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Federal Writers' Project records, 1937-1941

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Writers' Program (Wash.)
Title
Federal Writers' Project records
Dates
1937-1941 (inclusive)
Quantity
4.00 cubic feet (4 boxes)
Collection Number
4227 (Accession No. 4227-001)
Summary
Records of an agency which employed local writers to research various aspects of state history and contemporary life.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users.

Request at UW

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Agency of Federal Writers' Project, later named Writers' Program. The Federal Writers' Project in Washington State was an agency funded by the Works Progress Administration, one of many nationwide programs which employed local writers to research various aspects of state history and contemporary life. Initially, the project was funded and supervised by the state office of the WPA, but this sponsorship terminated August 31, 1939 because the field work and research was completed. The Washington State Planning council was persuaded to sponsor the project through the completion of the Guide and the project became known as the "Washington Writers' Project." The Planning Council withdrew its sponsorship January 31, 1940 and the Federal Writers' Project closed its offices in Washington State in February 1941 with the Guide unpublished and without sponsorship. In February 1941, the Washington State Historical Society agreed to sponsor the completion and publication of the Guide. Only a small portion of the material amassed by the project was published. The rest was moved to the WPA Zone Office in Ballard March 7, 1940. Presumably, those papers comprise this accession, which seems to have been received in September 1954.

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Content Description

Typescripts of pioneer interviews with a focus on women in Washington state development, county histories including cities, towns, villages, rivers and streams in Washington State, folklore, correspondence.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Public Records (use unrestricted when access is granted)

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The original arrangement of the records was retained with minor changes. The files were kept in order by county, but the larger folders were refined further in order to bring out common topics such as "Women in State Development" and "Pioneer Tales." Most of the data was based on newspapers, histories and other published materials. Sources of manuscripts are not documented, but others clearly contain original material.

Related Materials

The Washington State Historical Society has additional records of the Federal Writers Project which presumably include the Guide manuscripts. A related accession is U.S. Works Progress Administration from which these records were separated and which may include administrative records of the Federal Writers Project.

Acquisition Information

Gift of WPA, 9/1/1954.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

  • Description: Adams County
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Asotin County
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Benton County

    Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Chelan County

    Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Assignment SA-1-37 Geography, Agriculture; Assignment SA-2-37 Minerals; The Rock Island Dam

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Clallam County

    Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Rivers and Streams

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Clark County

    "Its People" (including Pioneer Interviews); Women in State Development; Place Names

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Columbia County
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Cowlitz County

    "History of Cowlitz County" by Ruth Huntington; Pioneer History (including interviews); Folklore; Industry; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Forest, Rivers, and Streams

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Douglas County
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Ferry County (includes some Stevens County)
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Franklin County

    History; Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Garfield County

    Pioneer Interviews

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Grant County

    Pioneer Interviews

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Grays Harbor County

    History; Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Folklore, Legends, Writings; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Aberdeen and Hoquiam

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Island County

    Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Jefferson County

    Women in State Development; Folklore; Place Names - Creeks

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: King County

    The Bagley Collection

    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Kitsap County

    Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Bainbridge Island; Bremerton

    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Kittitas County

    Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages

    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Klickitat County

    Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Rivers and Streams

    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Lewis County

    History; History - Newspapers, Resources, Schools; Pioneer Interviews and Diaries; Women in State Development; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Chehalis; Centralia

    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Lincoln County
    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Mason County

    Pioneers; Women in State Development; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Rivers and Streams; Lakes, Rivers, and Mountains

    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Okanogan County

    History; "Pioneer Tales"; Women in State Development; Folklore; Cities, Towns, and Villages

    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Pacific County

    Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages

    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Pend Oreille County
    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Pierce County

    History; History by Robert Pearsell; "Historic Fort Nisqually"; "History of Fort Nisqually" by Carl Dupuis; Pioneer Women; Women in State Development; Folktales; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Rivers, Streams, and Lakes; Tours; Mount Rainier National Park; Tacoma - General Description; "Tacoma" by Robert Pearsell; Tacoma - History, Women in State Development, Folklore and Customs, Points of Interest, Tours, Churches and Schools, Industry and Labor, Transportation, Sports and Recreation, Miscellaneous

    Container: Box 2-3
  • Description: San Juan County

    Women in State Development

    Container: Box 3
  • Description: Skagit County

    Women in State Development

    Container: Box 3
  • Description: Skamania County

    Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Folklore; Bonneville Dam; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Rivers, Lakes, and Streams

    Container: Box 3
  • Description: Snohomish County

    History; Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Folklore; Place Names; Cities, Towns, and Villages - Arlington and Darrington; Edmonds; Everett - General Description, History, "History of the County Seat" by Edward Friberg, Folklore, "Report on WPA Program 1938-1939" including photographs

    Container: Box 3
  • Description: Spokane County

    History; Indians; Pioneers; Newspapers; Churches and Schools; "Geography of District"; Coulee Dam; Cities, Towns, and Villages A-H; Cities, Towns, and Villages I-V; Spokane - General Description, History, Pioneers, Pioneer Interviews, Points of Interest, Tours, Culture, Recreation, Education

    Container: Box 3-4
  • Description: Stevens County

    History by W. Parks Wanans. (1904)

    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Thurston County

    History; Pioneers

    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Wahkiakum County
    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Walla Walla County

    Cities, Towns, and Villages; Women in State Development; Walla Walla

    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Whatcom County

    Bellingham

    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Whitman County

    Pullman

    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Yakima County
    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Washington State Educators - Biographies
    Dates: undated
    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Statewide Writers Project general correspondence
    Dates: 1939 August-1941
    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Statewide Writers Project proposal and contract
    Dates: 1939 August-1940 March
    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Statewide Writers Project reports
    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Statewide Writers Project purchase orders
    Dates: 1939 October-1940 May
    Container: Box 4
  • Description: Statewide Writers Project inventory of property
    Dates: 1939 August-1940 May
    Container: Box 4


2007 (Last modified: 5/4/2020)

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