Theodore Cassius (Ted) Van Arsdol (1920-2016) was a journalist and freelance writer in Washington state. He worked for the Columbian newspaper, from 1963-1984 and 1991-1994; and was the author and editor of numerous publications, including several books: Battalion from the Mojave: History of the 535th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion; Hanford: The Big Secret; Northwest Bastion: The U.S. Army Barracks at Vancouver, 1849-1916; Desert Boom and Bust: The Story of Irrigation Efforts and Town-building in Benton County, Washington, 1888-1904; and Keeping an Eye on Pasco, 1889-1901. He retired to Vancouver, Washington and died in 2016 at the age of 95.
This collection consists of manuscripts and research materials of writer Ted Van Arsdol.
MS.2005.21: These papers dated from 1973 to 2003 include documents pertaining to American Indian fishing on the Columbia River (correspondence, legal documents, data tables, and newspaper clippings), as well as Van Arsdol's manuscripts for History and Development of the General Telephone Company of the Northwest, Robley Johnson Remembers, and Land of Prunes: The Rise and Fall of the Prune Industry in Clark County, Washington.
MS.2005.24: These papers dated from 1944 to 2004 consist of materials related to the history of Eastern Washington (the Tri-Cities, Yakima, Benton City, Moses Lake, Othello), and World War II. It includes printed ephemera, photographs, maps, newspaper clippings, and articles.
MS.2009.13: This accession contains two typescripts related to Ted Van Arsdol's research on his grandfather, the civil engineer C. C. Van Arsdol (one annotated photocopy and one carbon), with descriptive and financial information about electric utilities (Washington-Idaho Water, Light & Power Company). The carbon consists of pages 13-31 of a larger, unidentified document.
MS.2016.26: This accession includes 12 boxes of material, and forms the bulk of the Van Arsdol Papers. Primarily materials related to his research and writing on topics in Pacific Northwest history: manuscripts, publications, notes, and collected research material. Also several files of C.C. Van Arsdol photographs and correspondence related to surveys for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad, and the Idaho Road and Northern Pacific. Most of the C.C. Van Arsdol material is original documents, but some items are reproductions obtained from archival repositories. (A detailed preliminary inventory for this accession, prepared by the donor, is filed in box 11.)
This is an unprocessed collection. Arrangement reflects a pre-existing order from the records’ creators or previous custodians.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
Preliminary Guide to the Ted Van Arsdol Papers, circa 1880-2010 (MSSM 021)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Ted Van Arsdol donated three installments of these materials to the Washington State University Libraries between 2005 and 2009 (MS.2005.21, MS.2005.24, MS.2009.13). Matt Oftedahl donated the bulk of the collection on behalf of Carole Van Arsdol in 2016, with an additional installment in 2018 (MS.2016.26).
One item, a large panoramic photograph showing an early 20th-century wheat harvest in Walla Walla, WA, was separated from this collection and added to the Historical Photograph Collection (PC 2).
Ted Van Arsdol Papers, 1938-1972
C. C. Van Arsdol Papers, 1887-1961
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.