Guide to the WSC Instruction Lantern Slides circa 1890-1949
PC 153

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Title
WSC Instruction Lantern Slides
ID
PC 153
Date [inclusive]
circa 1890-1949
Extent
1.5 Linear feet of shelf space, 4 boxes, Approximately 330 images
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
Lantern slides were originally introduced in 1849; they were photographs printed onto glass plates for projection onto a wall or screen for viewing. At Washington State University (then College) lantern slides were commonly used for classroom instruction from the earliest days of the school up into the 1940s and 1950s, using either commercially produced slides or slides created either by the professor or the school’s media department. This collection consists of a variety of small collections of glass lantern slides, most likely used for educational purposes between 1892 and 1950.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description] WSC Instruction Lantern Slides, ca. 1890-1949 (PC 153)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

At Washington State University (then College) lantern slides were commonly used for classroom instruction from the earliest days of the school up into the 1940s and 1950s, using either commercially produced slides or slides created either by the professor or the school’s media department. Lantern slides were originally introduced in 1849; they were photographs printed onto glass plates for projection onto a wall or screen for viewing. They became ubiquitous in classroom use following the development of the electric light. The majority of the slides in this collection were probably created or collected for classroom use.

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Scope and Content

The collection consists of a variety of small collections of glass lantern slides, most likely used for educational purposes between 1892 and 1950.

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Arrangement

The images are arranged in a number of series which reflect the original series they were either created in or used in, as best as we could tell. Within those series, slides are ordered numerically if a numbering system exists on them, but otherwise mostly unordered. These numbers were likely either an order of display created by the instructor who compiled them, or an inventory number/sequence applied by the company which created them. If another system of ordering exists for a series, it is noted within the description for that series below.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2016

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open and available for research use.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright may apply.

Acquisition Information

Most of the slides in this collection were received at the Washington State University Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) at an unknown date prior to 1998, and retained without an accession number. Most likely the majority of them were held in the Libraries’ Audio-Visual Services department, and transferred to MASC ca. 1992 when that department was split into what is now Academic Media Services (AMS) and the Libraries’ Media, Materials, and Reserves (MMR). The slides in the Northwest Power series and the Palouse River series were received at MASC from the Department of Civil Engineering on June 7, 1983, and retained without an accession number.

Processing Information

This collection was processed and re-housed by University Archivist Mark O’English and Katrina Burch between June and August of 2012.

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Names and Subjects

Corporate Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • State College of Washington.
  • Washington State University.
Creator(s) :
  • State College of Washington.

Subject(s)

  • Lantern slides.
  • Visual education.
  • Washington (State)
  • Colleges and Universities
  • Photographs

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Detailed Description of Collection

box

Agricultural extension. Produced by International Harvester Co., Chicago, IL. Approx. 20 slides. 

 1

Decorating Low Cost Houses. 1948-1949. WSC Home Economics Department. 20 slides and a 2-page descriptive text, written by WSC professor Ruth M. Smith, depicting interior decoration for two experimental low-cost GI housing units at WSC. Two slides, B3 and B6 were missing at time of precessing. 

 1

Early northwest scenes. 13 slides of drawn or painted scenes depicting historic inland northwest places of events. 

 1

Mining. 33 slides, apparently used for mining instruction. The first 9 are identified Montana locations (Anaconda, Butte, Great Falls), but the remaining 24 are identified. 

 1

Northwest power. Chelan. 1 image. 

 2

Northwest power. Rock Island. 3 images. 

 2

Northwest power. Skagit powerhouse. 20 images. 

 2

Northwest power. Spokane Falls. 2 images. 

 2

Palouse River (downtown Pullman) flow models and flood (1935) images. 12 slides. 

 2

Panama Canal construction. Produced by Victor Animatograph Co., Davenport, IA. Approx. 40 slides. 

 2-3

Roads. Produced by Office of Public Roads, USDA, Washington, DC. 15 slides. 

 3

Roads and bridges. Produced by Victor Animatograph Co., Davenport, IA. Approx. 30 slides. 

 3

Roads, bridges, transportation. Produced by Enterprise Mfg., Portland, OR. Approx. 35 slides. 

 3-4

Silk production. Produced by Keystone View Co. Factories, Meadville, PA. Approx. 45 slides. 

 4

Sluices (primarily inland northwest). 11 slides. 

 4

Small bridges and dams (primarily inland northwest). Approx. 35 slides. 

 4

Washington State College Audio-Visual Center instructional slides. 5 slides and a 3-page descriptive text. 

 4