Born April 23, 1918 in Waterville, Washington, Lloyd R. Bell worked as an educator and public servant in the state of Washington throughout the 1900s. While living as a child with his mother and brother in Winthrop in Okanogan County, Bell became afflicted with a sudden illness which caused his legs to cease functioning. In 1932, a fall resulted in complete paralysis of his legs. Bell began a year and a half long stay at the Seattle Orthopedic Children's Hospital, while there he met President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was visiting the hospital on a tour of the region. Bell regained the use of his legs and returned home to Winthrop.
From 1939 to 1945 Bell attended the Eastern Washington College of Education where he earned a degree in education and teacher certification. Bell taught seventh grade history in Ritzville Washington for two years, marrying Amy Moody in the summer of 1945. In 1947 Bell earned a Master in History from the University of Washington, shortly after becoming a history professor and the chair of the social studies department for the Wenatchee Junior College. While working in Wenatchee, Bell took a part time job teaching in the Stehekin School, a one-room school in Stehekin, a small town just outside of Wenatchee. In 1952, dissatisfied with national politics, Bell took a year off from teaching while volunteering to support the presidential candidacy of Adlai Stevenson. Although Stevenson lost to Eisenhower, this was the beginning of Bell's journey into politics.
After teaching in both the Wenatchee Junior College and Stehekin School for several years, Bell left education in 1959 when he became the clerk for the Washington House Democratic Caucus. He served in this position until 1963, and it was in this period that Bell became a father after adopting his daughter Caitlin in 1960. Following his position as Caucus Clerk Bell became the Supervisor of Interpretive Services for the Washington State Parks and Recreation Department where he constructed the Federal Forest, Dry Falls, and Spokane House Interpretive Centers. This position only lasted two years. In 1967 Bell was given a position as Administrative Assistant to Bert Cole the Commissioner of Public Lands for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and while Bell and Cole disagreed on many political topics, Bell served this role for 13 years. In 1979 Bell retired to the home he and his wife had built in Stehekin, where he spent his time fishing, writing books about Stehekin as well as an autobiography titled An Examined Life, and traveling as part of the Seniors Club. Bell died March 16, 2001 in Clallam County, Washington.
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Lloyd and Amy Bell papers; SPC 014-0716; Archives & Special Collections, Eastern Washington University.
This collection has been organized into nine series, all have been arranged at the file level. Series 1: Published materials. Series 2: Professional papers. Series 3: Research files. Series 4: Correspondence. Series 5: Travel. Series 6: Calendars. Series 7: World War I memorabilia. Series 8: Guest books. Series 9: Yearbooks.
The Lloyd and Amy Bell papers consists of published works by Lloyd Bell and others, including the following: Beyond Worlds; Examined Life; Fishing Stehekin Waters; Stehekin: A Woman's Perspective; Stehekin Book of Months; Tales of the Trail. This collection also includes professional and political papers of Lloyd and Amy Bell pertaining to Bell's work in the United States Democratic Party's presidential campaigns and work with the House of Representatives from 1959 to 1988. Other items in this collection include political memorabilia, and articles and research on Stehekin and politics. This collection also includes correspondence between Lloyd and Amy Bell from 1943-1998, photographs from their travels to Australia, Russia, and Great Britain, World War I memorabilia, calendars that belonged to the Bells, and annotated yearbooks from Eastern Washington College of Education and Wenatchee Junior College from 1942 to 1954.
This series consists of copies of published works by Lloyd Bell and others.
This series consists of professional and political papers of Lloyd and Amy Bell while working with the United States Democratic Party campaigns. Other related documents may be found in the research and correspondence files.
This series consists of materials and research related to Lloyd and Amy Bell's various interests, including their time as students at Eastern Washington College of Education.
This series contains correspondence between Lloyd and Amy Bell. While the majority is personal, some professional correspondence is also included.
This series consists of materials related to Lloyd and Amy Bell's travels.
This series consists of calendars maintained by the Bells. Some seem to be related to a project documenting events in Stehekin.
This series consists of hats and other memorabilia related to World War I.
This series consists of guest books belonging to Lloyd and Amy Bell.
This series consists of annotated yearbooks from Eastern Washington College of Education, as well as yearbooks from Wenatchee Junior College, and Entiat High School (Silico Saska).