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The Angie Debo Collection: Collection Inventory

Inventory Listing

The Angie Debo Papers consist of personal and business correspondence, memorabilia, diaries, articles, maps, newspaper clippings and photographs related to Debo's writings, her family, her work in behalf of Native Americans and Oklahoma history, and her daily life. The collection also contains the research material, including notes, correspondence and manuscripts, for books and articles written or edited by Debo, as well as for speeches and papers she presented. In addition, there are books, pamphlets, and other printed documents owned by Debo and some of her furniture.

The Papers are arranged in five broad series, most of which have two or more subseries in order to keep related material closer together. File folder headings and the arrangement used by Debo have been retained as much as possible. Headings were expanded as needed to describe the contents of folders.

The broad series are:

  1. Personal
  2. Subject
  3. By Debo
  4. Photographs
  5. By Other Authors

1. Personal

Contains personal information about Debo and her family; has ten subseries.

1.1. About Debo:

Clippings, research papers, and bibliographies, as well as material related to the documentary and to the oral history project. Arrangement is chronological.

1.2. Church-Related Activities:

Sunday school material, correspondence, programs, and notes. Arrangement is chronological within topic or format.

1.3. Correspondence 1901-1988:

Form letters from Debo, and letters and cards not accompanied by topical material to her from friends throughout her life. Arrangement of the letters is alphabetical; birthday and Christmas cards are organized by year and are not on film.

1.4. Diaries:

1898, 1901, 1940-1942, 1947-1987

1.5. Education:

Coursework, papers, notes, and records and memorabilia from grade school years through the awarding of the PhD. Arrangement is chronological by level of study, and then by format.

1.6.Kansas:

Correspondence, research notes regarding Beattie, KS, and vicinity and the Marshall County (KS) Historical Society. Arrangement is topical.

1.7. Debo and Family:

Correspondence, memorabilia, photographs, and records of Debo, her parents and brother, Edwin; arrangement is by topic or person. Records, correspondence, research notes, genealogical material on the Debo, Cooper, Halstead, and Tilden families; arrangement is topical within each family.

1.8. Honors and Awards:

Correspondence, programs, certificates, photographs, and memorabilia regarding the many honors Debo received. Arrangement is alphabetical by the group making the award.

1.9. Travel:

Notes, itineraries, brochures, programs in preparation for, during, and after trips to Africa, Alaska, Canada, England, Europe and the U.S.S.R., and Mexico, as well as some travel in the United States. Arrangement is alphabetical by geographic area.

1.10. Memorabilia:

Address files, autograph books, "Childhood Treasures," notes, postcards, and other mementos and realia. Arrangement in the inventory is alphabetical, and of the material is by size and composition.

2. Subject

Contains material to which Debo assigned subject headings in her files. It has two subseries:

2.1. General:

2.2. Native Americans:

3. By Debo

Contains the research material, documents, photographs and correspondence for books she edited or wrote, as well as for other writings and presentations. Many of the research notes, especially those for the books, are on very brittle newsprint and are available only to resolve questions that might arise from use of the preservation microfilm. This series has nine subseries:

3.1. As Editor:

Notes, correspondence, research files, and some TMs for publications which Debo edited. Arranged alphabetically by title.

3.2. Forewords:

Notes, correspondence, and TMs for forewords by Debo to books by other authors. Arranged alphabetically by author

3.3. Lectures, Papers, Speeches:

Notes, correspondence, programs, and TMs for presentations by Debo. Arranged alphabetically by group or other heading designated by Debo.

3.4. Letters to the Editor:

TMs and clippings. Arranged chronologically.

3.5.Newspaper Articles:

Notes, TMs, clippings, including "This Week in Oklahoma History" for the Oklahoma City Times. Arranged alphabetically by title.

3.6. Reviews:

Clippings of reviews written by Debo. Arranged by author of material reviewed and in two alphabets -- through 1956 and after 1956.

3.7. Published Articles, Essays

Notes, TMs, clippings, and correspondence. Arranged alphabetically by title.

3.8. Unpublished Articles, Essays:

3.9. Books:

Organized in sub-series for each of nine books by Debo. The sub-series are alphabetical by title; within each there are sub-subseries when there is related material. When used, the order of the sub-subseries is: Research Files, Photograph Files, Publication Files, Manuscript Files, Report Files. Within each file the material is arranged as Debo maintained it -- some is alphabetical by topic, some is by chapter, and some is chronological.

4. Photographs

Contains photographs from throughout the collection. For the photographs in folders in Debo's files, each was photocopied and the photocopy, with linking notes to the actual photo, was placed where the photograph was originally found. In addition to the photographs she had in her files, Debo kept many in other boxes and drawers. The photographs that she had in sites other than in her files were not photocopied or linked to an original location. All photographs are interfiled, regardless of the original location. Arrangement is by identified individuals and broad topics. The more detailed descriptions that are included on the microfilm are available in the repository in machine readable format and as a printed appendix, Coll. No. 88-013.9, to the paper copy of the inventory. (See also the Processing Notes for photographs on p. xix.)

5. By Other Authors

5.1. Books, Periodicals, Public Documents, Pamphlets, Booklets, Articles:

Debo kept publications in many places in her home -- study, closet, living room, dining room, back porch. They vary considerably in size. The list in the inventory is alphabetical by author. Material in this series is arranged by physical characteristics and, where feasible, alphabetically by author.

5.2. Newspapers:

Entire pages or issues were too large to photocopy and required larger boxes. Most deal with Oklahoma history and Native Americans in Alaska and Oklahoma. Newspapers are arranged primarily by place of publication, as listed in the inventory, and are located in boxes for oversized material, with a link to the original location when separated from a file.

5.3. Maps:

Debo's interests and travels are evident in the maps she retained. Maps have been have been placed in map drawers, with a link to the original location when separated from a file. They are arranged by size with consideration given to geographic coverage. In the inventory they are listed by geographic area, and then alphabetically.

Angie Debo Room

The OSU Library has dedicated a room to house most of the books in Debo's library and to display her awards and furniture. This room is adjacent to the Archives and is open to visitors when department staff are available.

The furniture from Debo's home includes

  • The pink upholstered chair which was in her living room and in which Debo posed for her portrait by Charles Banks Wilson that hangs in the State Capitol
  • A 3-section stacking barrister's bookcase, which was in her living room
  • A floor lamp from her living room
  • Her Smith-Corona "Coronet" electric typewriter and the table from her study on which she kept her typewriter.
  • Two small tables from her living room
  • The awards and photographs on exhibit in this room are indicated in the pertinent file folder in the inventory.