Sources: Lori Goetsch, 785-532-7492, lgoetsch@k-state.edu;
and Tony Crawford, 785-532-7456, arcford@k-state.edu
Web site: http://www.lib.k-state.edu/depts/spec/index.html
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-6415, bbohn@k-state.edu

Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009

K-STATE LIBRARIES TO CELEBRATE DONATION, OPENING OF COLLECTION OF PAPERS FROM MAMIE ALEXANDER BOYD AND FROM HUCK AND MARIE BOYD

MANHATTAN -- The legacy of one of Kansas' most noted newspaper and political families will be celebrated Thursday, Sept. 3, at Kansas State University's Hale Library with a special ceremony to mark the donation and opening of the Mamie Alexander Boyd Papers and the McDill "Huck" and Marie Boyd Papers, which are housed in the library's Morse Department of Special Collections. The papers were donated by members of the Boyd family.

The event will start at 1:30 p.m. in the Hemisphere Room on the fifth floor of Hale Library with remarks by Lori Goetsch, dean of K-State Libraries; Tony Crawford, university archivist; other K-State representatives; and members of the Boyd family. The opening of the special exhibition, "'Kansas -- Say it Above a Whisper': The Boyd Family Legacy," and a reception will be from 2:30-4:30 p.m. in the library's fifth-floor gallery. The public is invited to attend. Several political, community and business leaders associated with the Boyds also have been invited.

"The papers will enhance students and scholars working in a number of fields, including politics, Kansas history, rural life, newspapers and journalism, women's history, and K-State history," Goetsch said. "The collections also are among some of the significant contributions the Boyds have made to K-State."

The Huck Boyd Institute for Rural Development at K-State and the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at K-State's A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications were established in honor of Huck Boyd. In addition, K-State renamed its former Northwest Hall as Mamie Boyd Hall in honor of her many accomplishments and support of K-State.

"The collections document the Boyds' work as owners and publishers of newspapers in Phillips and Jewell counties and take up about 90 linear feet of shelf space in Hale Library's special collections department," Crawford said. "There also is a substantial amount of material related to Huck Boyd's political career, including his two unsuccessful campaigns for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Kansas in 1960 and 1964, and his campaign work for Kansas Gov. Ed Arn, Sen. Bob Dole and Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon."

Crawford said the papers from both Mamie and Marie Boyd show the strength of their active involvement in numerous women's organization on the local, state and national levels, as well as their community involvement.

"The common thread that connects all members of the Boyd family is their love of Kansas and their efforts to improve the lives of people in rural America, Kansas in particular," Crawford said. "This theme is captured in Mamie's motto, 'Kansas -- Say it Above a Whisper.'"

The former Mamie Alexander married Frank Boyd Sr. in 1905 and joined him in the newspaper business in Phillipsburg. She also was editor of the Jewel County Record in Mankato from 1947 until her death in 1973. Her many honors include serving as the first woman president of the K-State Alumni Association and first Distinguished Service Award recipient in journalism from K-State; Kansas Mother of Year; first recipient of the National Newspaper Association's McKinney Award; and the first woman to receive the William Allen White Award for Journalistic Merit.

In 1928 Huck Boyd left K-State to join his parents, Frank and Mamie Boyd, in running the Phillips County Review. He served as editor and publisher until his death in 1987. Boyd was active in politics at all levels. Along with his campaign and political work for such Kansas political heavyweights as Landon, Eisenhower and Dole, he ran unsuccessful attempts for the Republican nomination for Kansas governor in 1960 and 1964. His many honors include serving on the Kansas Board of Regents and as president of the Kansas Press Association; as a delegate to the United Nations Economic and Social Council in Geneva, Switzerland; receiving the William Allen White Foundation's Journalistic Merit Award, the Victor Murdock Award for Editorial Excellence and the Alumni Medallion from the K-State Alumni Association; and being named Kansan of the Year and Kansan of the Decade.

Marie Kreikenbaum Boyd taught elementary school until marrying Huck Boyd in 1930. She was a dedicated participant in her husband's political activities and was a partner at the Phillips County Review. She began her longtime involvement in women's organizations in 1931 when she joined P.E.O. She went on to help form the Gray Ladies organization, served as president of Woman's Kansas Day Club, and was a member of Eastern Star, the Phillips County Arts Council, the Hansen Museum in Logan and many other community and state organizations.

The opening of the Boyds' collections also is in conjunction with K-State's 10th annual Huck Boyd Lecture in Community Media to be given by Scott Kraft, senior editor of the Los Angeles Times and a 1977 K-State journalism alum, at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 3 in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union. The lecture is free and the public is invited.

More information on the Boyds' collections is available by contacting Crawford at 785-532-7456 or arcford@k-state.edu.