Herbert Neil (1912-2009) was a graduate of Kennewick (WA) High School, and received a bachelor's degree in general studies from Washington State College in 1936, after attending Spokane University for two years on a baseball scholarship. He became acting editor of the Washington State College agricultural extension newspaper in the early 1940s. While visiting Portland, he met Mary Wensky at a swimming pool. The couple married in 1946 and settled in Pullman.
Mary Wensky Neil (1918-1992) graduated from high school in Wyoming, and worked for a time in Washington, D.C. for the Internal Revenue Service. After moving to Pullman, she worked at Washington State College as secretary for the Sociology Department, and during that time she earned degrees in general studied (1962) and education (1963). She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Kappa Delta. She taught at Edison Elementary School in Pullman, and went on to earn her M.A. in teaching from Purdue University, retiring from teaching in 1981.
Herbert and Mary Neil papers, including correspondence, diaries, notes for an unpublished fiction project, miscellaneous papers, and diplomas. Most of the diaries have a large quantity of insertions (primarily correspondence), and some of the Herbert Neil diaries have indexes in the front of the volume.
This is an unprocessed collection. Any arrangement reflects either a pre-existing order from the records' creators or previous custodians, or preliminary sorting performed by staff.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
Preliminary Guide to the Herbert and Mary Neil Papers, circa 1938-2009 (MS.2009.35)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
This collection was donated to the Washington State University Libraries by the estate of Herbert Neil (via Sharon Yount, co-executor) in 2009 (MS-2009-35). Additional materials were received in 2010 (Herb Neil diary, 1935-1943) and 2015 (Herb Neil diary, 2007).
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.