Describing Archives: A Content Standard

NTE2ua403.xml Guide to the WSU Press Records 1948-1992 WSU Press Records Finding aid prepared by Stephanie Mahar Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections © 2022 Finding aid encoded by Suzanne James-Bacon. 2022 Finding aid written in English. English. Finding aid based on DACS 2nd Edition ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard). Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections Archives 403 Washington State University. Press WSU Press Records 1948-1992 2.25 Linear feet of shelf space 5 Boxes Records of the WSU (Washington State University) Press from 1948 to 1992. The collection contains administrative records, correspondence, and publishing proposals and evaluations. Collection materials are in English, with limited correspondence in Chinese, French, German, and Russian

Originally created in the late 1920s by Washington State University (WSU) President Ernest O. Holland, the WSU Press began as a committee focused on scholarly publishing. In April 1929, the Press distributed its first scholarly journal, Research Studies. This journal became WSU’s primary academic publishing outlet until the mid-1940s. Another scholarly journal was added to WSU Press in 1947, Northwest Science, which originated with the Northwest Scientific Association and had already been established for 20 years prior. Northwest Science is still an active journal with the Press as of 2022.

An influential figure in the history of the Press was University Editor Henry Grosshans, who made sweeping changes starting in the 1950s and remained a dynamic force in the Press until his retirement in 1982. Grosshans helped establish journals such as Poe Studies and ESQ: A Journal of the American Renaissance. He also published the works of authors such as Robert Nilan, Arthur Stabler, and John Cutts.

The Press collaborated with the WSU Museum of Art to publish exhibit catalogs including "Gaylen Hansen: The Paintings of a Decade, 1975-1985". In 1990, WSU Press published the three-volume Centennial Histories as part of WSU’s 100th anniversary celebration. The three books include "Going to Washington State: A Century of Student Life" by William Stimson, "The Crimson and the Gray: 100 Years with the WSU Cougars" by Richard Fry, and "Creating the People’s University: Washington State University, 1890-1990" by George Frykman.

The WSU Press records consist of administrative records such as budgets and minutes, correspondence between the Press and authors, publishing proposals and evaluations from reviewers, and chapter drafts and reviewer edits for George Frykman’s Washington State University Centennial Histories book "Creating the People’s University". These records span from 1948 to 1992. This collection also includes two undated music printing plates of Washington, My Washington and The Fight Song.

This collection is arranged in four series. The first three subject-based series are arranged alphabetically, with folders arranged alphabetically by subject within that series. The fourth series consists of the two music printing plates.

This collection is open and available for research use.

[Item description]

WSU Press Records, 1948-1992 (Archives 403)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

WSU Press Editor-in-Chief Fred Bohm donated most of this collection to the Washington State University Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections in November 1990. These records spanned from 1948 to 1990 and were retained as UA1990-33. Leslie Little of WSU Press donated one envelope of correspondence dating from 1985 to 1992. Half of that envelope was retained and the rest was returned; the remainder was retained as UA2013-08.

Ph.D. student Stephanie Mahar processed this collection, combining both UA1990-33 and UA2013-18, in August of 2022.

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.

Washington State University. Press -- Records and correspondence Publishers and publishing -- Washington (State) -- Records and correspondence Publishers and publishing Washington (State) Series 1: Administration, 1962-1992 1 1 Book sales and accounts 1985-1990 1 2 Financial support, budgets, and statements for journals. I 1982-1987 1 3 Financial support, budgets, and statements for journals. II 1982-1987 1 4 Hand Associates publishing contract and correspondence 1988 1 5 Meeting minutes 1987-1989 1 6 Meeting minutes 1990 1 7 Photographs and negatives of publishing events and authors 1987-1988 1 8 Publication checklists and pagination outlines 1987-1988 2 9 Status reports and goals 1986-1990 Series 2: Correspondence, 1960-1992 2 10 Administration 1969-1989 2 11 Administration 1990-1992 2 12 Association for Tropical Biology 1970-1983 2 13 Barley Genetics II. Nilan, Robert 1962-1984 2 14 Book proposals 1983-1988 2 15 Chinese-English Translation Assistance Group (CETA) 1980-1984 2 16 Genus Tilletia. Duran, Ruben. Fischer, George 1960-1965 2 17 International Conference on Projective Planes 1973-1984 2 18 Journals 1982-1988 2 19 Latin America 1968-1976 2 20 Lowenfels, Walter 1969-1984 2 21 McCord, Howard 1965-1970 2 22 McElroy, Davis Dunbar 1969-1984 2 23 Permissions for publication and reprinting 1965-1974 3 24 Picard, Raymond 1968-1984 3 25 Rich and Strange. Cutts, John 1968-1982 3 26 Sheldon, Charles 1978-1984 3 27 Stabler, Arthur 1971-1988 3 28 Thompson, Richard 1973-1987 3 29 Valko, Laszlo 1964-1968 3 30 Walker, Deward 1966-1982 3 31 Washington Centennial Commission 1985-1989 Series 3: Publications, 1948-1990 3 32 Creating the People's University. Frykman, George. Chapter drafts and edits. I 1989 3 33 Creating the People's University. Frykman, George. Chapter drafts and edits. II 1989 3 34 Creating the People's University. Frykman, George. Chapter drafts and edits. III 1989 4 35 Creating the People's University. Frykman, George. Chapter drafts and edits. IV 1989 4 36 Daugherty project 1983-1984 4 37 Gaylen Hansen biographical details and brochure 1981-1985 4 38 Journal brochures and general information 1984 4 39 Julia Stephen stories publication correspondence 1983-1984 4 40 Kaiser's agricultural history of the Palouse 1986 4 41 Northwest Science journal budget and correspondence 1948-1982 4 42 Palouse Country : An Essay in Photographs. Bedirian, George. Correspondence and critique 1983-1986 4 43 Pictorial history of Washington State. Proposals and outlines 1987-1989 4 44 Publishing proposals and evaluations 1985-1990 4 45 Start the Presses. Cloud, Barbara. Correspondence and draft 1987 Series 4: Music Printing Plates 5 46 The Fight Song Undated 5 47 Washington, My Washington Undated