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News of Special Collections and Archives
Historic Photograph Digitization ProjectDecember 1996 The Idaho Heritage Trust recently gave the University of Idaho Library a grant to help preserve its Historic Photographic Collection. The grant will be used to purchase equipment to digitize photographs, and to enter them into a computer database. The funds provided by Idaho Heritage Trust will be matched by the Library Associates, a "friends" group of the library. The grant from the Idaho Heritage Trust will permit the Historical Photograph Collection at the University of Idaho to digitize and protect over 1250 images during 1997. The project will also include recording the caption data in a database, the first step in updating the current catalog of over 180,000 cards. The database will make the research process easier and more accessible. Future plans involve placing the images on the Internet, allowing the resource to be available in homes and businesses acro ss the state and around the world. Terry Abraham, Head of Special Collections, noted: "with the help of the Idaho Heritage Trust and the Library Associates we will be able to preserve this valuable resource for future generations." Special Collections houses one of the largest and most significant bodies of photographic materials in the state on Idaho and the West. As such, the photographic images are constantly in use by students, faculty, and members of the general public for research on historic topics relating to Idaho's past and pr esent. This high level of use, over 2,000 researchers a year, contributes to the rapid deterioration of the materials. Digitizing the images will allow researchers easier access to the over 150,000 prints and negatives held by Special Collections. The dig ital image can be viewed, displayed, copied, printed, and transmitted without any handling of the original photographic image, preventing damage to the original. The Idaho Heritage Trust was founded in 1989 by members of the Idaho Centennial Foundation to act as a lasting legacy of the Sate of Idaho Centennial Celebration held in 1990. Once the Centennial activities were finished the assets of the Centennial F oundation were transferred to the Idaho Heritage Trust. These assets included the remaining funds, the Centennial automobile license plate design, and service marks associated with the Centennial celebration. Revenues and royalty fees from these assets, along with private moneys help to fund preservation projects around the state. The Department of Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library includes materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition or form are best handled separately from the general collection. Aside from the Histor ic Photograph Collection, they include the Day-Northwest Collection, the Rare Book collection, the Idaho documents collection, the Sir Walter Scott Collection, the Ezra Pound Collection, the Caxton Collection, the Idaho Theses Collection, Personal Papers, and University Archives. The Library Associates were founded in 1963 and their efforts over the years have enriched the University of Idaho Library through gifts of funds, equipment, books, manuscripts, photographs and other documentary materials. For more information about the L ibrary Associates, write to Secretary-Treasurer, Library Associates, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, ID 83844-3125.
+++ Harold L. Ryan Office FilesNovember 1996 Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, is pleased to announce the availability of the office files of Federal Judge and University of Idaho graduate Harold L. Ryan to researchers and scholars. The finding aid, including descriptions of the component parts and folder inventories, is now available on the World-Wide Web at the URL: <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Manuscripts/>. Harold Lyman Ryan was born June 17, 1923 in Weiser, Idaho, to Frank Drayton and Luella Ryan. His father, grandfather and uncle were all attorneys, so it is not surprising he also followed that profession. He graduated from Weiser High School in 1941, and attended the University of Idaho from 1941 to 1943 when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He was at the University of Washington under the V-12 program until the summer of 1944 when he went to midshipmen's school at the University of Notre Dame and graduated with a commission as Ensign in the fall of 1944. Afterward he received further training as a small boat landing craft officer at Fort Pierce, Florida, until the spring of 1945. He was then assigned to the U.S.S. Merrick and served the rest of World War II in the Pacific He returned to the University of Idaho in 1946 and entered the College of Law, graduating in January of 1950. He was admitted to the Idaho State Bar in May 1950 and entered practice in Weiser with his father, Frank D. Ryan, under the firm name of Ryan and Ryan. He served in the Idaho State Senate as Washington County Senator from 1963 to 1966. He had a keen interest in the modernization of the Idaho court system and served as chairman of the Joint Commission of the Idaho Legislature which developed Idaho court reform, completely changing and modernizing the court structure in Idaho, creating a court administration and the Idaho Judicial Council. He was appointed Commissioner of the Idaho State Bar in April of 1967, replacing his deceased partner, Nick G. Speropulos. He served as president of the Bar for the 1968-1969 term. As bar commissioner he lobbied extensively for improvement in state judicial salaries. He was a good friend, and campaign director, of Idaho Senator James A. McClure who played an integral part in his appointment, by President Ronald Reagan, to the federal judiciary in December 1981. He was appointed Chief Judge for the District of Idaho in May 1988, and served until June 1992. As a federal judge in the mid 1980s Ryan ruled in favor of inmate Walter "Bud" Balla and others that conditions in the state prison violated their constitutional rights. He imposed a cap on inmate population which necessitated the construction of a new maximum security facility. In the spring of 1993, shortly after taking semi-retired senior status, he ruled in favor of the state of Idaho in its long running battle with the federal government over storage of nuclear waste at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. As a result the government drastically reduced the amount of low level nuclear waste shipped to Idaho. Judge Ryan continued to work on court papers up to the time of his death from cancer on April 10, 1995. He was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta college fraternity, El Korah Shrine, Weiser Kiwanis Club, Weiser Chamber of Commerce, and Arid Club. He was a charter member of the Idaho Association of Defense Counsel, a member of the Idaho State Bar Association, Third District Bar Association, Idaho Trial Lawyers Association, and American Board of Trial Advocates. Among his honors and awards are the 1986 Award of Legal Merit presented by the University of Idaho College of Law, the University of Idaho Alumni Association 1990 Silver & Gold Award, the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association 1984 James H. Hawley Award, and the Idaho Bar Association 1994 Distinguished Lawyer Award. The office papers of Judge Harold L. Ryan span the years 1981 to 1995. The case files include both civil and criminal cases, and include legal briefs, opinions and other court documents, memos written by law clerks, and manuscript notes concerning cases the judge heard as District Court Judge. Also included are office administrative records. They were processed by Judith Nielsen of the Department of Special Collections and Archives. The Ryan Papers add to the growing body of documentation of Idaho's political leadership. Among the holdings of the University of Idaho Library are records of federal Judge J. Blaine Anderson; governors Bottolfsen, Clark, and Ross; U.S. senators and representatives Borah, French, Pope, Shoup, Heyburn, McClure, Pfost, and Welker; state legislators Lough and Hosack; and University of Idaho regents and faculty Brosnan, Church, Gibbs, Laney, Rolland, and Ailshie, among others. The historical manuscripts at the University of Idaho Library are supplemented by the 16,000 volumes of Idaho and Pacific Northwest history in the Day-Northwest Collection, the Idaho state documents collection of over 10,000 items, over 100,000 images in the Historical Photograph Collection, and other records of mining, lumbering, and insurance companies; banks, hospitals, and orphanages; personal papers of judges, doctors, lawyers, and journalists; and the University Archives. All are located in Special Collections and Archives which is open from Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, except university holidays. Summer hours may vary.
+++ Digital Memories: The Idaho Test OathOctober 1996 Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is "The Idaho Test Oath," the 1888 publication of a legal argument supporting the right of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to hold office in territorial Idaho. Appealed unsuccessfully to the United States Supreme Court, a similar measure was incorporated into the new Idaho State Constitution and not repealed for ninety-two years. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections>. Previous editions, on the Bannock Indian War, Frank B. Robinson and his mail-order religion, the 1921 Idaho Yell Squad, WWII married student housing, and the famous S-curve trestle snowslide, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a comprehensive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 1500 entries from around the world.
Digital Memories: Gone Fishin'August 1996 Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is a photograph by John B. Wilson, Lewiston, Idaho, of two boys barely holding up a recently netted steelhead salmon on the banks of the Snake River near the confluence with the Clearwater. Taken between 1915 and 1920, this large catch is indicative of the fish runs in the early part of the century. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections>. Previous editions, on the Bannock Indian War, Frank B. Robinson and his mail-order religion, the 1921 Idaho Yell Squad, WWII married student housing, and the famous S-curve trestle snowslide, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a comprehensive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 1200 entries from around the world.
Digital Memories: Spalding NotebooksJuly 1996 Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The URL for Special Collections has changed, as well. The most recent addition to the series is a small manuscript book containing bible verses in the Nez Perce language. The books and the verses were the product of missionaries Henry and Eliza Spalding's efforts to convert the Nez Perce to Protestantism beginning in 1839. Spalding imported a printing press and a printer from the Sandwich (now the Hawaiian) Islands. In addition to printing the first books in the Pacific Northwest, the printer bound up small books of blank pages used to write verses in the mission school. The manuscript volumes enhance our knowledge of the first products of the Lapwai press. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections>. Please note that this is a changed address. Previous editions, on the Bannock Indian War, Frank B. Robinson and his mail-order religion, the 1921 Idaho Yell Squad, WWII married student housing, and the famous S-curve trestle snowslide, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a comprehensive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 1000 entries from around the world.
+++ Idaho History Materials Donated to University of Idaho LibraryJune 1996 The University of Idaho Library has received a significant contribution to its collections of primary source materials on Idaho history from the family of an Idaho alumnus and former university administrator. The contribution consists of over nine cubic feet of research notes, correspondence, pamphlets, and books on central Idaho's Florence mining district and the Nez Perce Indians. Researched and collected by the late William A. Olson of Boise, the materials were donated by his family. "Research papers such as these," notes Terry Abraham, Head of Special Collections and Archives, "provide invaluable assistance to students and scholars." William A. Olson graduated from the University of Idaho in 1939 with a degree in business and accounting. After serving as secretary of the Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce, he returned to the University in 1941 to become the school's first full-time Alumni Secretary. In 1942, he was also appointed Acting Dean of Men. Olson left the University for military service during world War II, and in 1946 he began a career as an accountant. He opened his own firm in Boise in 1948, continuing in that capacity until his retirement in 1979. He was former President of the Idaho Society of Certified Public Accountants. He passed away in Boise in 1985. The University of Idaho Library is a significant repository of books, manuscripts, and historical photographs on all aspects of Idaho history, serving both students and researchers. Holdings range from the records of many important political leaders, such as U.S. Senator William E. Borah and Governor C. Ben Ross to the papers of University of Idaho regents, presidents, and faculty members. These holdings are supplemented by the 16,000 volumes of Idaho and Pacific Northwest history in the Day-Northwest Collection, Idaho state documents numbering over 10,000 items, over 100,000 images in the Historical Photograph Collection, corporate and government records, and numerous documents and personal papers of judges, doctors, lawyers and journalists. Special Collections and Archives, locate in the University of Idaho Library, is open from Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, except university holidays. Summer hours may vary.
+++ Digital Memories: Georgie OakesMay, 1966 Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is a photograph of an early steamboat in transition from ore hauling to tourism deep in the woods of northern Idaho. The photograph was selected, and the text written, by photograph intern Stuart Robb. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections>(revised). Previous editions, on the Bannock Indian War, Frank B. Robinson and his mail-order religion, the 1921 Yell Squad, WWII married student housing, and on the famous S-curve trestle snowslide, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a comprehensive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 900 entries from around the world.
+++ James A. McClure Papers Available for ResearchJanuary, 1996 Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, is pleased to announce the availability of large portions of the James A. McClure Papers to researchers and scholars. The finding aid, including descriptions of the component parts and folder inventories, is now available on the World-Wide Web at the URL: <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Manuscripts/>(revised). Senator James A. McClure donated his congressional papers to the university upon his retirement from the U.S. Senate in 1990. This material initially totaled more than 1500 cubic feet (approximately 20 tons), much of it correspondence with Idaho constituents, as well as communications with other political leaders, memoranda, photographs, government documents, and audio and video tape recordings. The arrangement, sorting, and description of the materials began in 1991 under the direction of Manuscripts-Archives Librarian Richard C. Davis. Processors included university students Andrew Arconti, Harriet Essiam, Ken Lahners, Kate Schalck, John Whitmer, and Wilma Woods, with additional effort by Manuscripts Assistant Judy Nielsen. The library acknowledges the financial support of the Provost's Office towards the cost of arrangement and description. James Albertus McClure was born on December 27, 1924, in Payette, Idaho. McClure served in the United States Navy during World War II, earned a law degree from the University of Idaho in 1950, and subsequently returned to Payette where he was elected county prosecuting attorney and Payette city attorney. A conservative Republican, McClure was sent to the Idaho state senate for three terms, 1961-1966, and in the latter year was elected to the United States Congress from the lst District of Idaho (the northern panhandle and the southwestern quarter of the state) being reelected in 1968 and 1970. In 1972, Idaho voters elected McClure to the United States Senate, and reelected him in 1978 and 1984. His service in both House and Senate reflected the public lands and natural resource issues of interest to his constituents, including membership on the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and chairmanship of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, 1981-1987, of which he was thereafter the ranking minority member. He was also the ranking minority member of the Interior Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate Rules Committee, the Senate Republican Steering Committee, and the Helsinki Commission on Human Rights. In 1987 he served on the Senate Select Committee to investigate the Iran-Contra Affair. McClure declined to run for reelection in 1990 and upon his retirement from the Senate he entered a partnership with his former legislative director and executive assistant, forming McClure, Gerard, & Neuenschwander, Inc., a Washington, D.C. lobbying firm. He and his wife, Louise, have returned to Idaho to live. The McClure Papers add to the growing body of documentation of Idaho's political leadership. Among the holdings of the University of Idaho Library are records of governors C.A. Bottolfsen, Barzilla Clark, and C. Ben Ross; U.S. senators and representatives William Edgar Borah, Burton Lee French, James P. Pope, George L. Shoup, W. B. Heyburn, Gracie Pfost, Herman Welker, and Compton White; state legislators Harold Lough and Robert Hosack; and University of Idaho regents, presidents, and faculty C. J. Brosnan, Jesse Buchanan, F. C. Church, Richard Gibb, Rafe Gibbs, Clifford Dale Harrison, Ernest Hartung, F. B. Laney, James MacLean, S. B. Rolland, and Judge J. F. Ailshie, among others. The historical manuscripts at the University of Idaho Library are supplemented by the 16,000 volumes of Idaho and Pacific Northwest history in the Day-Northwest Collection, the Idaho state documents collection of over 10,000 items, over 100,000 images in the Historical Photograph Collection, and other records of mining, lumbering, and insurance companies; banks, hospitals, and orphanages; personal papers of judges, doctors, lawyers, and journalists; and the University Archives. All are located in Special Collections and Archives which is open from Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, except university holidays. Summer hours may vary.
+++ Digital Memories: W.C. HandyJanuary, 1966 Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is a letter from the "Father of the Blues," W. C. Handy, describing his visit to Lewiston, Idaho, as part of Mahara's Minstrels in 1896. Unlike other western towns, Handy reports that the people of Lewiston treated him "fine." The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections> (revised). Previous editions, on the Bannock Indian War, Frank B. Robinson and his mail-order religion, the 1921 Yell Squad, WWII married student housing, and on the famous S-curve trestle snowslide, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a comprehensive geographical guide to other repositories of primary source materials.
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