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John Spragens collection, approximately 1960s-2012

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Spragens, John, 1944-2013
Title
John Spragens collection
Dates
approximately 1960s-2012 (inclusive)
Quantity
88 boxes, 26 map folders, 1 oversize tube
Collection Number
PH1536
Summary
Photographs, slides, films, audio tapes and records, ephemera, correspondence, books, and data discs pertaining to Spragens' career as a photojournalist
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

Open to all users.

Request at UW

Most material is stored offsite; advance notice is required for use.

Additional Reference Guides

Languages
Collection materials are in English and Vietnamese.
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Biographical Note

John Spragens (August 8, 1944-February 10, 2013) was born in Fulton, MO. He was a staff photographer for the Mountain Retreat Association in Montreat, NC and for the Louisville, KY, Southern Patriot before going to Vietnam in 1966 with the International Voluntary Services to teach Vietnamese high school students in Tra Vihn, in the Mekong Delta. In November 1968 he worked as a Field Representative for the Committee of Responsibility in Saigon helping with children injured in the war. In late 1969 he briefly taught English in Hong Kong before going to Japan where he took a position teaching English as a second language at the high school attached to the Japan Women's University. In 1974 he worked as a freelance journalist and interpreter in Vietnam and then as a research associate and then Director of the Indochina Resource Center, Berkeley, CA. and as a freelance translator (Vietnamese to English). From 1977-1979 he worked as a reporter/photographer for the Athens (TX) Daily Review and the Corsicana (TX) Daily Sun. He spent a year reporting on the Mitchell family farm in Barry, TX while working for the Corsicana newspaper. He worked as a photographer, writer and editor for various newspaper and companies since then. He traveled back to Southeast Asia a number of times including a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia in 1988 sponsored by the Daytona Beach, FL News Journal and the Cox News Service. He also reported from Hiroshima in 1979 about the effects of the bomb on the city after 34 years. Spragens died in his home in Eugene, Ore., on Feb. 10, 2013. His work is currently shown on his website, https://enigmaterial.com/

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Content Description

Photographs, slides, films, audio tapes and records, ephemera, correspondence, books, data discs, and artifacts pertaining to the career of John Spragens as a photojournalist and activist. The collection includes exhibited, published and commercial photographs, tear sheets and clippings of his published articles, and reference and research materials. His topics focus on Vietnam (local life, political activity and protests, U.S. presence) in the 1960s and 1970s, and also include Kampuchea (Cambodia), Japan (modern factories, the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), contemporary life in 1970s and 1980s Southeast Asia, and Washington D.C. Also included are commercial and art photography projects, stock photos, family history, personal correspondence and materials relating to his later career in technical writing.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The creators' literary rights have been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in 68 series. Some series simply reflect box level descriptions of included formats such as negatives, prints, slides, etc.; the others are conceptual series. Significant series of the latter are:

  • Japan - Manuscripts, Notes, Drafts, 1970-1973
  • Documents related to Spragens' time with IVS (International Voluntary Services) in Vietnam
  • Photographic Prints - Southeast Asia
  • Photographic Prints - Vietnam
  • Britain
  • 1980 trip to Vietnam
  • 1983 Kampuchea (Cambodia) trip
  • Vietnamese Ephemera and Language Educational Materials
  • Trip to Hiroshima and Nagasaki for Hibakusha Grant, Akiba Project
  • Vietnam, Red Earth book and other translations, 1971-1978
  • Professional/Activist Correspondence, 1965-1989
  • Material related to 1988 Indochina trip, 1987-1989
  • Art, Ephemera, Correspondence - Margaret Rigg
  • Spragens' published writing
  • M16/AK-47 Project, contact file, subject file
  • Correspondence, newsletters, family history, disarmament

Preservation Note

Most material is stored offsite; advance notice is required for use.

Acquisition Information

Donor: John Spragens, December 27, 2012

Processing Note

Level of processing varies.

Separated Materials

Two books and several volumes of bound Southeast Asian periodicals spanning the years 1970-1991 transferred to Southeast Asia Section of UW International Studies, October 2019.

Bibliography

https://www.enigmaterial.com

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

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Subject Terms

  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Spragens, John, 1944-2013--Photographs


2013 (Last modified: 7/11/2025)

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