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The University Archives Reference Files on Faculty and Staff contain information regarding PLU employees gathered from Human Resources, Marketing and Communications, and other sources. These may include newspaper clippings, press releases, biographical information, photographs, correspondence, and other content related to the employees PLU career. This content is governed by an access restriction policy.

The Papers of Walter C. Schnackenberg contains materials related to his career as Professor of History at Pacific Lutheran University (1937-1973), detailing his scholarly work and leadership as a faculty member and key figure within various Lutheran organizations.

Class schedules printed each semester beginning in 1928 and ending in 2008. Some folders in the collection include summer and interim schedules, preliminary fall schedules, or drafts.

The earliest class schedule in the collection was printed for the fall semester of 1928 by Pacific Lutheran College (PLC). Schedules were printed for each semester and were on single sheets of paper, beginning with letter size and growing beyond legal size as the list of classes grew, until they were printed on folded leaflets beginning in fall of 1946. During the 1956 – 57 school year the leaflet grew into a small booklet, which became the “First Book Edition” in 1968. The first summer catalog was printed in 1953, the first and only schedule for evening classes was printed in fall of 1963, and the first interim schedule was printed in 1970. Beginning in the early 1990s, the summer schedule was included in the fall schedule and the J-Term schedule included with the spring schedule.

In the summer of 1947, Robert Olsen joined the faculty of Pacific Lutheran College as a Professor of Chemistry. He and his wife Josephine (“Jo”), along with sons Richard, Robert Jr., James, and Paul moved to Tacoma from Detroit, Michigan. While in Tacoma, the family expanded to include Ruth (1951) and Timothy (1953). Professor Olsen retired from PLU in 1976.

Shortly after the Olsen family relocated to Tacoma, Professor Olsen took a series of Kodachrome slide photographs of the campus and surrounding area. Jo Olsen wrote a script to accompany the slides describing their content and providing details about the family’s new home and community. The slides and script were sent to the family’s former congregation in Detroit to be viewed as a tour of the area. The slides have been digitized and the caption written by Jo Olsen has been included with each image.

The Olsen Times was a newspaper started by 10-year-old James B. Olsen in 1951, covering family and community news. The paper was distributed to family and friends across the country. The Olsen Times was published weekly from 1951-1954 and monthly from 1954-1956. It was followed or supplemented by The Olsen Times Bulletin (1958, 1960, 1961), The Olsen News (1951-1957), and family letters (1961, 1964).

Papers of Seth Clarence Eastvold, President at Pacific Lutheran College from 1943 to 1962. These Papers contain correspondence, war papers, financial records, and other materials from Eastvold’s career at the College.

This collection is divided into six series and consists of correspondence, war papers, financial records, and miscellaneous other materials from 1942 to 1997. The majority of the material comes from 1943 – 1862 when Eastvold was President of the university. Files are arranged within series by subject and ordered chronologically.

The correspondence varies from the daily operations of a university to Eastvold’s letters home describing his trip around the world. The war papers detail recruitment and the running of military training programs for students at Pacific Lutheran College, as well as the required number of students that needed to enlist. The financial records cover the refinance of the college and bringing the university out of debt while Eastvold was President. The remaining papers are composed of newspaper clippings, short works written by Eastvold and other paperwork related to his office as president. In the last series there are artifacts, oversized documents, and taped interviews from PLU Oral Histories and Lecture series related to Eastvold’s time as President at PLU.

The Papers of Johan Xavier contains materials related to Xavier's time as a student at Luther College and Luther Seminary and his work at Pacific Lutheran Academy as the librarian from 1908-1918 and as acting president from 1920 to 1921. Also included in this collection are several cash ledgers kept by Xavier to track his finances.

Papers of Nils J. Hong, president at Pacific Lutheran Academy, 1898 – 1918, contains correspondence, corporate reports, newspaper clippings, and class books.

Papers of Robert A.L. Mortvedt, President at Pacific Lutheran University, 1962-1969. This collection contains correspondence, speeches, and clippings from Mortvedt’s time at several different universities including the University of Kansas City, Bethany College, and Pacific Lutheran University.

Contents are arranged by subject, and whenever possible, the original order has been preserved. Within the files, materials are ordered chronologically. This collection is arranged into thirteen series, outlined below. Much of the collection pertains to Dr. Mortvedt’s years as president of PLU, but there are also materials regarding his undergraduate and graduate work, his years at the University of Kansas City, his presidency at Bethany College, his work with the Board of Education of the Lutheran Church, and his activities after retiring from PLU. There are also materials concerning his father, A.O. Mortvedt, and other relatives. This collection also includes numerous documents concerning the Higher Education Fund Committee and the Independent Colleges of Washington Association. Also included (in Series 11-13) are artifacts, oversized documents, and taped interviews in PLU’s Oral Histories collections regarding Dr. Mortvedt’s time as University President.

The collection consists of 46 books of the Saxifrage from the years 1975-2019. All volumes of Saxifrage were created by PLU students and printed locally. As a creative arts publication, the content of
Saxifrage ranges from poetry and prose to art, photography, and musical compositions. All of the books are professionally printed and bound with multiple signature glue bindings and soft covers.

Records from the Department of Anthropology include departmental correspondence and syllabi, as well as documents related to archaeology and departmental events.