Hello! My name is Adriana Flores and I’m the brand new Archivist & Special Collections Librarian at the University of Puget Sound. I started working at the university in July and I’ve had a busy two months on campus so far! I thought I’d start off the year with a welcome blog post to introduce who I am, where I’ve come from, and why I’m excited to be at Puget Sound!
First, a little about me: I’m a born and raised Washingtonian, having spent most of my life in Sedro-Woolley (about two hours north of Tacoma). I am a Puget Sound alumna; I started my undergraduate degree in 2009 and graduated in 2013. As a student, I was lucky enough to work in the Archives & Special Collections, so I’m already familiar with some of our collections. After college I moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to get my graduate degree in Library and Information Sciences, with a concentration in Archives Management. While in Boston, I got a job at Boston University as the Assistant Archivist for Acquisitions at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. I worked there for two years, but quickly realized I wanted to return to the Pacific Northwest. Luckily for me, the Archives & Special Collections Librarian position at Puget Sound became available and I jumped at the opportunity to return!
As a Puget Sound student, I loved exploring the archival collections to see what treasures were tucked away in the archives. One reason I’m excited to return is that I get to dive back into our collections, enjoy everything our archives have to offer, and share it with the rest of our campus community. One collection in particular that I loved working with as a student was the John M. Canse pamphlet collection. John Canse was a pastor for the United Methodist Episcopal Church in Seattle, Washington, during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909. Canse collected travel and settlement advertisements, maps, and historical documents about the American West from the end of the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.
As someone who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, I love looking at these old advertisements, booklets, and pamphlets that promoted travel to the West Coast. Obviously, I love the Pacific Northwest and it’s interesting to see how it was advertised around the turn of the century. These documents are often vibrant and they showcase some of the natural landscape as well as the technological changes that were happening during the twentieth century. Below are a few of my favorite items from the pamphlet collection.
Images from left: 1.) This undated pamphlet highlights the great city of Tacoma and all it has to offer (with Mount Rainier looming in the distance, of course!). 2.) Being a Skagit County native, I loved seeing this pamphlet that was published by my hometown circa 1912! 3.) I love this image of the I-90 floating bridge. Published in 1940, this vibrant pamphlet emphasizes the structural feat of the floating bridge.
The John M. Canse pamphlet collection is just one example of the fascinating materials we have in the Archives & Special Collections. As the Archivist & Special Collections Librarian, I plan to find new and exciting ways to incorporate these types of materials into classroom settings. I believe our collections hold limitless possibilities, so I’m excited to get to work! Please feel free to drop by our Open Hours (see below) or email me at archives@pugetsound.edu if you have any questions about Archives & Special Collections!
The Archives & Special Collections is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 12:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.
By Adriana Flores