Research Archives
The Joel E. Ferris Research Archives, home to the Eastern Washington State Historical Society, is located in the Cheney Cowles Center of the MAC (Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture). The archive collects and preserves first-person primary source materials (letters, diaries, photographs, audio-visual recordings, architectural drawings, maps, and regional business records), which reflect the evolution of the Inland Northwest including the tribes of the Columbia Plateau and 20th century commerce and community development. The Archives collection is available to researchers for personal, educational, and commercial projects. It is an excellent resource for historians, students, artists, designers, architects, publishers, cultural resource managers, and businesses that want to learn more about our region's heritage.
Hours & Access
The research room of the Joel E. Ferris Research Archives is open by appointment only during research hours, 10 am–5 pm Tuesday through Saturday. Appointments must be scheduled in advance with archives staff. Researchers are expected to follow research room guidelines.
To schedule an appointment, e-mail your request with as much detail as possible. You may also access archival photographs and materials through our Digital Archives.
Digital Archival Images
The Digital Archives Collection of the Eastern Washington State Historical Society connects you to digital reproductions and descriptions of photographs, posters, drawings, objects, ephemera, and manuscripts as well as other archival material from the Society’s rare and special collections.
Our image availability will continue to grow as more of our digital projects are added, as more of our special collections are digitized and described, and as hybrid and born-digital archival collections are acquired.
The site does not currently include information about our entire collection nor our rare or out-of-copyright digitized books or digitized newspapers. However, these and other historical digital content will be available soon.
To search our archival photographs, enter a search word in the search box or select the browse button at the top of the screen to see a brief description of the collections we have digitized. Copies of photographs are available for sale. To purchase an image, add it to your shopping cart.
Visit the Digital ArchivesResearch Contact Information
Phone: (509) 363-5342
Email: archives@northwestmuseum.org
Donations
For donations of archival materials, please contact us at archives@northwestmuseum.org or call (509) 363-5342.