Victor Steinbrueck papers, 1931-2021

Scope and Content: Includes campaign materials, correspondence, notes and minutes, transcripts of hearings, daybooks, ephemera, photographs and sketches, plus film and tape recordings.

The bulk of material documents Steinbrueck's efforts to save the Pike Place Market from destruction by urban renewal. The first two series, Campaign to Save The Pike Place Market and Friends of The Market, both document the effort to save the Market. All material that was labeled "Friends of the Market" is in that series; all other Market material is in the Campaign series. The correspondents, dates and subject matter of the two series is the same, so the researcher should use them together.

Other series include the Seattle Pioneer Square Historic District Preservation Board which documents, generally, Steinbrueck's interest in Pioneer Square. There is no evidence that Steinbrueck was a member of the Commission. Included in this series is a survey of all the buildings in the Pioneer Square district. Other series contain records of other preservationist groups to which Steinbrueck belonged. The Personal Papers series is the remainder of the papers that did not belong in any series.

The notes and minutes regarding Seattle City Council are detailed notes and exact quotations taken by Steinbrueck during Council meetings. Transcripts of hearings are also from Seattle City Council. The daybooks, in spiral shorthand pads, are diaries of phone calls, appointments, ideas, quotes, etc. The package contains hand-decorated and signed shopping bags from the "Save the Market" campaign. One item of special interest not related to the Market campaign is the Pioneer Square Historic District Study, 1969. It documents the Pioneer Square area building by building. Special Collections does not have maps, but does have the related photographs. Films show the market and various people speaking about it; tapes include Market material and a series of lectures by Steinbrueck on Seattle architectural styles.

Scope and Content: Contains biographical information, correspondence, financial records, sales and royalties, writings, drawings, photographs, awards and honors, clippings, publications, subject files.

This material was in Victor Steinbrueck's home at the time of his death and documents varied projects but especially later ones, including Westlake Mall. The Pike Place Market campaign is represented, as is Victor Steinbrueck's book about it, Market Sketchbook, as well as his book Seattle Cityscape.

Most material concerning the Pike Place Market is in the Friends of the Market series, but material concerning his Market Sketchbook, which was used as a fund raiser for Friends of the Market, is in the Personal Papers series. Pike Place Park files are also in Personal Papers. Most material concerning the Westlake Mall project is in the Committee for Alternatives at Westlake series. Other series document Steinbrueck's activities as a board member of the Pike Place Market Historical Commission, and the City's Landmarks Preservation Board. He also had an informal connection with the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority.

Included in the Committee for Alternatives at Westlake and Friends of the Market series are copies of correspondence of elected and city officials which were collected by Steinbrueck. This correspondence is treated as a series separate from Steinbrueck's own correspondence.

The Personal Papers series contains Steinbrueck's studies of Pioneer Square buildings. Steinbrueck's design studies helped put a number of buildings on the National Register of Historic Sites. The drawings in the Committee for Alternatives at Westlake series include Steinbrueck's rough sketches as well as copies of other designs for Westlake.