Portland State University Library's Special Collections

Special Collections is home to over 5,500 rare, unique or historically significant items dating from the 15th century to the present and encompassing a broad range of formats including books, journals, manuscripts, papers and records, photographs, maps, comic books, audio-visual material, realia and ephemera.

Special Collections is a rich and rewarding resource for students, faculty and the community and all are encouraged to consult with library staff to identify how Special Collections might enhance your creative and scholarly work.

Highlights from Special Collections include:

The Portland State Comics Collection featuring the Dark Horse Collection

Archival collections documenting Oregon public leadership and planning, including the papers of elected leaders Avel Gordly, Gretchen Kafoury, Vera Katz, and Barbara Roberts and urban planner Ernie Bonner

The Middle East Studies collection of rare imprints dating from the 1600s to the 1960s and including materials in English, French, German, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Ottoman and Modern Turkish

The Judaic Studies collection including over 130 original yizkor (Holocaust memorial) books, the most significant collection of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.

Medieval manuscripts; incunabula leaves; primary documents of African American history; materials on the history of Oregon; early American imprints; and books and journals related to contemporary American literature

Records for all of Special Collections holdings are included in the library catalog.

Special collection items are non-circulating and available by appointment only. Please consult the reading room policies and then contact Special Collections at specialcollections@lists.pdx.edu or 503.725.9883 for an appointment.

Special Collections
Millar Library 180
Portland State University
503.725.9883
specialcollections@lists.pdx.edu