Special Collections and Archives holds over 350 manuscript collections of letters, journals, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and other primary source material that documents many aspects of Idaho history, particularly the Boise and Treasure Valley Region. Research topics include politics, environment, Basque culture, religion, filmmaking, literature, performing arts, art, ethnicity, gender, geosciences, and many others. Search finding aids/inventories for people, topics, and organizations.
Select collection inventories that allow for keyword searching and data export:
Cecil Andrus Papers
Frank Church Papers
Idaho Statesman Negatives
Ted Trueblood Papers
Aerial photos
Use the library catalog to search for books, maps, magazines, videos, and more.
Topics
Politics
Our political collections span from early 20th century through early 21st century. The two largest political collections include Senator Frank Church, and Governor and Secretary of the Interior Cecil Andrus. Other collections include Len Jordan, Gracie Pfost, Kitty Gurnsey, Cole (Nicole) LeFavour, Larry LaRocco, Walt Minnick, and Sue Reents.
Environment
Many of our collections connect to Idaho’s environmental history through politics, activism, employment, conservation, or recreation. Notable collections include Frank Church, Cecil Andrus, Ted Trueblood, Snake River Alliance, Marshall C. Edson, Edward Rhodenbaugh, Robert Limbert, Len Jordan, Larry LaRocco, Bethine Church, and others.
Idaho Music Archive
In a newly established partnership with the Record Exchange, we are collecting local and Idaho music for the Idaho Music Archive. This includes recordings (album, cassette, CD, or digital) from artists and performers, as well as materials about music from venues, studios, organizations, collectors, and more. Read more about the collection and how to donate.
Basque Culture
Notable collections are Idaho Arborglyphs, Pete Cenarrusa, Espe Algeria, Moore-Cunningham-Bettis family papers, Gloria Totoricaguena, and Frank Church.
Religion
We are the repository for the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho, and also hold other small religious collections including Church Women United, Stan Tate, Christ Chapel Historical Society, and Norman L. Foote.
Film
The signature collection is the papers of Nell Shipman, silent film director/writer/producer/actress. We also collect movies about Idaho or written/produced by Idahoans, supplemented by Tom Trusky’s research on Idaho films.
Literature
Extensive holdings on Idaho authors of poetry, fiction, short stories, screenplays, and other literature, including Nell Shipman, Ted Trueblood, Scott Preston, Donna Fletcher Crow, Paul Tracy, Lorna Tracy, Charles David Wright, Glenn Balch, Clara Spiegel, William Studebaker, The Cabin, Gloria Skurzynski, Virginia Stough, William C. Anderson, Vardis Fisher, William M. Koehler, Nona Tatum Ziegler, Helen Olsen, Penelope Reedy, and others.
Performing Arts
We are the repository for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and the Trey McIntyre Project, and also have collections about Boise vaudeville, Music Week, and Gene Harris. Of note is the complete digital collection of Ione Love Thielke, Idaho’s Musical Poem Recorder and the Peter Beemer songbook.