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Howard E. Buswell papers and photographs, 1822-1965

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Buswell, Howard,--1894-1965.
Title
Howard E. Buswell papers and photographs
Dates
1822-1965 (inclusive)
Quantity
35 linear ft.
Collection Number
XOE_CPNWS0017buswell
Summary
The collection consists of primary source material collected by self-trained historian Howard E. Buswell during his lifetime. The items included in the collection cover nearly all aspects of social and economic life of the lower Nooksack Valley and North Puget Sound areas in Washington State from the time of the first contact between white settlers and Native Americans to the early decades of the twentieth century. Buswell was also interested in the Lummi Indian culture and the collection contains a good deal of source material related to the history of this tribe.
Repository
Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Archives Building
808 25th St.
Bellingham, WA
98225
Telephone: (360) 650-7534
cpnws@wwu.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public (with exception of files marked in the inventory as restricted pending review).

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding the finding aid was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

Howard E. Buswell was born on April 22, 1895, on his family's farm near Ferndale, Washington. In 1906, the Buswell family moved to land near Marietta, Washington on Bellingham Bay. There, except for a short period during and right after World War I, Howard Buswell lived out the remainder of his life.

Buswell's early education was acquired at various elementary and high schools in Ferndale, Marietta, and Bellingham, Washington. During World War I he served in the United States Navy, and on discharge he continued for a short time at sea in the merchant navy. He then worked briefly in the insurance industry with the Metropolitan Life Company.

Two years at the State College of Washington, now Washington State University, in the early 1920s were followed by a year at the Bellingham Normal School, now Western Washington University. After obtaining his teaching certificate at the Normal School, he began teaching elementary school in Cosmopolis, Washington in Grays Harbor County. Poor health, however, cut short his career in education and he was forced to retire.

For the remaining forty or so years of his life, he lived on the family farm, raising chickens and processing cider in association with his brother, Ray. It was during these years that he began his research into local history, undertaking many "projects", as he called them. These "projects" took him to libraries, museums, and court houses across the country, and led to the voluminous correspondence with archivists and librarians in many of the major repositories in the United States and several in Canada as well. He intended to write a local history book on Marietta and the nearby Lummi Reservation, however, he was still gathering materials at the time of his death in 1965 and his book was never completed.

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Content Description

The Buswell papers and photographs consists of primary source material collected by self-trained historian Howard Buswell during his lifetime. Researchers must pay particular attention to the fact that in his collecting efforts and in his writings Buswell provides an interpretation of history that reflects his own biases and the time period in which he lived. The items included in the collection cover nearly all aspects of social and economic life of the lower Nooksack Valley and North Puget Sound areas in Washington State from the time of the first contact between white settlers and Native Americans to the early decades of the twentieth century. He was also interested in the Lummi culture and the collection contains a good deal of source material related to the history of this tribe.

The collection consists of thirty boxes of material including correspondence, duplicates of primary source material, indexes and lists, business records, transcripts of interviews, copies of legal documents, scrapbooks and newspaper clipping. The collection also includes 16 boxes of photographs, 10 boxes of microfilm, over 2000 maps, and 3 boxes of reel to reel audio tapes of oral history interviews.

The correspondence begins in 1938 and ends in 1965 with the main purpose of assembling materials and other evidence on pioneer settlement in the Marietta/Lummi area. The bulk of the letters, however, relate to historical materials held in various archives and other repositories or else are inquiries to the latter about such materials. The correspondence is arranged in chronological order with the original letter attached to the reply. The indexes and lists are, for the most part, lists and indexes of various materials Howard Buswell collected. It should be noted though that the present organization of the Buswell papers and photographs is often radically different from the arrangement suggested by the indexes. The Bernard N. McDonough business records include miscellaneous private and business letters, receipts and bills, various legal documents, and a number of account books kept in McDonough's Marietta store. The legal documents and papers have been arranged in part according to subject, in part according to type, and in part according to the court of origin. They are composed of a variety of legal records ranging from business records to transcripts of select court cases.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Howard E. Buswell papers and photographs, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is organized in accordance with the following series arrangement:

  • Series I: Correspondence, 1938-1965
  • Series II: Original Writings, Undated
  • Series III: Biographical Materials, Undated
  • Series IV: Interviews, Undated
  • Series V: Indian Materials, 1867-1964
  • Series VI: Indexes and Lists, Undated
  • Series VII: Whatcom County Historical Materials, 1858-1957
  • Series VIII: Pacific Northwest Historical Materials, 1946-1959
  • Series IX: The Bernard N. McDonough Business Records, 1874-1913
  • Series X: Legal Documents and Papers, 1822-1925
  • Series XI: Scrapbooks, 1941-1965
  • Series XII: Newspaper Clippings, 1891-1975
  • Series XIII: Microfilm, 1865-1946
  • Series XIV: Audio Collection, 1956-1964
  • Series XV: Map Collection, Undated
  • Series XVI: Photograph Collection, Undated

Acquisition Information

Ray Buswell donated the records of his brother, Howard Buswell, to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in 1975.

Processing Note

The Howard Buswell papers and photographs were originally processed by CPNWS staff, and re-engineered by Jason Viers in January 2004. In 1999, as part of a joint project between the Lummi Indian Nation and the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Stacy Rasmus of the Lummi Language and Cultural Department described and duplicated the collection's audio materials.

Processing Note

This collection contains content about Northwest Indigenous peoples that may be culturally sensitive or harmful, as well as language/terms that are offensive. Archives & Special Collections acknowledges the potential harm that comes from engaging with these resources for the communities of origin and the need for ongoing review of this content. Archives & Special Collections invites Tribal/First Nation communities to offer guidance regarding restriction or removal of sensitive materials from physical or online collections and/or agreements for limiting access or use, and any special care and handling. Researchers are also encouraged to consult with communities of origin regarding appropriate use of culturally sensitive content from this collection. See the following Statement About Potentially Harmful Language and Content for more information about providing feedback or to request dialogue.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Jason Viers
2004

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

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