UW Special Collections

May 31, 2022

Celebrate Pride Month!

Pride Month is celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had…

November 3, 2021

Special Collections Reopening Update

A popular new virtual reading room, why appointments are better for users, new exhibits and more. UW Libraries Special Collections is one of the busiest places in the UW Libraries system. With people seeking access to materials from on campus and off, the Special Collections team has adapted services to meet the demand for virtual…

August 5, 2021

August Update

Last updated 8/9 Services Updates Special Collections and Seattle branch Libraries will open September 29th. Special Collections:  Access will be by appointment only Monday-Friday 1:00 PM – 4:45 PM during fall quarter for both UW affiliates and the public. Special Collections staff are available to answer research questions via ASK US and the online question…

Jacob Lawrence in Seattle: UW Students and Libraries Create New Book

This post was updated September 16, 2022 UPDATE: In July 2022, UW’s Jacob Lawrence in Seattle was selected as Pressbooks’  featured Book of the Month, displayed on the front page of the international Pressbooks Directory !    Learn more about the making of this book in our recorded webinar: Student Authored: UW Open Pedagogy and Publishing…

June 7, 2021

Beyond Scope and Content: Hidden Histories from the Film Archive

Beyond Scope and Content: Hidden Histories from the Film Archive is a new podcast and screening project intended to surface stories from the moving image collections held by the UW Libraries Special Collections. The project seeks to engage faculty and students, historians and film enthusiasts in the compelling visual history of the Pacific Northwest with…

April 29, 2021

Libraries May Update

This blog was updated on 5/14/21 with additional news and events! Want to get this update each month straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our blog>>>>>> Services Update Contactless pick-up hours at Allen North are expanding! Drop by on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10am – 4pm weekly to grab your requests. Research Commons Extended…

February 19, 2021

Priceless, ancient coins find a home at UW Libraries

Ancient coins, federal agents, mysterious circumstances at an international border…what sounds like a scene out of an Indiana Jones movie is a real-life story of lost artifacts that have now found a home with UW Libraries Special Collections. The story begins in 2017 at the US/Canadian border in Blaine, WA.  When a vehicle was refused…

November 5, 2020

Labor Archives of Washington Spotlight: RIDGE Records Showcase Coalition-Building among Labor and Environmental Activists

This fall, I am working at the Labor Archives of Washington (LAW) in Special Collections at the University of Washington Libraries as their archivist-in-residence. Through a paid internship with Northwest Archivists, I have been processing the RIDGE records remotely from my home in Iowa.  The newly-acquired collection documents land use activism in Kittitas County, WA….

October 16, 2020

Labor Archives of Washington Spotlight: Creating Bilingual Access to Collections Documenting the Latinx Experience

This summer, the Labor Archives of Washington (LAW) within the UW Libraries Special Collections, was lucky enough to have Diana Rocha, MLIS student from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, complete their final semester practicum with us. Working remotely, Diana enhanced access to several important collections documenting the histories of the Latinx community in Washington….

August 12, 2020

Special Collections Library Launches New Digital Exhibit on Protest History in Seattle

For the last few months, I have been working on creating a new digital exhibit: We Are All The Conspiracy: The Day After Protest, Seattle 7, and Community Activism in 1970s Seattle, featuring material about the Seattle Liberation Front (SLF), a political group founded on the University of Washington’s campus in January 1970. Seven members…