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Oliver S. Van Olinda photographs and ephemera, 1884-1946

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Van Olinda, O. S. (Oliver Scott), 1868-1954
Title
Oliver S. Van Olinda photographs and ephemera
Dates
1884-1946 (inclusive)
1890-1919 (bulk)
Quantity
1 album: 353 photographic prints, 1 drawing, 5 items (1 box) : some hand-colored ; various sizes
101 photographic prints (1 box) : some cyanotype, some hand-colored ; various sizes
30 lantern slides (1 box) : black and white, some hand-colored ; 11 x 9 centimeters
Collection Number
PH0376
Summary
Photographs and slides of community life in Seattle, Vashon Island and Whidbey Island, Washington, made by Oliver S. Van Olinda between 1884 and 1946
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

Selections from the collection can be viewed on the Libraries Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view original photographs. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Additional Reference Guides

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Oliver Scott Van Olinda, a career newspaperman and early resident of the Pacific Northwest, was born in La Salle County, Illinois, in 1868. In 1884 he traveled with his family in a covered wagon from Bedford, Iowa, to Sidney, Nebraska, where he learned to set type at the Redington Press at age 17. Van Olinda moved from Nebraska to Vashon Island, Washington, in August 1891. His father, Elmer Eugene, sister Mattie, and brother Charles also relocated to Vashon Island. Later another sister, Jessie, was born. Eventually Van Olinda married Vashon resident Ida M. Anderson, with whom he had two children, Myrtle and Andrew Eugene.

Van Olinda and his father ran numerous businesses on the island, including the Island Home newspaper, published from 1895-1897, and the Vashon Island News-Record. His brother Charles served as the first postmaster on Vashon Island, opening the Portage Post Office on May 18, 1903. For three years Oliver S. Van Olinda published another weekly paper, the Stanwood Press, in Stanwood, Snohomish County. Starting about 1900, he also maintained a house on Whidbey Island, where he was the editor of the Island County Times, a Coupeville newspaper. In addition to his newspaper work, Van Olinda managed a commercial wireless station in Olympia for a short while and served for 18 years as historian of the Vashon-Maury Pioneer Society. He was an adept writer whose lively stories of Puget Sound pioneer life for both adults and children included the book History of Vashon-Maury Island, published in 1935.

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Other Descriptive Information

Names appearing in the inventory: Elliston and Chautauqua are names for the current location of Ellisport, the land near Tramp Harbor on the east coast of Vashon Island. The Ram Pasture, believed to have been Oliver S. Van Olinda's first home on the island, was initially a one-room house; it was later renovated into a larger building.

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Content Description

The photographs document life on Vashon Island, Whidbey Island, Seattle, and other communities of Washington State's Puget Sound region from the 1880s into the 1940s. Featured are images of pioneer activities, industries and occupations, recreation, street scenes, and ferries and boat traffic at the turn of the century. Also included are a few photographs of Native American activities such as a potlatch on Whidbey Island. Most of the photographs were taken by Oliver S. Van Olinda.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

Preferred Citation

Oliver S. Van Olinda Photographs and Ephemera. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, Washington.

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in 4 series:

  • Album
  • Prints
  • Lantern slides
  • Variant prints of images in album and box 2

Acquisition Information

Source: Mrs. Howard Shipman, 1977.

Processing Note

Processed by Nicolette Bromberg and Rebekah Dalby, 2002. Revised by Stefanie Terasaki, 2015.

The album cover had deteriorated and was discarded, but the original order of the album pages has been retained.

These photographs were relocated in 1993 from the Oliver S. Van Olinda Papers (Manuscript Collection 4353), which are also located in the Special Collections division, University of Washington Libraries.

Bibliography

Van Olinda, O. S. (Oliver Scott), 1868-1954, History of Vashon-Maury Islands. Vashon, Washington: Vashon Island News-Record, 1935.

Van Olinda, O. S. (Oliver Scott), 1868-1954, The Island Home. Vashon, Washington: Van Olinda & Son, [1892] .

Van Olinda, O. S. (Oliver Scott), 1868-1954, Nothin Much: A Composite Picture of Life in the Northwest. Vashon, Washington: 1936.

Van Olinda, O. S. (Oliver Scott), 1868-1954, ed., Surf. Coupeville, Washington: Surf Pub. Co., 1901.

Carey, Roland, Van Olinda's History of Vashon-Maury Island. Seattle, Washington: Alderbrook Publishing Co., 1985.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

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Subject Terms

  • Automobiles--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Buildings--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Canoes and canoeing--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Dwellings--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Frontier and pioneer life--Washington (State)zPuget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Indians of North America--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Recreation--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Salishan Indians--Boats--Photographs
  • Skagit Indians--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Steamboats--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Streets--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Transportation--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Region--Photographs
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Van Olinda, O. S. (Oliver Scott), 1868-1954--Photographs

Family Names

  • Van Olinda family--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • Coupeville (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Puget Sound Region (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Seattle (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Vashon Island (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Whidbey Island (Wash.)--Photographs


2006 (Last modified: 9/23/2022)

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