Home economics laboratory, circa 1914.
We hope everyone had a wonderful summer and has settled back into life at Puget Sound! Since many of you are new to campus, we thought we’d take a moment to highlight what the A&SC has to offer. A great place to start exploring our collections is our website. The website highlights both the physical and digital resources available to you in the Archives & Special Collections.
Physical Resources:
Since we do not lend out the items in our collections, you’ll need to visit us to see most of our materials. Don’t worry, we are friendly and we love getting research questions – so don’t hesitate to stop by! If you are interested in a particular subject or item, send us an email at archives@pugetsound.edu to set up a research appointment.
- University Records
We have a wide range of university records that document our campus’ history from its founding in 1888. Visit us to view a complete collection of the Tamanawas yearbooks, student handbooks, alumni magazines, student publications, photograph collection, and historical artifacts.
- Manuscript Collections
The archives also collects materials that focus on a person’s life or organization’s history. Many of our manuscript collections relate to Pacific Northwest history or issues of social justice. To browse some of our manuscript collections, visit Archives West, a website containing our collection inventories.
- Rare Books
We have hundreds of rare and unique books for you to read and research in the Archives & Special Collections. Search Primo, the online library catalog, for any subjects you’re interested in and select the “Collins Memorial Library Archives and Special Collections” filter to narrow your results to items found in the A&SC.
Online Resources:
We have multiple digital resources that make it easy for you to do research from home!
- A Sound Past
A Sound Past is our digital historical photograph collection. Curated by A&SC volunteer John Finney ’67, the images reflect campus life from its founding in 1888 through the 1990s. The photos found in A Sound Past only reflect a portion of what is contained in the archives, but it’s a great place to start!
- The Trail
Interested in reading past Trail articles? Our digitized collection of The Trail is a near-complete run of the student newspaper from 1895 through the present. The Trail is completely text-searchable, making research simpler than ever!
- The Bulletin
Interested in which courses used to be offered at Puget Sound? Curious about what school rules and policies were like in the past? Visit our collection of bulletins online to learn about the academic history of Puget Sound.
- Film archive
Want to catch a glimpse of Puget Sound’s past? Visit the film archive to see unique videos of our campus.
- Puget Sound Ephemera
Ephemera consists of materials that were never meant to last: ticket stubs, programs, invitations, announcements, and other items. Our project to digitize ephemera is ongoing but it is current through the 1960s.
Want to contact the Archives & Special Collections? You can:
- Email us at archives@pugetsound.edu
- Visit us on the second floor of Collins Memorial Library
- Find us on Instagram at @psarchives
The Archives & Special Collections has drop-in hours on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM or is open by appointment.
By Adriana Flores, Archivist & Special Collections Librarian