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Digital Collections, Exhibits & Podcasts

Digitized materials such as photographs, maps, newspapers, posters, reports and other media selected from Special Collections’ holdings.

Digital Collections

Online Exhibits

Pacific Northwest

University of Washington

Collection Centered

Podcasts

Queer Air

  • This podcast takes a dive into the University of Washington’s archives and discusses a variety of queer content and issues. Queer Air (seasons 1 and 2) is a capstone project for our Library and Information Sciences Masters Program at the University of Washington.

Beyond Scope and Content

  • A podcast series which tells the hidden stories of women filmmakers in the Film Archive.

Long Shadows of Seattle

  • This podcast explores the stories of important people that made an impact on Seattle’s history of racial justice and political activism. Using collections from the University of Washington Libraries’ Special Collections, host Stellan Harris will guide you through the lives of some of Seattle’s hidden figures.

We Do the Work “Learn Yourself” Segment

  • The “Learn Yourself” segment on the “We Do the Work” radio program provides guidance on using primary and secondary sources in research. The goal is to inspire listeners to explore topics on their own, utilizing resources from the UW Special Collections, the Labor Archives of Washington, and related repositories. The segment features researchers who have utilized these collections, event participants, and community members involved in the discussions. By highlighting the voices of historically marginalized communities, this approach is part of a collaborative outreach strategy.

Oral History Projects

SeaTac-Seattle Minimum Wage History Project

  • This digital archive comprises documents and interviews, including audio and video interviews with supporters and opponents involved in the struggles over a $15 minimum wage at SeaTac and in Seattle, as well as the broader national impact and ongoing efforts.

International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Pacific Coast Pensioners Association Oral History Project

  • The Pacific Coast Pensioners Association Oral History Committee (PCPA) has been collecting oral history interviews with PCPA members, officers, and convention visitors since 2013. Oral historian Harvey Schwartz, historian Ron Magden, and labor archivist and oral history project manager Conor Casey conducted interviews at the PCPA annual conventions.

The Working in the Time of COVID-19 Oral History Project

  • A collaborative effort to document the impact of the pandemic on workers. This project, conducted between 2020-2021, comprises three main components: Working in the Time of COVID-19 Oral History Project Led by: Labor Archives of Washington Seattle COVID-19 Oral History Project Led by: University of Washington history student, Wendi Zhou Musical Work in the Time of COVID-19 Led by: UW Music faculty member, Mark Rodgers The Labor Archives provided training on oral history interview techniques and supported project and file management for the other projects. Project Collaboration This collaborative project involved: LAW Staff UW Faculty Students and Student Workers Community Stakeholders Component project leaders developed shared questions in consultation with each other and with community stakeholders, coordinated outreach efforts, and selected narrators. They worked with labor community members to develop core questions for all narrators and industry or community-specific questions for different groups.

The Seattle Labor Chorus Oral History Project

  • Initiated and led by chorus member Cindy Cole from 2015 to 2017, was created in collaboration with the Labor Archives of Washington, part of the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. This project involves interviewing and audio recording members of the Seattle Labor Chorus to capture their personal stories. The goal is to document the lives of these chorus members, focusing on their social activism, passion for music and labor, and their journey to joining the Labor Chorus. The interviews form part of the Labor Archives of Washington.

The Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA) Oral History Project

  • A collaboration between PSARA and the Labor Archives of Washington, a part of the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. Spearheaded by PSARA activists Angela Bartels and Karen Richter, this initiative conducted a series of interviews between 2018 and 2019. The project features engaging conversations with PSARA members and retirees who have dedicated decades to activism within their unions, community organizations, or faith groups. This portion of the oral histories form part of the Labor Achives of Washington, while another portion on the PSARA website comprise the bulk of the project. The Labor Archives is backing up these as part of an web archives for longterm digital preservation.