Helen Addison Howard Papers

Helen Addison Howard Papers, 1934-1989

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Howard, Helen Addison
Title: Helen Addison Howard Papers
Dates: 1934-1989 (inclusive)
19341989
Quantity: 3 containers., (2.5 linear feet of shelf space.), (50 items.)
Collection Number: Cage 197
Summary: Manuscripts of War Chief Joseph (1941) and Saga of Chief Joseph (1965) and published articles on western history.
Repository: Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research use.
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

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.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

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.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 197, Helen Addison Howard Papers. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in three series, reflecting the diverse nature of the items included in it.

Acquisition Information

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).

Processing Note

Robert W. Hadlow processed the 1990 accession and reprocessed Cage 197 in February and March 1994. Both collections are combined as Cage 197.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series 1. Manuscripts of BooksReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description
		Manuscript of War Chief Joseph
Box	Folder
1	1	Introduction and Chapter 1
1	2	Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5
1	3	Chapters 6, 7, 8
1	4	Chapters 9, 10
1	5	Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14
1	6	Chapters 15, 16, 17, 18
1	7	Chapters 19, 20, 21, 22
1	8	Chapters 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, Appendix
1	9	Notes
1	10	Bibliography and Index
		Manuscript of Saga of Chief Joseph
Box	Folder
1	11	Introduction and Chapters 1, 2, 3
1	12	Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7
1	13	Chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
1	14	Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16
1	15	Chapters 17, 18, 19, 20
2	16	Chapters 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
2	17	Appendices, Bibliography, Index, Revisions, etc.

Series 2. Correspondence and Miscellaneous ItemsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
2	18	The UY Ranch: Reminiscences of a Montana Stockman's Wife, 1912-1921, by Helen Addison Howard, Manhattan, KS: Sunflower University Press	1989
2	19	Sales Brochure, Sunflower University Press, listing The UY Ranch.	1989
2	20	The Courier's Ordeal, True West, photocopy	July-August 1966
2	21	A Divided Command Doomed The Nez Perces, Frontier Times, photocopy	August-September 1967
2	22	The Puzzle of Baptiste Charbonneau, Frontier Times, photocopy	June-July 1970
2	23	Did Chief Joseph Slay Mrs. Manuel? Frontier Times, photocopy	December-January 1972
2	24	Original copies of preceding four articles
		Correspondence
Box	Folder
2	25	War Chief Joseph,	1934-1949
2	26	Placemats, the Chief Coffee Shop, Florence Hotel, Missoula, Montana	1954
2	27	Saga of Chief Joseph, book orders	1965
2	28	Copyright infringement Hear Me, My Chiefs, NBC Radio Theatre Production	1949
2	29	Copyrighting and Movie Rights to War Chief Joseph,	1952-1961
2	30	Grace Bartlett	1968-1972
2	31	Nettie Connell	1955
2	32	J. H. Horner	1941-1948
2	33	McGrath Family	1941-1945
2	34	Miscellaneous concerning War Chief Joseph
2	35	Stephen Perry Jocelyn	1947-1953
2	36	Lew L. Callaway	1947
2	37	Vilhjalmur Stefansson	1953
2	38	M. Stubblefield, re: War Chief Joseph	1941
2	39	E. Jurenne Poe	1961
2	40	Raymond R. Carlson	1962-1963
2	41	Miscellaneous	1947-1979
Box	Folder
2	42	Newspaper Clippings

Series 3. Maps, Photographs, DrawingsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
3	43	Miscellaneous Photographs and Negatives used in Howard's books
3	44	Miscellaneous Drawings and Maps used in Howard's books
3	45	Placemats, The Chief Coffee Shop, the Florence Hotel, Missoula, Montana	1954

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Indians of North America--Northwest, Pacific--Wars

Personal Names

Howard, Helen Addison --Archives (creator)
Joseph, Nez Percé Chief, 1840-1904

Corporate Names

Nez Percé Indians--Wars, 1877

Titles within the Collection

Saga of Chief Joseph
War Chief Joseph

Archives West Finding Aid

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