The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies seeks to foster greater understanding of the region's past and present through archival collections which document significant developments in the region stretching from Alaska to Northern California, and from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, with a particular focus on northwest Washington, the Olympic Peninsula, British Columbia, and Alaska. Holdings of the CPNWS are discoverable in OneSearch as well as the Archives West website (which also provides access to descriptions of primary sources in other repositories located throughout the western United States).
Western Libraries Special Collections is committed to providing access to cultural heritage materials that support original research, active learning, and public dialogue around issues and ideas that have shaped our world. Holdings related to the Northwest may be found in the following collections:
The Map Collection houses a wide variety of resources including topographic maps of the western United States and Canada, nautical and aeronautical charts, globes, and gazetteers. It also has many other types of maps (physical, political, geological, climatic, road, etc.) from all over the world.
MABEL is a central repository for the discovery, sharing, and preservation of Western's digital assets, including content related to the history and culture of the Pacific Northwest.
The Whatcom Museum, located in downtown Bellingham, hold close to 30,000 objects of art, history, and ethnography in its collection and more than 200,000 images and related ephemera in its photo archives.
The Whatcom County Historical Society fosters interest in the past by holding scholarly meetings, publishing historical material, marking historic buildings and other sites, and developing interpretive exhibits.
