University of Idaho Historical Photographs
Photographs documenting campus life at the University of Idaho from 1890 to 1980.
Contents: About the Collection | About Special Collections | About Digital Initiatives | Tech
About the Collection
This digital exhibit showcases a variety of photographs from collections held by Special Collections and Archives. These depict scenes from the University of Idaho throughout the years. Included are portraits of past professors and alumni, as well as photos of buildings and events.
The list of source collections are below:
- University of Idaho Campus photographs
- University of Idaho Student Organizations collection
- University of Idaho Portrait collection
- Idaho photograph collection
- University of Idaho Publications Department negatives
- University of Idaho Alumni Association photograph collection
- Photographs of Moscow, Idaho
- University of Idaho photographs
- Hodgins Drug photographs
- Gem of the Mountains Collection
- Photograph album of Theodore Roosevelt’s visit
About Special Collections
Head Librarian, Mary Belle Sweet, first brought up the notion of a ‘special collection’ in September 1933. In a letter she designated part of an old, unused elevator shaft and it was made into a small room with shelves. She saw the need to protect from environmental injury and theft any books that were deemed rare, valuable, unique, or for any reason should be treated with care.
Today, Special Collections and Archives specializes in the acquisition, preservation, and use of research materials that document the cultural and environmental history of Idaho, the University of Idaho, and to a lesser degree that of surrounding states. The collections include personal papers of individuals and families; business archives of lumber, railroad, mining, and other companies; Idaho state publications; papers of government officials, educators, authors, and business people; records of organizations such as religious, fraternal, civic, and environmental associations; and similar groups. The collection formats include personal papers and archives, photographs, books, serials, reports, maps, blueprints, oral history interviews, and related items.
Technical Credits - CollectionBuilder
This digital collection is built with CollectionBuilder, an open source framework for creating digital collection and exhibit websites that is developed by faculty librarians at the University of Idaho Library following the Lib-Static methodology.
Using the CollectionBuilder-CSV template and the static website generator Jekyll, this project creates an engaging interface to explore driven by metadata.