The Labor Archives of Washington is excited to announce that the prints and papers of famous West Coast artist, Richard V. Correll, are now viewable (almost) in its entirety, on the UW Libraries Digital Collections site! Consisting primarily of original artwork created by Correll, including a variety of prints, original drawings, and paintings, the collection contains nearly the full body of his work! This collection truly demonstrates the expansiveness of his artistry both in technique and subject matter, encompassing themes of working people, civil rights, and social justice as well as nature scenes, figure drawings, Paul Bunyan, and a scrapbook of holiday cards spanning over 39 years.
In 2012-2013, the Labor Archives spotlighted Correll’s work in the exhibit, Images of Labor and Social Justice: The Art of Richard V. Correll. You can now view a digital version of this exhibit as well as access a web portal to the full digital collection on the Labor Archives of Washington’s Digital Resources Guide. (We even have a portable version of the physical exhibit, enabling us to take Images of Labor and Social Justice on the road!)
The collection also includes several sketchbooks and audio recordings of an oral history interview with Correll from 1979, to be digitized, as well as books and a small series of paper ephemera, photographs, and other published material about Correll’s life and artwork. Three cd-roms donated to us with the collection contain photographs of Correll as well as additional digital photographs of his prints and illustrations. Want to learn more about the collection in its entirety? Check out the online finding aid on Archives West!
And if you’d like more background information about this prolific artist, Labor Archivist Conor Casey talks about Correll’s life and work in the May 2013 interview on KUOW and KBCS during the Northwest Folklife Festival as well as July 2016’s “Learn Yourself”, a segment of KSVR Studio’s We Do The Work radio show. Seattle’s weekly publication, the Stranger, also spotlighted the collection in an article published in February 2013!
For any specific questions about the Correll prints and papers or other labor collections at the LAW, contact Labor Archivist Conor Casey! Interested more generally in conducting research at the UW Libraries Special Collections? View our website for more information about hours and how to prepare for your visit!
