Special Collections & University Archives

Location: Knight Library, 2nd floor North
Mail: UO Libraries--SPC, 1299 University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1299
Reference & use requests: spcarref@uoregon.edu
541-346-3068 (Paulson Reading Room)
Fax: 541-346-3485 attn SCUA
General Hours and Current hours
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Welcome to Special Collections & University Archives

About Us and Our Collections

Here you will find an unmatched and irreplaceable record of Northwest history and culture. We hold remarkably deep and broad collections for a mid-sized public university, and we are actively working to make those collections available for use. We strive for excellent public service and instruction support. Our collections are included in the library catalog and in Northwest Digital Archives.

Edward S. Curtis: The North American Indian

Special Collections and University Archives is delighted to have one of the finest and most important copies of Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian. This set of folios and quartos is extremely fragile and irreplaceable. In order to ensure that these volumes are available for future generations of students and scholars, we must carefully control access to and use of the materials.

 

In addition to the original edition of The North American Indian, we also have a 1970s reprint of the entire set available to all researchers in our Paulson Reading Room.  Digital reproductions of photogravures from Curtis’s The North American Indian can also be viewed online at Northwestern University Library’s website, through the Library of Congress’s American Memory project. You can learn more about Curtis and access the images at:

 

memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/

 

We request that anyone interested in doing research on the original Curtis folios and quartos in Special Collections and University Archives first consult the reprint volumes in the Paulson Reading Room or the online images. If a researcher still finds it necessary to see the original photogravures, he or she must submit a written request describing the research project and need to use the originals. Please send this request to spcarref@uoregon.edu. Curatorial staff will review the request and work with the researcher.

 

In cases where a compelling research need to see the original Curtis materials is not demonstrated, readers will be invited to attend a special viewing day where selections from the original set of Curtis’s The North American Indian.  If you are interested in learning when the next showing will be, please contact us at:spcarref@uoregon.edu.

New to archival research or want a refresher? Download the Society of American Archivist's Using Archives: A Guide to Effective Research. Be aware: Research in primary sources takes a lot of time, but is also thoroughly addicting!

Reference & Use Requests

• Use our form to submit requests for research or use permission.  We require all requests be written via email, fax or letter. Requests made by phone have to be transcribed.
• Timely requests: Some collections require advance notice to be made available.
  • Off-site items may take up to two weeks to transport and review.
  • Architectural drawings (especially for Saturday viewing) must be requested 72 hours in advance.
  • Glass-plate negatives, early manuscripts and other extremely fragile or high-value items require confirmed  appointments. Walk-in requests may be accommodated if there is sufficient staffing.
  • On Saturdays, confirmed prior appointments are required for early manuscripts, glass-plate negatives, architectural drawings
  • Before using these materials, a reference interview is highly recommended
• Traveling? Please contact us before planning a trip so we can confirm our hours and make sure the collections you need are available when you arrive. Our schedule is subject to change.

Hours

On Thursday, May 30, Special Collections and University Archives will close at 3:30.

Please check our Google calendar for current hours

Spring Term Hours
April 1 though June 14
Monday-Friday, 10 am-4:30 pm
Saturdays, 11-4:30
Always closed Sundays