Collections
Manuscripts: The archives holds over 600 manuscript collections relating to Montana, and especially to western Montana. Subject strengths include Montana state and national politicians, western Montana business, Montana journalists and writers, the forest products industry, and faculty and students of the University. Formats include papers, ledgers, audio, film and video, blueprints, and photographs. Information about many of these collections is available through the Mansfield Library catalog and through the Northwest Digital Archives website. Contact the Archives or see the staff member at the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room desk for assistance.
Rare Books: Our collection of rare books ranges in date from the Middle Ages to the present and covers a wide range of topics, from literature and history to the natural sciences. Our collections are strongest, however, in books documenting the history and culture of western Montana and related areas. Named collections include the following: The Montana Collection, our largest collection, includes books documenting early exploration in the region and important early territorial and state documents; The Phillips Collection, donated by Paul Chrisler Phillips, focuses on the fur trade and Native American history; The Whicker Collection includes works by Poe and Whitman as well as a small group of literary manuscripts; The Leslie Collection emphasizes typography and book design. You can search for Special Collections books in the Library’s catalog.
Photos: The archives has nearly 100,000 historic photographs of Montana, Missoula, and the University that date from the 1870s to the 1990s. Copies of many of these photographs are available for researchers to view any hour the library is open; these are in the large burgundy binders on shelves in the Montana Collection Room, room 414. Subject access to a portion of the photographs is provided through a card catalog located with the burgundy binders. You may order copies of any photograph in the archives’ collection. You can also find a number of photos that have been scanned and made available digitally in the online Archives Photo Collection.
Oral Histories: Since 1968, the Mansfield library has collected over 2,000 cassette tapes of oral history interviews. Interview subjects are mostly Western Montanans. Interview topics include the depression in Montana, the history of smokejumping, Montana’s feminists, and the history of The University of Montana. Most of the interviews have transcripts or summaries. The Oral Histories are also located in Room 414, on your left as you walk back toward the Reading Room. Oral Histories and most Montana Collection items can be checked out and taken home. For help in finding these materials, ask at the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room service desk in Room 410.
Pamphlets & Ephemera: Archives and Special Collections houses many thousands of pamphlets, brochures, clippings and ephemeral items. The Montana pamphlet file is the largest single segment, but there are also files on World Wars One and Two, politics, and a number of other subjects. The Small Press Collection consists of thousands of zines organized by title. Finding aids that list each folder of material in every pamphlet collection are via the online Pamphlet Collection Finding Aids.
