Research Guides: Food Studies: More Primary Sources

Special Collections & University Archives in Knight Library

Special Collections and University Archives houses the University’s rare books and archival collections. That includes old and rare cookbooks and recipes, food related photographs, films, posters, records and more. These resources are all available to be requested in advance and viewed in the Paulson Reading Room at the Knight Library.

Eugene Fruit Growers Association records (Coll 413)
Eugene Fruit Growers Association was a vegetable, fruit, and nut growing, picking, packing, and canning cooperative, founded in 1908. The collection (1908-1971) contains administrative records which include correspondence and reports, financial records, architectural plans, photographs, reports, and printing plates.
Bernice Redington papers (Ax 092)
Bernice Redington (1891-1966) was a journalist and home economist. The collection contains correspondence, writings, cookbooks, printed matter regarding home economics, a scrapbook and subject files. The collection contains a wide array of cookbooks from the 1930s-1950s.
James Blue Papers (Coll 458)
James Blue (1930-1980) was a filmmaker and educator. The collection contains production materials, film, videotape, audiotape interviews, photographs, research materials, teaching materials, personal and professional correspondence, mementos, and news clippings. He produced the documentary film A Few Notes on our Food Problem, and the collection contains the film and much of his research for the production.
OWPC Records (Coll 369)
Founded in 1971, the Oregon Women’s Political Caucus (OWPC) was a state-wide women’s political organization that mirrored the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) at a state level. Along with fighting to right women’s issues, the OWPC also strove to achieve equal human rights for all people, regardless of sex, color, race or religion, as reflected in this collection. The collection contains the cookbooks “Pots, Pans, and Politics”; “Political Favorites: Featuring Recipes of Oregonian Politicians”; and “What’s Cooking at the Capitol.”
Wartime Posters Collection (Coll 467)
This artificial collection comprises propaganda posters and magazine covers, created primarily during World War I and World War II. Search the collection for key words such as eat, food, bread, ration, or garden.
Department of Home Economics Records (UA 057)
Household Arts, later renamed Home Economics, was a department at the University of Oregon from 1917-1974. The collection contains records that document the functions, activities, and people of the department.
Zig Jackson Photographs (PH 401)
Zig Jackson (b.1957- ) is a Native artist and photographer who grew up on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. An enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes—Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara, Jackson currently teaches at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia. His work has been widely exhibited and published. This collection (1990-2009) contains 89 black and white prints taken at Indian reservations and other regions across the United States. The prints feature documentary photography of contemporary Native American communities and events, and offer commentary on Indian identity, land rights, sovereignty, representation, and tribal traditions. The collection contains a series entitled “Road signs, food stands, and souvenirs, 1991-2007.”

Searching the Library Catalog and Finding Aid Database

Finding Aid Database
Keyword searches in the finding aid database can locate food records that are dispersed among collections. We recommend using keyword searches such as: cookbooks, rations, recipes, Starflower, and home economics.
Rare Books in the Library Catalog
The rare books in SCUA are listed in the library catalog, and include cookbooks dating back several centuries. Also included is the Oregon collection, which contains cookbooks made about or by Oregonians. You can search for them with keyword searches such as: cookbook, recipe, cookery, and cook.

Thanks to Maggie Dobson and Ella Padden of UO Libraries Special Collections & University Archives for the content in this box.

Other Primary Sources

Food and drink in history This link opens in a new window
Explore a wide range of primary source material including printed and manuscript cookbooks, advertising ephemera, government reports, films and illustrated content – revealing the evolution of food and drink within everyday life and the public sphere. The unique material in this collection has been sourced from across the globe to reflect a wide range of food cultures and traditions, creating an unparalleled research resource.
UO has access to Module 1.

UO Special Collections and University Archives
Special Collections and University Archives, on the 2nd floor of Knight Library (front of the building) has millions of primary sources for you to explore! The collections are especially strong on Oregon-based topics, but there are items from around the world. Visit them whenever they are open and they will help you find what you need.
Additional Digital Collections at the UO
Provides links to our many digital collections at the UO Libraries & Special Collections.
The Internet Archive
A non-profit digital library offering free universal access to films, images, archived websites, and more.

Final Note:
Many universities and organizations have digitized many items from their local Special Collections & Archives, and searching the open internet will often find these high quality collections. Try adding keywords to your search like "digital archive," or "university," to your searches to narrow your results down to these academic collections (and to get rid of some of the wacky results that the rest of the internet might give you.)

And don't forget - you can always ask for help! rigby@uoregon.edu - Miriam