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Payette Lakes Progressive Club Scrapbook, 1947 MSS 233
In 1947, the Payette Lakes Progressive Club, a women’s organization in
McCall, Idaho, solicited Idaho authors for letters in return describing “Who
are all of you and what made you into authors and poets?
And what has Idaho to do with it?”
The project organizer, Mrs. William Reitmeir, described the club as “a
handful of women in a community civic club” who were “making an effort to
acquaint ourselves with this, our state of Idaho.”
Responses from 19 authors were placed in a 72-page scrapbook, most of
which was filled with typewritten copies of poems by them (and other Idaho
poets) and scenic photographs of the Payette Lakes region.
The scrapbook is entitled “Idaho’s Heritage in Literature.”
The scrapbook was preserved over the years by Frances Elizabeth
(“Jackie”) Brooks, who at the time lived in McCall and operated Brooks
Hardware with her husband, Orville P. Brooks.
They subsequently moved to Baker, Oregon, and then Caldwell, Idaho, where
Brooks taught school. Jackie Brooks died in January 2004 at the age of 95, and her
daughters, Cynthia Webster and Mary K. Ballard, presented the scrapbook to Boise
State University.
The letters from authors range from very brief and businesslike, offering
only a listing of their works (such as Vardis Fisher’s postcard), to more
detailed and reflective. Among the
letters in the latter category are ones from Ruth Gipson Plowhead, Sister M.
Alfreda Elsensohn, Irene Puckett McEwen, and Horatio Hamilton Miller.
A full list of letters, and the page of the scrapbook on which they
appear, is appended. Mrs. William
Reitmeier appears to have coordinated the project, as many of the letters from
authors are addressed to her.
Among the other projects of the Payette Lakes Progressive Club was
stocking a shelf of books by Idaho authors in the McCall library, and
publication of a cook book (1948). Boise
State University has little more information about the club.
A photo of Jackie Brooks and her friend Lela McCreight with fishing gear
(1930s?) was copied from Cynthia Webster’s personal collection and added to
this manuscript collection.
--Alan Virta Authors represented by Letters or postcards, and the page number in the Scrapbook Note: There
are also typewritten copies of poems by many of these authors, and others, as
well. Bird, Annie Laurie. 65 Darrow, Laura Edith. Loose Elsensohn, M. Alfreda, Sister. 37 Fisher, Amy Woodward. 63 Fisher, Vardis. 33 Gibby, George E. 39 Grissom, Irene Welch.. 71 Hall, Carrie A. 31 Hays, Arthur Homer. 32 Ingalls, Meta Louise. 67 Martin, Julia M. 53 Martin, Orianne. 59 McEwen, Inez Puckett. 43 Miller, H.H. 61 Plowhead, Ruth Gipson. 41 Reid, Agnes Just. 45 Smith, Bess Foster. 47 Snell, George. 60 Talkington, H.L. 35 N.B.: A piece of printed sheet music, “My Home in Idaho,” by Bobby Garry Bailey, which was inserted into the scrapbook, was removed and cataloged separately for Special Collections. Return to Special Collection
homepage For questions or comments about this page, contact: Special Collections Department This page last changed: 29 July 2004 |
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