Women's History Consortium Collections

Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture

Collections

• May Arkwright Hutton Collection
• Women's Collection

Additional Materials

The NWMAC online collection catalog provides access to a portion of the museum's vast collections. View additional materials on women's history by typing 'women' in the search box.

Finding Aids

• American Association of University Women, Spokane Branch Records (Ms 184), 1909-1995
  The Spokane branch of the AAUW was founded in 1909 as a branch of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae and was incorporated in the AAUW in 1921. The group focused on advancing women's status through education, philanthropy, and civic engagement. The collection includes minutes, treasurer's reports, annual branch reports, yearly directories, bulletins, and scrapbooks containing primarily newspaper clippings. It also includes general correspondence from the 1970s and project files pertaining to the group's diverse projects and activities.
• Mary W. Avery Research Files
  Historian and archivist, of Washington. Research files in regional and local history, including correspondence, clippings, copies of secondary sources, pamphlets, ephemeral items, ms. drafts for Avery's book Washington: The Evergreen State (1965), book reviews, bibliographical material, copies of her articles, typescripts of history lectures delivered by her at Washington State University, where she was archivist, and maps, photos, and graphic materials gathered for inclusion in her publications.
• Ballou Family Papers (Ms 81), 1871-1934
  Born March 27, 1862 in Illinois, Miss Myra Ballou never married. Apparently she remained at the family farm near Milton, Oregon with her parents. This collection consists primarily of letters written to Myra Ballou from members of her large and extended family, and letters written by Myra Ballou to family members and friends.
• Eleanor B. Day Boyce Papers
  Diaries (1901, 1907-1950) chiefly recording personal income, but containing occasional brief personal entries; and correspondence mainly with her brothers, Harry L. and Jerome Day, regarding mining and other financial matters.
• Chase Family Papers (Ms 159), 1871-1995
  African American family of Spokane, Wash. James E. Chase (1914-1987) was a civic activist, leader in the African American community, businessman, and Mayor of Spokane (1982-1985). His wife Eleanor (b. 1918) was equally involved in the community as a social worker, trustee for both Whitworth College and Eastern Washington University, civic activist, and talented vocalist. Includes newspapers and clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence, and other memorabilia from their respective involvement. Also includes Eleanor Chase's family photographs and history, plus records of the Pierian Literary Club.
• Clifford M. Drury Papers
  Correspondence, diaries, journals, records, research notes, clippings, photos, mss. of writings, and other papers, relating to Drury's research on Congregational and Presbyterian missions established by the Oregon Mission of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to work with Pacific Northwest Indians, including Cayuse, Nez Percé, and Spokane Indians, and concerning the following missionaries: Marcus Whitman, Narcissa (Prentiss) Whitman, Henry Harmon Spalding, Eliza (Hart) Spalding, Elkanah Walker, Mary (Richardson) Walker, Cushing Eells, Myra (Fairbanks) Eells, Asa Bowen Smith, Sarah Gilbert (White) Smith, William Henry Gray, Mary Augusta (Dix) Gray, Henry Thomas Cowley, and Lucy Abigail (Peet) Cowley; and personal correspondence (1938-1983). Subjects include the Whitman Massacre (1847) and Whitman Mission National Historic Site. Bulk of material relates to research for Drury's First White Women over the Rockies: Diaries, Letters of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission, 1836 and 1838 (published 1963, 1966).
• Greenacres Woman's Club Records (MsSC 428), 1920-1941
  Greenacres Woman’s Club was founded in 1920 by Spokane school teacher, Emily Hard, for women of the Greenacres community interested in a means for social gathering and civic improvement. The collection includes club records, minutes, constitution and by-laws, and general correspondence from 1920-1941.
• Marion E. Hay Papers
  Businessman, lieutenant governor, and governor of Washington State; d. 1933. Collection includes personal and business correspondence during his term as governor, and private business papers.
• Reba J. Hurn Diaries
  Diaries relating to Hurn's daily activities, her teaching career in Spokane, studies at University of Heidelberg, and work with Nathan Straus, New York City philanthropist, in milk depots he established for the distribution of pasteurized milk for prevention of disease among babies and children in 1908.
• May Arkwright Hutton Papers
  Boardinghouse operator in Coeur d'Alene mining district, Idaho; author; suffragette; and resident of Spokane, Washington. Personal letters relating to suffrage activities, social and political events in Spokane, and family matters; manuscripts for speeches on equal rights; photograph; and scrapbooks.
• Agnes M. Kehoe Papers
  Businesswoman, state legislator, and civic leader, of Hillyard, Wash. Correspondence (1937-1959) and records of community organizations in which Kehoe was involved, including Hillyard Commercial Club (1953-1959), Hillyard Community Club (1937-1941), and Spokane Visiting Nurses Association (1942-1958), which she helped organize in 1942. Includes material relating to Kehoe Hardware Company, Spokane, Wash., owned by Kehoe and her husband, Thomas E. Kehoe.
• League of Women Voters, Spokane Chapter, Records (Ms 128), 1950-2007
  The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization whose purpose is to encourage informed and active participation of all citizens in government and politics. The league actively functions at the local, state and national levels. This collection consists of records of the Spokane Chapter from 1953-2007, in addition to materials produced by the Washington State league and the national league.
• Spokane Federation of Women's Organizations Records (MsSC 219), 1928-1972
  The Spokane Federation of Women's Organizations was formed in 1911 to consolidate and coordinate the activities and interests of women's organizations in the Spokane area. The collection includes membership booklets, bulletins, correspondence, convention brochures, a written history of the organization, and newspaper clippings.
• Anna M. Stratton Diaries
  Diaries relating to Stratton's daily activities, the weather, family members, and her move from Michigan through Saint Paul, Minns., to Spokane, Wash., via the Northern Pacific Railroad (1889). Persons represented include her son, Rev. Howard W. Stratton, and son-in-law, J.J. Browne (who accompanied her for part of the trip).
• Julia Stuart Papers (Ms 97), 1911-1990
  Julia Davis Stuart (Mrs. Robert J.) was the first president of the national League of Women Voters from west of the Mississippi. The collection reflects Stuart's wide interests in the LWV, government, youth and the political process, crime control, gun control, energy and conservation, and other national issues.
• Abbie Widner Letters (MsSC 194), 1905
  Abbie Widner was a prostitute who had quarters in the Colonial Hotel in Spokane in 1905. The collection consists of three letters from Abbie Widner to her “boy friend,” John Weber, who was living in Seattle.
• Woman's Christian Temperance Union, East Washington Chapter Papers
  Correspondence, scrapbooks, minute books, convention programs, and ephemera from two Spokane County unions, Margaret B. Platt Union and Frances E. Willard Union, and Frances E. Willard Union, Yakima, Wash. Includes minute book (1931-1938) of Margaret B. Platt Union and material relating to alcohol, tobacco, and drug abuse, issued by the national headquarters.
• Woman's Club of Spokane Records (Ms 199), 1910-2002
  The Spokane Chapter of the Greater Federation of Women's Clubs was incorporated in 1905 and was one of a national organization devoted to women's activities. The collection consists of club membership booklets, publications, newspaper clippings, financial records, scrapbooks and architectural drawings.