George A. Boyce papers
Collection Scope and Contents
The collection contains the personal and professional papers of George Arthur Boyce, and consists of government reports on Navajo education, a manuscript of his doctoral thesis, correspondence, and photographs. Notable files in the collection include clipping files containing newspaper clippings and related documents covering Boyce’s work, as well as “Letters and documents” files containing correspondence between Boyce and his colleagues with related brochures on Navajo life. Other areas of significance in the collection include materials documenting the budget of Navajo day schools, auction posters, and items related to his career as the Director of Navajo Education for the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, which was chronicled in the Navajo Language Newspaper and the Adahooniligi News Series.
Dates
- Creation: 1936-1971
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1936-1949
Creator
- Boyce, George A., 1898-1976 (Person)
Languages
The collection is in English and Navajo.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction, and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Biographical Note
George Arthur Boyce was born January 20, 1898, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Boyce received his bachelor’s degree at Trinity College in 1921 and received his master’s degree from Cornell in 1926. He would later receive his doctoral degree in Education at Columbia University where he wrote his doctoral thesis, Economic Education for the Navajo Indians.
Boyce then took a position at the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs where he would later become the Director of Navajo Education. Throughout his career he also held positions as Superintendent of the Intermountain Indian School, a member of the board of directors of Verde Valley School, and as Chairman of Long-range Social Economic Planning on Navajo Reservations for the U.S. Navajo Services.
Boyce was also a prolific writer, publishing and editing a number of Navajo related books and newspapers throughout his career. His most notable titles include When Navajoes Had Too Many Sheep, Some People are Indians, and Alcohol and American Indian Students. He believed strongly in nurturing rather than destroying cultural differences, which is evident in his writings.
He married Elizabeth A. Coleman in 1933, and they had two sons, George A. Jr. and Robert. Elizabeth passed away in 1962 and George remarried in 1964 to Oleta Merry. George A. Boyce died on November 5, 1976.
Extent
1.71 Linear Feet (4 boxes, 2 flat file folders)
Abstract
The George Boyce papers consists of the professional papers and manuscripts of George Arthur Boyce, a Native American historian and former Director of Navajo Education for the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. This collection documents his work with Navajo education, and includes materials from his research and photographs depicting Navajo schools and students. Additionally, the collection includes oversize posters of day school budgets and Navajo translated newsletters.
Collection Arrangement
The collection is arranged topically, and the original folder titles have been maintained.
Acquisition Information
Provenance unknown.
Processing History
This collection was processed by Celeste Navas, Student Processing Assistant, in 2017.
Processing of the George Boyce papers was completed by undergraduate students from the University of California, Riverside as part of the Special Collections and University Archives Backlog Processing Project started in 2015. This project was funded by the UCR Library and administered by Jessica Geiser, Collections Management Librarian.
Source
- United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs (Organization)
- Title
- George A. Boyce papers
- Status
- Processed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celeste Navas, Student Processing Assistant.
- Date
- 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Manuscript Collections Repository
University of California
Rivera Library
P.O. Box 5900
Riverside 92517-5900 USA
specialcollections@ucr.edu