PNLHA Sources Archive
This page contains articles, papers, etc. about labour history and other interesting topics. If you wish to contribute something, please send it by e-mail and we’ll try to include it.
Oregon Labor Oral History Program
Recording in full the personal recollections of sisters and brothers who have ‘been through it, and seen it all’, the Oregon Labor Oral History Program (OLOHP) preserves the collective history of labor unions and work life with a growing collection of over 800 hours of recordings.
Capturing Our Labor History
In the 1980s, former officer of the Oregon AFL-CIO Nellie Fox Edwards began interviewing union friends and colleagues. The tapes ended up at the Oregon Historical Society, becoming part of an oral history collection that aimed to include “Labor” as a subject of major focus.
This vital work of preservation is now being carried forward by participants in the Oregon Labor Oral History Program, in affiliation with the PNLHA.
For more information about sponsoring an oral history or to volunteer for interviewing, research, or transcribing, contact: Carolyn Matthews matthews.carolyn.k@comcast.net or Jim Strassmaier strassj19@gmail.com.
OLOHP interviews are accessible for listening and reading at the Oregon Historical Society.
Listen to Excerpts From the OLOHP Collection
Education Materials
Youth, Unions & You
The BC Federation of Labour and the BC Teachers Federation have created this comprehensive teachers guide to labour studies for BC schools. The guide not only contains contemporary information of use to high school students but also has comprehensive sections on the labour history of BC and Canada.
Primary Source Repositories for Doing Labor History
British Columbia Archives
Located in Victoria, British Columbia, this is the central archives for the B.C. government. The archives’ search form allows keyword searching of indexes, including textual records, photographs, sound recordings, and maps. Other features include numerous online exhibitions, research guides, and full-text documents.
University of British Columbia Library, Special Collections and University Archives Division
Holdings include manuscript material, photographs, and sound recordings, 1889-1080’s. Concentration on British Columbia with an emphasis on the forestry, fishing, and mining industries. Includes the papers of Harold Pritchett and Homer Stevens. Holdings document the Rossland Strike of 1901, British Columbia strikes in support of the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, Operation Solidarity, 1983.
Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
Founded to preserve the records of working people and their unions and to serve as a center for historical research, the Labor Archives contains more than 250 separate collections of labor related materials from individuals and organizations documenting the local, national, and international dimensions of the labor movement in the Pacific Northwest. Free and open to the public.
Memory BC
Memory BC provides a searchable database of the materials available at nearly 200 archival repositories throughout British Columbia.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
The National Archives’ Pacific Alaska Region has its headquarters in Seattle and serves as a Records Center, storing records from Federal agencies and courts in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. A smaller archive is located in Anchorage, Alaska. The website includes an archival holdings guide, online exhibits, and information on events and workshops.
Northwest Digital Archives
NWDA provides enhanced access to archival and manuscript materials in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The database currently contains nearly 5,000 finding aids from twenty-nine separate archives.
Southern Oregon Digital Archives
This digital archive contains three collections—Southern Oregon Historical Collection, Bioregion Collection, and First Nations Collections—containing over 2,200 photographs, documents, maps, and books.
University of Washington, Labor Archives Portal
The University of Washington portal for digital resources associated with the Labor Archives of Washington. A selection of materials from these collections has been digitized and added to the University of Washington’s Digital Collections, to which this portal provides access. This project has made hundreds of primary textual and visual resources relating to Pacific Northwest labor history more accessible to the public. Those wishing to view materials that have not yet been digitized are encouraged to contact the Special Collections Division for further information and assistance.
