No. 78-014, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division records, circa 1971-1974
  • Accession No. 78-134, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1958-1977
  • Accession No. 80-011, University of Washington Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, circa 1967-1974
  • Accession No. 80-018, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts Section records, circa 1958-1965
  • Accession No. 81-037, University of Washington Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1950-1979 (bulk 1970-1975)
  • Accession No. 81-103, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1940-1975
  • Accession No. 83-039, University of Washington Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, circa 1967-1981
  • Accession No. 84-061, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1967-1984
  • Accession No. 85-009, University of Washington Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1969-1977
  • Accession No. 86-035, University of Washington Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1974-1985 (bulk 1979-1985)
  • Accession No. 87-001, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, circa 1959-1985 (bulk 1969-1983)
  • Accession No. 87-033, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1986
  • Accession No. 88-003, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1987
  • Accession No. 88-034, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1967-1988
  • Accession No. 89-023, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1962-1988
  • Accession No. 89-027, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1987
  • Accession No. 89-124, University of Washington Libraries,Special Collections and Preservation Division records, 1981, 1984
  • Accession No. 89-158, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1958-1989 (bulk 1983-1988)
  • Accession No. 89-160, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1958-1984
  • Accession No. 90-109, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, circa 1981-1989
  • Accession No. 90-145, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, circa 1967-1989
  • Accession No. 91-006, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1958-1990
  • Accession No. 91-030, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1989
  • Accession No. 91-042, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1989
  • Accession No. 91-155, University of Washington Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1973-1974
  • Accession No. 91-190, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1961-1991
  • Accession No. 91-213, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, circa 1960-1989
  • Accession No. 91-229, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, circa 1970-1986
  • Accession No. 92-162, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1990-1992
  • Accession No. 93-010, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1973-1992 (bulk 1985-1992)
  • Accession No. 93-054, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, circa 1985-1990
  • Accession No. 93-079, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, circa 1960-1984
  • Accession No. 94-017, University of Washington, Libraries, Special Collections Division records, 1993
  • Accession No. 94-039, University of Washington Libraries, Manuscripts and University Archives Division records, 1954-1994 (bulk circa 1971-1994)
  • Accession No. 95-096, University of Washington, Libraries, Special Collections and Preservation Division records, 1964-1982
  • Accession No. 95-412, University of Washington, Libraries, Special Collections and Preservation Division records, 1982-1992
  • Accession No. 96-008, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1961-1995
  • Accession No. 96-206, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1992-1996
  • Accession No. 97-013, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1941-1996
  • Accession No. 97-105, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1995-1999
  • Accession No. 98-035, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1961-1997
  • Accession No. 98-081, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1996-1997
  • Accession No. 98-104, University of Washington, Libraries, Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives Division records, 1998
  • Accession No. 99-058, University of Washington, Libraries, Special Collections and Preservation Division records, 1964-1997
  • Accession No. 99-131, University of Washington, Libraries, University Archives and Manuscripts Division records, 1997-1998
  • Accession No. 14-004, Manuscripts and University Archives Accessioning and Disposal records, 1958-2008
  • Accession No. 14-005, Manuscripts and University Archives Donor Cards and Other Records, 1949-1994
  • Accession No. 14-006, UW Manuscripts and University Archives Description Files, circa 1992-2014
  • Accession No. 15-001, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division records, 20th century
  • Accession No. 15-017, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections inventories,
  • Accession No. 15-021, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections records, 2006-2009
  • Accession No. 15-025, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections records, 1969- 2009
  • Accession No. 16-022, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections audio duplication CDs,
  • Accession No. 17-034, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections records, 2000-2017
  • Accession No. 19-023, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections cumulative collection indices, 1960-2000
  • Accession No. 22-010, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division Files of Public Exhibits, 1984-2014
  • Accession No. 22-012, Index to the Edmond S. Meany letterpress books, approximately 1980s
  • Accession No. 22-013, University of Washington Special Collections Division records, approximately 1971-2010
  • Accession No. 24-006, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections awards, 2014

Preservation Note

Some records stored offsite; advance notice required for use.

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Detailed Description of the Collection