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Biographical Note Norman Brown Adkison, educator and author, was born March 31, 1886, at Grangeville, Idaho. He was the son of pioneer parents, John Riley Adkison and Harriett Brown Adkison. He attended Grangeville High School and graduated with honors from the University of Idaho in 1907. In the years immediately following his graduation, he taught in Denver, Idaho, and at Grangeville High School, also serving as superintendent at Denver and principal at Grangeville.
In 1910 he was invited to become head of the science department at the
Idaho Academy in Pocatello. The school was soon renamed the Idaho Technical
Institute, and later became Idaho State University. Adkison remained at Idaho
Technical Institute during the school’s formative years, until 1923. Besides
his teaching duties, he served as dean of men and established the pharmacy
department, now the Pharmacy School at I.S.U. While
on the faculty of Idaho Technical Institute, he studied during the summers at
Columbia University in New York, earning a masters degree in chemistry in 1919. Adkison left Idaho Technical Institute in 1923 to become secretary to Idaho Governor Charles C. Moore, serving as speechwriter and general political aide. He worked for Governor Moore until 1925, when he became secretary-manager of the Idaho Home Industries Association. In that position he founded and edited the association magazine, “Golden Idaho” through 1934, retaining the position during service in Washington, D.C. (1931-1932) as secretary to U.S. Senator John Thomas. The activities and publication program of the Idaho Home Industries Association declined during the early 1930s, and Adkison took a position as an educational director with the Civilian Conservation Corps in Idaho. He remained with the C.C.C. until 1936, when President Eugene B. Chaffee of Boise Junior College asked him to head up the education and psychology department at the college. Adkison was a member of the faculty of Boise Junior College until 1940, when, as an officer of the National Guard, he was called to active duty to organize the Idaho Selective Service System. He operated the Idaho Selective Service System throughout the war, and after the war became an administrator with Veterans Administration. He remained with the Veterans Administration until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 1956. Adkison wrote historical articles for newspapers and magazines and in 1966 published a book, Nez Perce Indian War and Original Stories. In 1967 he published Indian Braves and Battles With More Nez Perce Lore. Adkison was married twice, first to Della Shaff in 1910, and secondly to Rose Richer Gilgan in 1935. Adkison died November 19, 1978, at a Boise nursing home and was interred at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise. Scope and Content The Norman Brown Adkison collection contains an oral history of Adkison’s life, some of his correspondence, photocopies of his newspaper and magazine articles, and some biographical material on his mother, Harriet Brown Adkison and himself. The oral history is the main item in the collection. Adkison was a prominent educator at Idaho State University (1910-1923) and later at Boise Junior College (1936-1940), during their formative years. Adkison describes in great detail his career at the two colleges, in his oral history. He also served as secretary to Idaho Governor Charles C. Moore (1923-1925) and U.S. Senator John Thomas (1931-1932). Adkison records his perceptions of these men as he worked with them, as well as other figures such as President Warren G. Harding. Adkison also describes his involvement in the Selective Service System and the Veterans Administration during and after World War II, and recounts in detail his family history, childhood, farm life near Grangeville, Idaho, student days at the University of Idaho, and work with the Idaho Home Industries Association and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The oral history exists in unedited transcript form, and the original tape recordings have been retained. Many of Adkison’s articles and publications contained in the collection deal with Idaho history around Grangeville. From 1926 to 1934 Adkison was the editor of “Golden Idaho”, a publication which sought to promote home industries in the state. The collection also includes biographical material relating to Adkison’s mother, who took part in the Nez Perce Indian wars of 1877. Dates of the collection: 1893-1976 Box 1: Biographical Material Folder 1
Norman Brown Adkison Box 1: Oral History: Transcripts of Tape Recordings, 1974 Folder 5
Pages 1-35
Reel 1-4
Box 1: Writings (chiefly photocopies) Folder 16
Golden Idaho 1926-1934 Box 2: Other Papers Folder 1
Miscellaneous Articles 1937-1962 Box 3: Oral history interview audio tapes Tape 1 Reel 1-4 Tape 2 Reel 5-8 Tape 3 Reel 9-12 Tape 4 Reel 13-16 Tape 5 Reel 17-20 Tape 6 Reel 21-24 Tape 7 Reel 25-28 Tape 8 Reel 29-32 Tape 9 Reel 33-36 Tape 10 Reel 37-40 Tape 11 Reel 41-44 Outline of the Oral history transcript
I. Family history, Childhood near Grangeville....Page 1
Nez Perce War, 1877…..Page 9; see also page 96 II. University of Idaho student days, 1903-1907…..Page 119
See also page 205 III. Teaching at Denver, Idaho, 1907-1908…..Page 153 IV. Teaching at Grangeville, Idaho, 1908-1910…..Page 162 V. Idaho Technical Institute, 1910-1923…..Page 170
See also page 278 VI. Secretary to Governor Charles C. Moore, 1923-1925…..Page 253
Miss Church…..Pages 256, 305 VII. Idaho Home Industries Association…..Page 306 See earlier introduction on page 297 VIII. Aide to U.S. Senator John Thomas, 1931-1933…..Page 334
Election of 1932…..Page 381 IX. Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1936…..Page 392 Camps at Twin Springs (Boise River); Big Smoky Creek (South Fork, Boise River); Pollock; Horseshoe Bend X. Divorce and remarriage, 1934-1935…..Page 433 XI. Boise Junior College, 1936-1940…..Page 448 XII. Selective Service, World War II…..Page 462 XIII. U.S. Veterans Administration, 1946-1956…..Page 506 XIV. Miscellaneous…..Page 510 Includes information on personal life and family Return to Special Collections homepage For questions or comments about this page, contact Special Collections Department This page last changed: 28 September 2004 |
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