The effort, particularly the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, has garnered praise for the breadth of primary and secondary resources made available and its joint creation by academics, community members and hundreds of students.
Labor History Encyclopedia for the Pacific Northwest draws together the resources available on the other sites and adds additional information on workers from the many industries and communities of the region.
A unique, collaborative process has also given community members greater control over content than traditional academic research and created more investment by students in their work.
Video oral histories are a key part of the projects, showing first-hand perspectives that are placed alongside original academic essays and digitized historical materials.
[1] The Projects have also focused on outreach to Washington's public schools, working with educators to design curriculums using the materials to teach students about the sometimes forgotten history of labor and civil rights in the Northwest and fulfill State requirements.