Donald Max Beard (he only ever went by his middle name) was born in Fruita, CO, on Oct. 2, 1911, and was raised in Colorado and Montana. After working in a CCC camp at Glacier National Park in 1933, he was hired as a photographer at the park in 1934 and then enrolled at Washington State College (later Washington State University) in Fall 1935. While at WSC, he also worked as a photographer on campus and graduated in 1940 with a general B.S. degree. He became a Navy photographer in 1942 and remained in photography with the Navy until his 1971 retirement. Beard passed away on Dec. 20, 2001.
The collection consists of a single 84 page 11” x 15” scrapbook containing approximately 140 professional quality photographs covering the State College of Washington from 1935-1940, taken by D. Max Beard. Most of the photographs are undated and undescribed. The majority of the campus photographs are 8” x 10” and high quality.
The scrapbook is almost a working document of the type of photography that he did. Images depict: both interiors and exteriors of campus buildings, displays, theater stages, research (both photographs and charts) done by others for professional publications, vouchers and checks for the Hoard Engineering Co., a diploma and a certificate of citizenship, a page from the Elkanah Walker collection, campus construction, local farming, art , sculpture, a dance, athletics, the first Walkathon, classes, Dad’s Weekend, a test page for paper for printing photos for use in Masters theses, and a few signed portraits. Two of the images are obviously not WSC (one mountain, one coast).
Some information on Beard’s time at WSC, should it help in identifying photos: While at WSC, Beard initially lived in the Elmhurst apartments, apparently sharing a room with his brother Bill there for two years. He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, but as he married on Aug 26, 1937, he never lived there. He was initially majoring in Architectural Engineering but would end up finishing with a general B.S. degree.
A few pages of family-written history came with the scrapbook and are retained with it, though there are a few errors in those.
The scrapbook is retained in its original order and format.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
D. Max Beard Scrapbook of Washington State College, 1935-1940 (PC 201)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Beverly J. Weidmann of Waynesboro, PA donated this scrapbook to the Washington State University Libraries on Sept. 27, 2025. It was processed without an accession number. Weidmann is the daughter of Max Beard, and the scrapbook has been in the family’s possession for her whole life.
University Archivist Mark O’English processed this collection in 2025 December.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.