The Hunt for Oregon Missionary Sources: Clifford M. Drury's Enduring Archives Legacy

Having pieced together the story of collections development from archives across the region, archivist Trevor J. Bond argues that Dr. Clifford Drury played a significant role in the building of regional archives, influencing the historiography of the Pacific Northwest along the way. While pastor of a Congregationalist church in Moscow, Idaho, Drury worked with Washington State College President E.O. Holland to accumulate artifacts of missionaries who worked in the Columbia Plateau. According to Bond, Drury's focus on white missionaries and pioneers made a lasting impression on what historical material was kept in the region and how the area's history has been told. Bond concludes that, while Drury's bias was significant, his work was also important in that it kept historical artifacts out of the hands of wealthier repositories and not alienated from their geographical and historical context.