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Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Pullman, WA 99164-5610 USA
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Cage 197
Helen Addison Howard
Papers, 1934-89

Helen Addison Howard gave the Washington State University Libraries a substantial portion of this collection in 1941 and between 1965 and 1972. It was catalogued as Cage 197. More recently, in 1990, Helen Addison Howard's niece, Barbara Howard Finn, of Missoula, Montana, donated one linear foot of related materials (accessioned as MS 90-61). Robert W. Hadlow processed the 1990 accession and reprocessed Cage 197 in February and March 1994. Both collections are combined as Cage 197.

Number of containers: 3
Linear feet of shelf space: 2.5

BIOGRAPHY

Helen Addison Howard (Mrs. Ben Overland) was a writer of western U.S. history. She published two books on Chief Joseph and was one of several 1930s and 1940s writers who authored works on the Nez Perce. Howard also wrote on other Western topics, the last of which was a booklength manuscript entitled ``The UY Ranch: Reminiscences of a Montana Stockman's Wife: 1912-1921." The Sunflower University Press of Manhattan, Kansas, published it posthumously in 1989. Howard was born in Missoula, Montana, in 1904. She studied history at the University of Montana (called Montana State University at that time), under the direction of Paul C. Phillips. Howard received a master's degree in history at the University of Southern California. Since the 1930s, she made her home in Burbank, California. Howard continued to write up to her death from cancer in 1989.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

This collection is arranged in three series, reflecting the diverse nature of the items included in it. The Howard Papers consists principally of two book-length manuscripts ("War Chief Joseph" and "Saga of Chief Joseph"); correspondence between Howard and several other local and regional historians, and others; and maps, photographs, and drawings used in Howard's books, and paper placemats with a Native American motif used by the Florence Hotel, Missoula, Montana. During the mid-1930s, Helen Addison Howard researched and wrote her first book-length manuscript, "War Chief Joseph." Caxton Printers of Caldwell, Idaho, published it in 1941. The volume was reissued in 1958. Howard later made extensive revisions to "War Chief Joseph" and published the revised work as "Saga of Chief Joseph" in 1958. The Helen Addison Howard Papers comprises all items accessioned at several points since 1941, except for an autographed copy of "Saga of Chief Joseph," published in 1965. This volume was separated from the collection and is shelved in the rare books section of the WSU Libraries--Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.

SERIES LIST

                                                     CONTAINERS
 
   Series 1. Manuscripts of Books                         1-2
 
   Series 2. Correspondence and Miscellaneous Items         2
 
   Series 3. Maps, Photographs, Drawings                    3

CONTAINER LIST
 
BOX   FOLDER    DESCRIPTION 
 
 1             Manuscript of "War Chief Joseph"
        1          Introduction and Chapter 1
        2          Chapters 2, 3, 4, & 5
        3          Chapters 6, 7,& 8
        4          Chapters 9 & 10
        5          Chapters 11, 12, 13, & 14
        6          Chapters 15, 16, 17, & 18
        7          Chapters 19, 20, 21, & 22
        8          Chapters 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, & Appendix
        9          Notes
       10          Bibliography and Index
               Manuscript of "Saga of Chief Joseph"
       11          Introduction and Chapters 1, 2, & 3
       12          Chapters 4, 5, 6, & 7
       13          Chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12
       14          Chapters 13, 14, 15, & 16
       15          Chapters 17, 18, 19, & 20

BOX   FOLDER    DESCRIPTION 
 
 2     16          Chapters 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, & 27
       17          Appendices, Bibliography, Index, Revisions, etc.
       18      "The UY Ranch: Reminiscences of a Montana Stockman's
                 Wife, 1912-1921," by Helen Addison Howard,
                 Manhattan, KS: Sunflower University Press, 1989.
       19      Sales Brochure, Sunflower University Press, c.1989,
                 listing "The UY Ranch."
       20      "The Courier's Ordeal," TRUE WEST, July-August 1966,
                 photocopy
       21      "A Divided Command Doomed The Nez Perces," FRONTIER
                 TIMES, August-September 1967, photocopy
       22      "The Puzzle of Baptiste Charbonneau," FRONTIER TIMES,
                 June-July 1970, photocopy
       23      "Did Chief Joseph Slay Mrs. Manuel?" FRONTIER TIMES,
                 December-January 1972, photocopy
       24      Original copies of preceding four articles
               Correspondence
       25          "War Chief Joseph," 1934-49
       26          Placemats, the "Chief" Coffee Shop, Florence Hotel,
                     Missoula, Montana, 1954
       27          "Saga of Chief Joseph," book orders, 1965
       28          Copyright infringement "Hear Me, My Chiefs," NBC
                     Radio Theatre Production, 1949
       29          Copyrighting and Movie Rights to "War Chief Joseph,"
                     1952-61
       30          Grace Bartlett, 1968-72
       31          Nettie Connell, 1955
       32          J. H. Horner, 1941-48
       33          McGrath Family, 1941-45
       34          Miscellaneous concerning "War Chief Joseph"
       35          Stephen Perry Jocelyn, 1947-53
       36          Lew L. Callaway, 1947
       37          Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 1953
       38          M. Stubblefield, 1941, re: "War Chief Joseph"
       39          E. Jurenne Poe, 1961
       40          Raymond R. Carlson, 1962-63
       41          Miscellaneous, 1947-79
       42     Newspaper Clippings
 
BOX   FOLDER    DESCRIPTION 

 3     43     Miscellaneous Photographs and Negatives used in Howard's
                books
       44     Miscellaneous Drawings and Maps used in Howard's books
       45     Placemats, The Chief Coffee Shop, the Florence Hotel,
                Missoula, Montana, 1954.