The University of Washington Libraries participated in the United States Agriculture Information Network (USAIN) Preserving the History of U.S. Agriculture and Rural Life Grant Project from 2004 to 2008 with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). As part of this project, the University of Washington Libraries compiled bibliographies of journals and books published between 1820 and 1945 on Washington State agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. The bibliographies contain a total of 2,323 entries.

A panel of scholars and librarians subsequently ranked the titles on the bibliographies by their importance for future scholarly research. The top-ranked titles were then preserved on microfilm. Thirty serial titles and 98 book titles (748 volumes, 278,000+ pages) were microfilmed and are now available through the University of Washington Libraries. An additional title, Washington Farmer (41 volumes, 37,000+ pages), was microfilmed in 2008-2009 with funding from the University of Washington Friends of the Libraries and a grant from the Washington State Library with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. See UW's Microfilm Duplication Service page for more information on ordering copies of the microfilm.

Eventually each State in the U.S. will complete a similar project, helping to preserve agricultural literature nationwide for future generations of researchers.

About the Washington State Bibliographies

Seine fishing for salmon on the Columbia River, n.d. †

Washington State is divided into two major land areas by the Cascade Mountain Range, which runs north-south through the state. This division has had important impacts on the development of the state as a whole, and on the types of agriculture practiced in both areas. The west side of the Cascades is temperate and wet, and historically the economy was dominated by fishing and forestry. The east side of the Cascades is drier and its economy focused more on agriculture and livestock. Due to the State's unique climate and history, the bibliography has been divided into three major sections: Farming, Forestry, and Fishing. See Bibliographies for more information on the creation and organization of the bibliographies.

Other Resources

Links to other historical Washington State agriculture, forestry, and fisheries resources can be found in the Other Resources section. Also included are links to other state agriculture bibliographies and U.S. historical agriculture resources.

Project Information contains additional project documentation, including the project manual, final reports, and credits.

†University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.
Banner image from the Northwest Illustrations Collection, WSU Libraries Digital Collections. Image number wsu436.