Branded as "Tacoma's Only Illustrated Weekly", The Forum was published every Saturday and featured local, regional and state news, political commentary, sports (primarily the Tacoma Tigers), legal notices and photographic profiles of regional figures. Office was located on 915 1/2 Commerce Street in Tacoma and Ella E. Ryan was the publisher and manager.

Holdings: Hard Copy 10/05/1907-12/24/1910 (Vol. 8-13), Microfilm July 17, 1903-Dec. 28, 1918.

Includes lesson plans, writings, club yearbooks, meeting minutes, and other records relating to the operations of the Poetry Appreciation Club from 1934 to 1979.

Tacoma bi-monthly then quarterly publication was a project of ArtRod and was “a group of artists and community members dedicated to promoting the arts and cultural life of Tacoma and the South Sound.” Toby Room’s editors/publishers were Jared Pappas-Kelley (Issues 1-2, 4-10), Sarah Keliher (1-2, 4-7) and Michael Lent (8-10). The magazine featured writings and interviews among established and emerging local and regional visual artists, musicians, writers and filmmakers.

Holdings: Vol. 1, Issues No. 1-2, 4-10

Includes photographs and promotional materials for productions, fundraising information and promotional materials, scrapbooks, sheet music, and set design and costume sketches.

Includes correspondence, newspaper articles, speeches, writings, and financial documents related to Andrews' work as Director of Tacoma Public Library. Also included are Andrews' diaries from 1942-1945.

Includes materials related to World War II collected by Tacoma Public Library including reports, pamphlets, propaganda, maps, bulletins, and Tacoma war ration book. A photo biography of Adolf Hitler compiled by Joseph Goebbels for the German people titled "Adolf Hitler: Pictures from the Life of the Fuhrer" is also included.

Includes flyers, posters, and brochures that cover many of the Tacoma Art Museum’s shows and events dating back to the2003 grand opening in their current building.

Includes original and photocopied research material gathered by Rowena and Gordon Alcorn about the Seaman's Rest Mission. Also included are research materials related to the sinking of the Andelana.

Includes plays and short stories written by Nessenson. Correspondence and ephemera are also included.

Photographic negatives taken by Myron Kreidler. The negatives are mostly of Spanaway, Midland, and Parkland businesses and were taken by Kreidler for the Prairie Pointer newspaper in 1946. Other negatives include images of South Tacoma, as well as images of wind damage to Spanaway Park, the Pierce County Bresemann Park purchase, and outdoor activities such as fishing and skiing.

Includes meeting minutes, correspondence, programs, governing documents, and other materials related to the operations of the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance.

Key Peninsula News, switching its name from Key Peninsula Newsletter in 1985, was a newspaper that operated as the "voice of the Key Peninsula Civic Center". The paper served to publish community announcements, advertisements, and voting information to circulate through the South Puget Sound's Key Peninsula area, which includes the towns of Wauna, Key Center, Vaughn, Home, Lakebay, and Longbranch.

Includes photographs, correspondence, writings, and documentation related to Westling's career as an educator.

“Sea-Tac Keel” was an oversized magazine published bimonthly for the employees of the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma Yard, which was a subsidiary of the Todd Shipyards Corporation. It was published at the “foot of Alexander Avenue” in Tacoma, Washington. The publication primarily focused on the shipyards and the ongoing ship-building effort due to World War II, which was happening at the time.

Includes research files compiled by Lorraine Barker Hildebrand on the experiences and history of Chinese migrants living in the Pacific Northwest.

Includes programs from storytelling events in Washington, and the meeting minutes and scrapbooks created by the League.

Includes scrapbooks, photographs, teaching materials, and ephemera related to Margaret Rawson Goheen's career as a music educator. Also included are manuscripts for her musical play "Men and Models."

The Tacoma-Pierce County Buildings Index contains information on Tacoma and Pierce County buildings found in Tacoma papers, local and national magazines, and in over 200 books on local history and architecture. Each source cited in the index is available to view in the Northwest Room.

Records in this index are organized according to address, and include information on the year built, style of construction (where the literature can agree), whether the building has been demolished, and whether it appears on any local, state, or national register of historic places. Architects, builders, and contractors are listed, when known. Families or companies that may have been housed in the building are listed with dates of occupation. The location of any building plans known to exist is also provided. The Tacoma-Pierce County Buildings Index does not cover parks, bridges, dams, docks, and other infrastructures.

For assistance in conducting historic building research, please reference the Northwest Room's Tacoma and Pierce County Home and Buildings Research Guide or contact us at nwr@tacomalibrary.org or (253) 280-2814.

Abbreviations used,
TNT = Tacoma News Tribune / Morning News Tribune / The News Tribune
TDL = Tacoma Daily Ledger
TDN = Tacoma Daily News
TNL = Tacoma News Ledger
T. Times = Tacoma Times
T. Weekly = Tacoma Weekly

The abbreviation (il) following a citation indicates that a photo or illustration accompanies the article cited.

Includes photos taken by Prue Stuckey during his time as a photographer for the City of Tacoma and Tacoma Police Department.

Includes photos taken by Lee Merrill of construction projects, group outings, and a Daffodil Queen.

Includes plans, correspondence, reports, photographs, and publicity materials related to the operations of the Western Boat Building Company. Boat subject files includes plans, photographs, clippings, and other information related to specific vessels.

Includes lantern slides and print photographs showing mountaineering and nature images collected by Don Cooper.

A collection of sheet music that has to do with Tacoma, the Puget Sound region or Washington State that ranges from the 19th century to the late 20th century.

Includes meeting minutes, programs, and planning documents related to the Tacoma Centennial Celebration.

The Coast Magazine, also known as Wilhelm's Magazine The Coast and The Coast: An Illustrated Magazine of the West, features photographs, articles, editorials, and creative writing related to the Western United States. Published by Honor Wilhelm out of Seattle, the magazine primarily covered the Pacific Northwest including topics like mining, forestry, ships and shipping, and various small towns and cities across the region. Wilhelm wrote for the publication and solicited contributions from other writers and photographers.

Includes two scrapbooks, one dating from 1947-1953 and the other from 1952-1960. Both scrapbooks hold newspaper articles, photographs, and yearbooks documenting the club’s activities. Additionally, there is a file containing yearbooks, photographs, newspaper articles, ribbons, and certificates from 1971-1976. Also included is a folder on the garden club’s Mini-Standard Flower Show in 1977 and a file about the Magic with Decorative Wood event hosted by the Alling Park Garden Club on May 18-19, 1968.

Northwest Energy News was published monthly by the Northwest Power Planning Council. It included articles on the inner workings of the Northwest Power Planning Council, and other news involving power plants, town hall meetings, conservation, etc.

Diversity News was a business periodical based in Seattle that aimed to serve a "diverse marketplace." Diversity News was published monthly and provided profiles of business professionals and businesses created by people from diverse backgrounds. Diversity News also published advertisements from both local businesses and large corporations.

Includes dairies, correspondence, legal documents, photographs, and other documentation related to the Stanley-Mason family and their work as fur trappers in Alaska. Also included is information related to their "Alaska Friends" organization, a group for former Alaska residents living in Seattle. An unpublished manuscript, "Return to the Frontier," is also included.

Includes records gathered by George Watkins Evans related to the operations of the Beaver Hill Coal Mining Company, including plans and blueprints, photographs, correspondence, and reports.