Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Joseph Kinsey Howard Collection, 1937-1945
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Howard, Joseph Kinsey, 1906-1951
- Title
- Joseph Kinsey Howard Collection
- Dates
- 1937-1945 (inclusive)19371945
- Quantity
- 1.0 linear foot
- Collection Number
- Mss 236 (collection)
- Summary
- Joseph Kinsey Howard was a Montana author. The collection consists primarily of galley proofs and other materials relating to Howard's books.
- Repository
-
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Joseph Kinsey Howard was born February 28, 1906, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He moved to Great Falls, Montana, in 1918 when he was 12 years old. Howard spent the rest of his life in and around Great Falls. After high school graduation, he worked for the Great Falls Leader, an afternoon daily newspaper. At age 20, he was promoted to copy desk editor, and he stayed in that position until he left the newspaper in 1944. In 1936, Howard led the successful effort to start the Great Falls Newspaper Guild, a union that secured higher wages and improved benefits for its members.
In the late 1930s, Howard began writing articles about Montana for Survey Graphic and the Progressive. Yale University Press noted these articles and offered him a book contract for a history of Montana. After five years of work, Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome was published in 1943. The book harshly criticized the Anaconda Copper Mining Company's domination of Montana, won him critical acclaim and went into ten printings.
In 1944 and 1945, Howard worked with sociologist Baker Brownell on the Montana Study, an effort to improve cultural life in Montana's rural towns. This inspired his second book, Montana Margins: A State Anthology. He continued writing for national magazines. In 1947, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship that enabled him to write his last book, Strange Empire: A Narrative of the Northwest. Kinsey helped form the Montana Institute of the Arts and planned writing conferences at The University of Montana. Kinsey died of a heart attack in Choteau, Montana, at the age of 45 in 1951.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The collection contains materials for the works Montana: High Wide and Handsome (including final publishers typescript and galley proofs), Montana Margins: A State Anthology (publishers typescript), What Happened in Butte (publishers typescript), and Crops by Campbell (publishers typescript). It includes the publishers typescript of Montana Twins in Trouble, which appeared in Harper's Magazine in September 1944, a critical analysis of the interrelationships between the Montana Power Company and the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. There is also a copy of a statement Howard made before the subcommittee of the Senate Irrigation and Reclamation Committee on September 22, 1945. In addition, there are materials related to Montana: High, Wide and Handsome that were apparently used in an exhibit at The University of Montana (then Montana State University) before 1965.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.
Preferred Citation
[Name of document or photograph number], Joseph Kinsey Howard Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series:
Series I: Manuscripts and Galley Proofs, 1943-1945
Series II: Montana: High Wide and Handsome Exhibit Materials, 1937-1944
Custodial History
Howard offered the publishers typescript of Montana Twins in Trouble to Kathleen Campbell, librarian at Montana State University, in 1946. Much of the material in the collection appears to have been part of an exhibit, probably done by Campbell, at Montana State University before 1965. The provenance of the remainder of the collection is unknown.
Acquisition Information
Gift, in part, of Joseph Kinsey Howard, 1946.
Processing Note
The actions of the original processors are unknown. In 1997, the collection was re-described.
Related Materials
The Montana Historical Society holds a collection of Howard materials.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series I: Manuscripts and Galley Proofs , 1943-1945 Return to Top
This series consists of the publishers typescripts of Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome, Montana Margins, What Happened in Butte, and Crops by Campbell. There are also the galley proofs for Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome. All contain significant editorial and proofreader's marks in a number of hands.
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 |
Crops by Campbell
|
undated |
1/2 |
Montana Margins, publishers typescript, pp. 1-150
|
undated |
1/3 |
Montana Margins, publishers typescript, pp.
151-301 |
undated |
1/4 |
Montana Margins, publishers typescript, pp.
302-450 |
undated |
1/5 |
Montana Margins, publishers typescript, pp.
451-601 |
undated |
1/6 |
Montana Margins, publishers typescript, pp.
602-end |
undated |
1/7 |
Montana Twins in Trouble
|
undated |
1/8 | Statement before Senate Committee
on Irrigation |
1945 |
1/9 |
What Happened in Butte
|
undated |
Series II: Montana: High Wide and Handsome Exhibit Materials , 1937-1944Return to Top
This series consists of materials and titles used in an exhibit at Montana State University before 1965. It includes the 1937 Howard article that inspired the book, his original outlines and synopses for the book, and several pages of drafts and corrections. Exhibit titles are mixed with the Howard manuscripts and are arranged in the order in which they appeared in the exhibit.
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/10 | Exhibit title signs |
undated |
1/11 | J. K. Howard, "Shutdown on the
Hill."
Survey Graphic
|
October 1937. |
2/1 | Outline for book |
ca. 1935-1936 |
2/2 | Carbon of synopsis for book
|
ca. 1939 |
2/3 | Research notes |
undated |
2/4 | Postcard, Evan W. Hall
|
1943 |
2/5 | Permission to quote and check,
Macmillan Company |
1943 |
2/6 | Page from rough draft
|
undated |
2/7 | Draft of p. 126 |
undated |
2/8 | Corrections |
1944 |
2/9 |
Montana: High, Wide and Handsome, publishers
typescript, pp. 1-100 |
1943 |
2/10 |
Montana: High, Wide and Handsome, publishers
typescript pp. 101-225 |
1943 |
2/11 |
Montana: High, Wide and Handsome, publishers
typescript, pp. 226-350 |
1943 |
2/12 |
Montana: High, Wide and Handsome, publishers
typescript, 351 - end |
1943 |
2/13 |
Montana: High, Wide and Handsome, galley proofs
|
1943 |
2/14 |
Montana: High, Wide and Handsome, galley proofs
|
1943 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Corporate Names
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation
Geographical Names
- Montana
Occupations
- Authors, American--Montana--Great Falls