Details, elevations, plans and sections. Pencil on tissue.

This series consists of personal materials and includes academic materials and ephemera from William Finley's student days at the University of California, William and Irene Finley's 1906 wedding book, and Phoebe Finley's notebook on costume design from the 1920s.

Series VIII consists of several of Finley's motion picture films and related materials, such as film ownership notes, lecture posters, title lists and title placards. The films are silent, black and white 35mm safety film copies of earlier nitrate films and are grouped into three subseries. The first group consists of six films of the Pacific Northwest and Montana and date from 1927 to circa 1930. They document forests, Bonneville Dam, waterfowl, salmon, Crater Lake, and elk and mountain goats in Montana. The second group consists of five Alaska films documenting the Finleys' 1926 Alaska trip, various Aleutian Islands, Kenai, and Mt. McKinley. The third group consists of short film segments. They show the Finleys on board a ship, probably from one of their Alaska trips, and in Arizona and New Mexico. The latter includes footage of cactus and desert wildlife and birds. All films have been transferred and include a BetaSP or MiniDV duplication master and a VHS or DVD use copy. Most of the films have been made available online.

This series consists of trip notes, most of which pertain to the Finleys' 1926 Alaska trip. Other notes document a 1931 Alaska trip by Arthur Pack and William Alakangas, a 1929 trip to Arizona and New Mexico, a 1927-28 trip to the eastern United States, and a 1938 trip to Oregon's Paulina Lake.

Photograph album of aerial photographs taken by Brubaker Aerial Surveys of Portland, Or. of the Pacific coasts of Oregon and Washington, circa 1926-1939. The photographs begin at Willapa Bay and Long Beach, Wash. and continue south to Brookings, Or. and the mouth of the Chetco River. Includes aerial views of the Columbia River, Cannon Beach, Coos Bay, Heceta Head, Neahkahnie Mountain, the Nehalem River, the Nestucca River, Netarts Bay, the Rogue River, the Umpqua River, Yaquina Head and the Oregon towns of Astoria, Bandon, Coquille, De Lake, Florence, Gearhart, Gold Beach, Newport, Rockaway Beach, Port Orford, Seaside, Tillamook, Toledo, Waldport, and Yachats, among many other places.

This series consists of photographs and a painting. The bulk of the photographs are prints used in or similar to those in Finley's American Birds, taken by Finley and/or Herman Bohlman. Other photographs depict wildlife, including bears, mountain goats, birds and wolves; fish ladders at Bonneville Dam; and the Finleys and their children and grandchildren.

This series consists of correspondence between William Finley and individuals in agencies, associations, commissions, academic institutions, and societies such as the National Association of Audubon Societies, state and federal Departments of Fish and Game, and the State of Oregon, as well as individuals, including Theodore Roosevelt and Oregon Governor Oswald West. It also includes correspondence related to the drafting of a bill proposal for a new State Fish and Game Commission for Oregon, and Finley’s subsequent appointment as Chairman, as well as bills for wild bird protection that led to the establishment of Oregon’s first wildlife refuges and private land reserves. Also included is correspondence between William and Irene Finley, between the Finleys and Campbell Church, pertaining to the Finleys' 1926 Alaska trip. Other topics addressed in the correspondence are exchanges with journal editors concerning Finley’s articles and photographs; Finley’s inquiries about providing lectures for a planned Midwest and East Coast trip that was later cancelled due to illness; requests for his photographs and requests for lectures. Also represented is the issue of illegal sale of hats using wild bird feathers at millineries in San Francisco and Los Angeles leading to the loss of species; Finley’s concerns regarding the attempted removal of meadowlark protection in California, due to a public perception that they negatively impact agriculture; arrangement and negotiation of a traveling demonstration train for the purpose of wild bird educational exhibits (activism).

Series IV consists of radio talks and brochures, clippings and ephemera pertaining to Finley's film lectures.

This series consists of typewritten and handwritten manuscripts of newspaper and magazine articles, books, lecture notes, circa 1910-1942. Some were submitted to publications such as Pacific Monthly, Sunset Magazine, Century and Nature Magazine. Many describe particular species of birds. Authors include William L. Finley, Irene Finley, Phoebe Finley, Kenneth Reid, and Ed Averill.

Negatives documenting company activities, including electrical infrastructure, employees, power generation and distribution throughout Portland, the Willamette Valley and the Oregon Cascade Range. Additional general images include streetcars and trains, street lighting, power line installation, Rose Festival floats, office buildings, car barns and bridges. Of particular note are dam building projects at Bull Run and along the Clackamas River (1910-1930), and early electric stations in Oregon City at Willamette Falls.

This series contains photographs of steelworkers and equipment detailing the steel casting process used for making large steel components for Liberty Ships constructed in Portland (Or.) area shipyards during World War II.

Supplemental descriptive information contributed in 2019 by Chris Horn, Facilities Director for Columbia Steel.

Photographs, circa 1920 to 1940, of people, places, objects, and activities related to religion, faith, and worship, predominantly Christian. Approximately half the images are portraits of clergy and places of worship, some of which are unidentified. The photographs also document events and activities, including the Marian Congress, held in Portland from August 12-15, 1934, at the Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother (The Grotto) in Portland; processions at St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, both in Portland; and baptism ceremonies in the Columbia River.

This series consists of publications, including typescripts and newspaper clippings of articles written by William and Irene Finley and Ed Averill for the Oregon Journal and the Sunday Oregonianbetween 1935 and 1945 The articles describe bird, fish and mammal species, wildlife refuges, and trips taken by the Finleys. Some are editorial in nature, such as advocating for a new Portland zoo or calling for certain limits on hunting. The series also includes articles written for Nature, National Geographic, and other publications.