Collection is open for research.
Donated to the Whitman College and Northwest Archives by Ross Woodbridge in 1979 and 2002. The accession number associated with this donation is retro-0068.
Thomas Ross Woodbridge was born on February 18, 1913. He studied the history of the Whitman Mission. He lived in Rochester, New York, not far from where Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Prentiss Whitman began their journey west. Woodbridge was known for his discovery of two unlabeled sketches that he believed are the only likeness of the Whitmans in life. Woodbridge died on April 26, 2005.
The Ross Woodbridge Papers contain correspondence, personal notes, photographs, and research regarding Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and their life in Walla Walla, Washington. Also included are manuscript drafts of "Are These Not the Whitmans?," a pamphlet by Woodbridge analyzing the alleged Whitman sketches. The contents date from 1856 to 1985.