The Ybarra-Frausto papers document various ethnic studies and Chicano studies proposals at the University of Washington, and include information about similar programs at other universities. A compilation of newspaper clippings and other items documents confrontations between Chicanos and the university for six months prior to the resignations of UW Mexican-American faculty and administrators in May of 1975.

Ybarra-Frausto also collected papers that document the activities of Chicano artists, students, and organizations in Washington State. These materials reflect the mood of the Chicano (Mexican-American) movement of the 1970s. Topics include Northwest Chicano history, Chicano artists, theater and dance groups, literature, student movements, farm workers associations, educational associations, and self-help organizations in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.

Among the collected papers, a large series can be identified as the papers of Raúl Arellano, a professor of anthropology at Shoreline Community College in Seattle. Professor Arellano’s papers include files concerning the Chicano Education Association (CHE), an organization which encouraged increased educational opportunities for and employment of Chicano educators and paraprofessionals; the McNeil Island Mexican-American Self Help group (M.A.S.H.), which emphasized education and improved employment opportunities for incarcerated Mexican-Americans; and the Washington State Commission on Mexican-American Affairs, an advisory committee to the governor.

Other organizations documented in the papers include: Active Mexicanos Economic Development Center (AMEDC), formed in 1970 to establish a service center for social, economic, and educational programs serving the Chicano population of King County, Washington; El Centro de la Raza, established (1972) in an abandoned Beacon Hill school to provide basic social and health services to Chicanos; La Escuelita Chicano, founded in Granger, Washington (with its population of 50% Chicano residents) to provide an environment that would foster a positive self-image and encourage intellectual and spiritual development through language, games and folkdance; and Teatro del Piojo, a theatrical group founded in 1970 and directed at its outset by Ybarra-Frausto. Teatro del Piojo toured the West Coast region with humorous and satirical “actos” portraying the Chicano experience.

At least some of the artist files included in the papers were collected in preparation for an exhibition at the Evergreen State College and the University of Washington entitled Chicano and Latino Artists in the Pacific Northwest.