Boise Hotline, Inc.
Records, 1971-1993
MSS 171
The Boise Hotline was a telephone listening and referral service that operated in Boise, Idaho, from 1970 to 1990. Originally intended for young people, its clientele soon widened as it received calls from all age groups. In a fundraising brochure the Hotline was described as a "non-specialized crisis line" and " an anonymous, non-judgmental and non-directive telephone listening service." Call statistics compiled during 1974 and 1975 reveal that loneliness, depression, family and marital problems, and sexual and dating concerns prompted most of the calls. Other topics included birth control, pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, and occasional suicide threats. Volunteer Hotline operators were trained to listen to caller concerns, talk through their problems with them, and to refer callers to social and medical service providers if appropriate.
The founding of the Boise Hotline was told in two issues of the Boise City Herald-Tribune (Folders 1 and 2). Its beginnings exemplify the grassroots social activism of the 1960s and early 1970s. The Hotline was started on a shoestring, with an all-volunteer staff spearheaded by Boise High School students. The Community Action Project funded the first phone line. Local businesses and service organizations provided facilities and funding for a part-time organizer. By 1977 the Hotline operated on a budget of approximately $10,000 per year, most of which was contributed by the United Way. When the United Way declined to renew the Hotline’s funding for 1990, it ceased operations.
The records of the Boise Hotline contained in this collection are scattered and fragmentary, but they reveal the philosophy, workings, and many of the problems of the organization. Volunteer training, operator scheduling, chronic callers, fundraising, and security for volunteer workers were concerns.
Also included with the collection are early minutes of a successor organization, the Suicide Prevention Hotline, which began operating in Boise in 1992, and of the Idaho Hotline Association, later renamed the Idaho Helpline Association. Incorporated in 1973, the IHA was a federation of hotlines operating in Idaho. The IHA operated no phonelines itself, but coordinated training and other common activities. Glimpses of hotline activities in cities other than Boise are revealed in the IHA records.
These records came to Boise State University in two groups. The records in Group One, dating from the 1970s, were the gift of the estate of Thomas (Tam)Young, onetime executive director of the Boise Hotline, in 1998. They were transferred from his estate through Julie Kreiensieck, whose late daughter, Talka Kreiensieck, was a volunteer and member of the board of the Boise Hotline. A few papers of Talka Kreiensieck have been added to Group One. The records in Group Two, dating from the 1980s and 1990s, were donated in 1999 by Dr. Peter Wollheim of the Boise State University Communication Department.
Inclusive dates: 1971-1993
Collection size: 1/2 ft. (in 2 boxes)
Processed by: Alan Virta, 1998 and 2000
Inventory of the Collection
Group One: Records from 1971to 1980 (Folders 1 to 33)
Boise Hotline, Inc.
Folder 1 History (Part 1), from the Boise City Herald (1971)
Folder 2 History (Part 2), from the Boise City Herald (1971)
Folder 3 Brochure
Folder 4 The Chronical (newsletter) (October 1973)
Folder 5 The Chronical (newsletter) (December 1973)
Folder 6 Minutes (1975-1976)
Folder 7 Minutes (1978)
Folder 8 Call statistics (1974-1976)
Folder 9 Financial reports (1975-1980)
Folder 10 Rosters
Folder 11 Rosters: Crash pads
Folder 12 Rosters: Miscellaneous
Idaho Hotline Association
Folder 13 General material
Folder 14 Articles of incorporation (1973)
Folder 15 Bylaws (1973)
Folder 16 Financial statements (1974)
Folder 17 Fundraising papers (1974)
Folder 18 Flyers and brochures
Folder 19 Minutes and monthly reports (1974-1975)
Folder 20 Memoranda (1974-1975)
Folder 21 Name change (1974)
Folder 22 Newsletter (“Mainstream”) (1974)
Folder 23 Personnel (1974)
Folder 24 Service description: Proposal (1974)
Folder 25 Endorsements (1974)
Folder 26 Service contract (1974)
Folder 27 Commentary on state drug plan (1974)
Folder 28 Technical assistance descriptions
Folder 29 Training programs (1974-1975)
Folder 30 Volunteer training proposal (J. Martin Seidenfeld) (1974)
Folder 31 Miscellaneous
Papers of Talka Kreiensieck
Folder 32 Notes for presentation at IHA board meeting, June 1974; with notes on other presentations
Folder 33 Letter about Thomas “Tam” Young
Group Two: Records from 1989-1993 (Folders 34 to 59)
Boise Hotline, Inc.
Folder 34 Bylaws (1983-1989)
Folder 35 Meeting file (1987)
Folder 36 Meeting file (1988 Jun 8)
Folder 37 Meeting file (1988 Sep 8)
Folder 38 Meeting file (1988 Dec 8)
Folder 39 Meeting file (1989 Mar 8)
Folder 40 Meeting file (1989 Jun 8)
Folder 41 Meeting file (1989 Sep 12)
Folder 42 Meeting file (1989 Dec 7)
Folder 43 Meeting file (1990 Mar 21)
Folder 44 Brochures, forms (1980s)
Folder 45 Call statistics (1986-87)
Folder 46 Financial report, 1987 (1988)
Folder 47 Miscellaneous (1987-89)
Folder 48 Training material
Folder 49 Treasurer's reports (1988-89)
Folder 50 Mountain Bell / US West Foundation (1988-89)
Folder 51 Nicholson, Jim (President) (1986-88)
Folder 52 St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center (1988)
Folder 53 United Way funding, 1987
Folder 54 United Way funding, 1988
Folder 55 United Way funding, 1989
Folder 56 United Way funding, 1990
Other Organizations
Folder 57 Canyon County Suicide Prevention Hotline (1992)
Folder 58 Gay and Lesbian Talkline proposal (1992?)
Folder 59 Suicide Prevention Hotline (1992-1993)
Box 2 Loose-leaf notebook with Boise Hotline bumper stickers attached (1970s)
Box 2 Extra Boise Hotline brochures (1980s)