Includes manuscript drafts, scripts and screenplays, research files, and scrapbooks related to the works of author Della Gould Emmons. Emmons' work primarily focused on the history of Washington and the Pacific Northwest.

Includes correspondence, writings on local history, and material related to the movement to build a library branch in the Fern Hill area.

Includes meeting minutes, a scrapbook, clippings files, and writings about the history of the Fern Hill School created by the Fern Hill School Parent Teacher Association.

The "Pierce County Recorder" was a weekly newspaper that changed its name from the "Roy Recorder" on October 17, 1930. It covered the areas of Brookdale, Longbranch, McKenna, Parkland, Roy and Spanaway among others in south Pierce County. It focused primarily on local and state news, church and social events, sports including Valley League Baseball and schools including Pacific Lutheran College.

The Tacoma Daily Index is a daily newspaper published by Sound Publishing Inc. It features a daily story on the front page. It publishes legal notices, bankruptcies, liens, orders, calls for bids, federal court notices and auditors’ office notices. The Daily Index was founded on May 1, 1890, as the Daily Mortgage and Lien Record. (1)

Holdings: Nov. 1, 1916 - July 31, 1917; Aug. 1, 1917 - Dec. 30, 2021 (bound); Jan. 5, 2022 - Dec. 30, 2022.

Includes video interviews conducted by Reverend David Alger with religious leaders in and around the Tacoma area.

The Island Lantern (originally called "The Monthly Island Lantern") was a publication that ran from April 1, 1924 through March 1980. As proclaimed at the start of nearly every issue it is "published .. by and for the men of the U. S. Penitentiary. McNeil Island, Washington ... The purpose of this publication is to give inmates opportunities for self-expression: to provide a medium for discussion of public problems: to foster better understanding between inmates and the public and to be constructively informative."

Includes legal documents and correspondence related to Thompson's work as an attorney mainly operating in the lumber industry.

Happenings On Hilltop covered a variety of topics such as neighborhood events, other community organizations, housing, education, politics, and recipes. There were many contributors to the newsletter. Community leaders wrote editorials and letters submitted by residents who were incarcerated. It was also a venue for community members to share their art and creative writing. The newsletter also had an emphasis on keeping residents safe in Hilltop. They aimed to educate about and bring awareness to the effects of gang violence and teach residents how to prevent crime. Happenings On Hilltop also advocated for solidarity among the Black community and the fight against racial injustice. Many national events were covered in this newsletter including the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and the Million Man March, with focus on local issues such as the police involved death of Kenneth Boyd. Each month Happenings on Hilltop shared pictures of the people, events, and activities that made up the Hilltop community.

Originally titled Tidbits for Ten from December 1990 to May 1991, Happenings on Hilltop was started by two Hilltop residents and representatives from Hilltop Action Coalition (HAC), Larry Norman and Bill Charles. The newsletter was originally printed and circulated for residents who lived in “area Ten” of the Hilltop community. Within six months, Tidbits from Ten became Happenings On Hilltop. The newsletter began as an organizational journal affiliated with the Hilltop Action Coalition. It then became an independent paper published and distributed by creator Larry Norman.

Includes correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, photos, and other documents related to Wanda Thompson’s life. Many of the documents pertain to Thompson’s career including her time as a model, job analyst for Puget Sound Bank, employee at the Washington State Department of Corrections, and the Executive Director of the Rehabilitation Council of Washington State. The papers also point to Thompson’s involvement with the community in Tacoma like her engagement with the Afro-Pageant and Show. Also included is an oral history with Wanda Thompson recorded on June 3, 2023.

Includes scrapbooks, photographs, ledgers, and ephemera related to the Forsberg family.

Pandora was a feminist newspaper based in Seattle, Washington that ran from 1970 to 1979. It was published biweekly until May 1974 when it started being published once a month. Pandora focused on women's issues and topics like, motherhood, reproductive rights, personal safety, misogyny, sexual assault, and lesbianism. These topics were discussed in the form of news articles, opinion pieces, and creative writings like poetry. Pandora also gave its readers resources and information about women's groups or activist organizations in the region.

Northwest Air Lifter is a publication for the Lewis-McChord Airforce Base. The publication features national news headlines relating to the military. It also features stories and information on people and events in the McChord Base community.

The Northwest Metalworker describes itself as "The Magazine For Machinists and Related Tradesmen." It is published monthly. The Northwest Metalworker publishes on new technologies, new products, safety, and trade education. They also publish reader write-ins.

The Kalma Hagan Scrapbook includes pictures and newspaper clippings involving the Hawthorne neighborhood, the construction of the Tacoma Dome, and the aftermath of the construction.

Includes photographs related to a wide variety of local events and locations taken by Marvin Boland between the 1910s through the 1930s.

Includes correspondence, performance programs, and documentation related to Stave's employment with Sears, Roebuck and Company and the Northern Pacific Railway Company in Tacoma. Also included are scrapbooks containing clippings, ticket stubs, business cards, brochures, menus, and other ephemera.

Includes correspondence and legal documents. Also includes material related to William Dudley Pelley and the "Silver Shirts" or "Silver Legion," a racist and anti-Semitic organization founded in 1933. Woodard's correspondence includes positive commentary on the organization.

Includes correspondence, reports, and other documentation primarily related to the Washington State Library War Council during World War I.

Nallevents was a periodic publication produced by Nalley's for its employees and shareholders that contained things like quarterly profits, short articles about their employees, and occasional competitions.

Nalley's the company operated a food product plant in Tacoma, the namesake of "Nalley Valley", it underwent changes in the mid-1990s and closed entirely in the 2010s, but their products are still sold today through several larger retail stores like Walmart. At their peak, Nalley operated plants and sold products throughout the western United States, from Texas up to Washington.

A collection of photographs by professional and amateur photographers throughout the years of the Washington State Fair/Puyallup Fair from 1900-2011. Original photograph collection is held by the Washington State Fair and not at Tacoma Public Library. First and last names of the photographers are listed when known. Unknown photographers have been filed in the decade in which it was taken.

Includes waterfront, street, and building photographs by F. Jay Haynes.

Includes photographs taken by City of Tacoma photographer William Trueblood of city events.

Includes photographs of landscape and outdoor activities taken by Albert Henry Barnes.

Includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, and photographs related to Mike Parker's political career as Mayor of Tacoma and as a member of the Washington State House of Representatives. Extensive subject files were established by Parker's office and contain correspondence, studies, newspaper clippings, and reports on topics of relevance to his work. Also included are correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and legislative documents.

Inlcudes digital images and prints of street photography taken primarily in Tacoma and Seattle during the 1970s and 2000s. Also included are oversize photographs, photographic negatives, and photographic slides.

Includes posters created and displayed during World War I issued by various federal and non-profit organizations including the US Food Administration, the Red Cross, the American Library Association and others. Also included are British, Canadian, and French posters.

Includes maps of the northwestern United States from various sources. Coverage is primarily focused on Washington, Pierce County, and Tacoma.

Includes project studies, project images, and drawings for architectural projects created by James R. Merritt and the various architectural firms he was associated with between 1970-2015.

Includes records related to various local social justice efforts and organizations including the Shalom Center of Associated Ministries, United for Peace and Justice of Pierce County, TAJO (Tacoma Arabs, Jews, and Others for Peace), Occupy Tacoma, and Stay in Your Homes. Topics covered in the papers include the South African Apartheid, the War in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the Occupy Wall Street movement, the death penalty, foreclosures following the 2008 financial crisis, and others. Also included are correspondence, audiovisual material, and handbook and instructions related to activism.