Preserving the History of Recreational and Scientific Diving
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The history of recreational skin and scuba diving in North America only dates back to the 1930's. Many of the people who were there in those formative years have passed on now and it is now more important than ever to protect all this valuable history for future generations.
The Pacific Northwest Diving History Association was formed in 2011 by a group of divers that have a passion for preserving the history of the industry.
The collection includes the Scuba America Archives, The Skin Diver Magazine Research Library, Flashback Scuba, and the personal collections of numerous pioneer divers.
The museum facility is located in Tacoma, WA and was started and is managed by Ryan Spence. It includes one of the finest collections of Cousteau equipment and ephemera in the world and plans are in the works to expand the collection to highlight the contributions of Northwest divers to the recreational and scientific community both locally and worldwide. Visit the museum's website to learn more.
The Scuba America Archives include over 500 interviews with diving pioneers as well as thousands of photographs, books, documents, and other items detailing the human history of diving in America. The collection is the result of 40 years of research by diving pioneers Albert Tillman and Zale Parry.
The Skin Diver Magazine Research Library consists of the books that were accumulated by the pioneering dive magazine by the same name. The magazine was started by Chuck Blakeslee and Jim Auxier in 1951 but the books date from the 1930s up until the final printed issue of the magazine in 2002.