Introduction

The papers of Alice Nichols were willed to Kansas State University by Alice Nichols.

The papers are housed in five boxes (2 linear feet) and arranged according to form of the material: 1) correspondence, 1942-1961; 2) notebooks and notes, 3) financial records, 1947- 1956; 4) literary productions and 5) printed material, 1914-1961. Within each series the items are arranged chronologically.

The collection relates to Ms. Nichols' life as a writer. The correspondence is both business and personal in nature and most of it concerns the publication of her renowned book, Bleeding Kansas. Ms. Nichols, born in Liberal, Kansas, was a 1927 graduate of Kansas State College.

This collection was processed by Traci Hu in July of 1984 and accessioned as PC 56, (revised number, PC 1987.08).

Biographical Sketch

1905    Born in Liberal, Kansas

1914    Editor of The Nichols Journal

1927    Graduated from Kansas State College

        Worked for Kingman Journal

1928    Moved to New York and worked for Farm and Fireside

1934    Assistant editor of Country Home

1935    In charge of publicity for Soil Conservation Service

1937    Farm programs editor for Country Home

1940    Editor of Men's Wear

1942    Worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture

1947    Managing editor of Men's Wear

1953    Worked for Artists and Writer's Guild

1954    Bleeding Kansas was released

        President and publicity director of Individual Services, Ltd.

1962    Manufacturer of Bali

1969    Died in January

Scope and Contents Note

The Alice C. Nichols papers (1922-1962) contain correspondence, notebooks, tax records, book typescripts, drafts of articles, newspaper clippings and printed material. These items document the time in which Ms. Nichols established herself as a writer from the age of nine until her death in 1969, with special emphasis on the year 1954 when her most notable publication, Bleeding Kansas, was published. The papers are housed in five boxes constituting two linear feet.

The papers are divided into five series: 1) correspondence, 2) notebooks and notes, 3) financial records, 4) literary productions and 5) printed material. Each series is arranged chronologically.

The correspondence series includes the years 1942-1961. it contains both personal and business letters. The personal correspondence is generally congratulatory during the time Ms. Nichols wrote and published Bleeding Kansas. The business correspondence deals with magazine editors of Country Gentlemen, Men's Wear, American Home, Collier's, Ladies' Home Journal and Farm Journal with whom Ms. Nichols collaborated when she worked for the United States Department of Agriculture as food guide editor. The majority of the business correspondence is with Oxford university Press, publishers of Bleeding Kansas.

Some notable correspondents include Milton Eisenhower when he was President of Pennsylvania State college and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Correspondents from Kansas include Robert Conover of the English Department of Kansas State College and the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society.

The next series, notebooks and notes, include notes for two literary works ("A Group of Joe Nelson" and "The Self Possessed"), geology notes, class notes, and notes taken from a meeting in Liberal, Kansas.

Financial records, series three, are from 1947 to 1956. The contain U.S. and New York State income tax returns, profit shares from Western Printing and Lithographing, inc., a royalty account at Oxford university Press and the results of a trip to the Saratoga Racetrack.

The literary productions series is divided into five sub-series: 1) books, 2) photostats, 3) articles, 4) article summaries and 5) drafts. Two complete typescripts and one carbon copy are included in the books sub-series. The two books, both written by Ms. Nichols, are entitled D.A. Fay and One Destiny. Within the photostats are maps, newspapers and illustrations proposed to be included in Bleeding Kansas. The 27 articles are primarily children's short stories. They were written when Ms. Nichols was employed by Artist and Writers Guild, Inc. The summaries of articles by Ms. Nichols include seven articles written about such topics as the Reformation, free will, letter writing, medieval church, and modern science. They were apparently completed just before Ms. Nichols' death in 1969. The drafts are hand and typewritten stories, predominately unfinished, with one finished work: "Heracitus on Essays in Optimism".

The series of printed material has five sub-series. The are 1) magazines and articles, 2) newspapers (Nichols Journal), 3) newspapers (originals), 4) newspapers (photocopies) and 5) miscellaneous. Magazines and articles are printed articles from the Century Magazine, each on a different topic, which Ms. Nichols used in her ten-year research process for Bleeding Kansas. The second sub-series contains one issue of The Nichols Journal, Ms. Nichols first publications. She published the small newspaper in Liberal, Kansas when she was nine years old. The third and fourth sub-series (newspapers, originals and photocopies) cover the years 1947-1961. The highlight the publication Bleeding Kansas and include reviews, autograph sessions with Ms. Nichols and summaries of her book. Also included in the newspapers sub-series are articles about the history of Liberal and Ms. Nichols' parents. Cities represented among the newspapers are Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit and Atlanta. The miscellaneous sub-series of publications houses such items as a bookjacket of Bleeding Kansas, a program from the Mid-America Regional Writers Conference held at Kansas State College and a briefing from the United States Court of Appeals, U.S. against James W. Elwell and Co., Inc. and Charleston Stevedoring Company, et.al.

Container List

Box  Folder
             Correspondence
 1     01       1942-1950
       02       1951-1952
       03       1953 Jan-July
       04       1953 Aug-Dec
       05       1954 Jan-April
       06       1954 May-June
       07       1954 July-Dec
       08       1955-1961
             Notebooks and Notes
       09       "A Group Picture of Joe Nelson"
       10       "Joe nelson-A Pursuit of Happiness"
       11       "The Self-Possessed"
       12       Research Notes
       13       Research Notes
       14       Geology Notes
       15       "Gathering at the Home of Raymond Boles, Liberal, Kansas"
             Financial Records
       16       1947-1953
       17       1954-1956
             Literary Publications-Books
                 D.A  Fay (Typescript)
 2     01           Chapter 1
       02           Chapter 2
       03           Chapter 3
       04           Chapter 4
       05           Chapter 5
       06           Chapter 6
       07           Chapter 7
       08           Chapter 8
       09           Chapter 9
       10           Chapter 10
       11           Chapter 11
       12           Chapter 12
       13           Chapter 13
       14           Chapter 14
       15           Chapter 15
       16           Chapter 16
       17           Chapter 17
       18           Chapter 18
       19           Chapter 19
       20           Chapter 20
       21           Chapter 21
       22           Chapter 22
       23           Chapter 23
       24           Chapter 24
       25           Chapter 25
                 D.A  Fay (Carbon)
       26           Chapter 1
       27           Chapter 2
       28           Chapter 3
       29           Chapter 4
       30           Chapter 5
       31           Chapter 6
       32           Chapter 7
       33           Chapter 8
       34           Chapter 9
       35           Chapter 10
       36           Chapter 11
       37           Chapter 12
       38           Chapter 13
       39           Chapter 14
       40           Chapter 15
       41           Chapter 16
       42           Chapter 17
       43           Chapter 18
       44           Chapter 19
       45           Chapter 20
       46           Chapter 21
       47           Chapter 22
       48           Chapter 23
       49           Chapter 24
       50           Chapter 25
                 One Destiny (Typescript)
2      01           Chapter 1
       02           Chapter 2
       03           Chapter 3
       04           Chapter 4
       05           Chapter 5
       06           Chapter 6
       07           Chapter 7
       08           Chapter 8
       09           Chapter 9
       10           Chapter 10
       11           Chapter 11
       12           Chapter 12
       13           Chapter 13
       14           Chapter 14
       15           Chapter 15
       16           Chapter 16
       17           Chapter 17
       18           Chapter 18
       19        Bleeding Kansas, Photostats of Maps, Newspapers, Illustrations
                 Literary Productions-Articles
       20           "Boondoggle Saint"
       21           "The Brick"
       22           "Buffaloed Billy"
       23           "By Accident or Design?"
       24           "Catlin's North American Indians"
       25           "Children Imagine Things"
       26           "Do It Yourself...Sleep Like a Log"
       27           "Family"
       28           "A Group Picture of Joe Nelson"
       29           "In the Palm of Her Hand"
       30           "The Key"
       31           "Out Where the Dead Live"
       32           "Peace Begins at Home"
       33           "Pet and/or Plant Sitting"
       34           "Poker Face"
       35           "Robert Sees a Psychiatrist"
       36           "She Won a Horse"
       37           "Someone to Hate"
       38           "That OPA"
       39           "Ulysses' Homer"
       40           "Was the Garden of Eden in Kansas?"
       41           "The Way Is All"
       42           "The Wentworth Story"
       43           "Who are the Living?"
       44           "Wise Woman"
       45           "Women Will Be Women"
       46           "Writing Letters Can Be Fun"
                 Literary Productions-Article Summaries
4      01           "The Age of Reformation"
       02           "The Illusion of Free Will"
       03           "Letter Writing Blockbusters"
       04           "The Medieval Church"
       05           "The Origin of Modern Science"
       06           "The Reformation"
       07           "The Reformation of the 16th Century"
                 Literary Productions-Drafts
       08           "Heracitus on Essays in Optimism"
       09           Drafts
       10           Drafts
       11           Drafts
       12           Drafts
                 Printed Material-Magazines and Articles
       13           Century Magazine-Americana
       14           Century Magazine-Essays
       15           Century Magazine-Explorations
       16           Century Magazine-Industry and Agriculture
       17           Century Magazine-Politics
       18           Century Magazine-Scientific Discoveries
       19           Country Home-May 1936, Feb  1937
       20           Country Home-Nov  1945, May 1947
       21           Farm and Fireside-May 1929
       22           K-Stater-March 1954
       23           The Kansas Library Bulletin-Sept  1954
       24           The Land-Autumn 1950
       25           The Land-Spring 1954
       26           The Matrix-Oct.-Nov  1954
       27           Modern Mexico-March-April 1950
       28           Saturday Review-June 12, 1954
                 Printed Material-Newspapers
5      01           Nichols Journal-May 26,1922
       02           Photocopies- 1947-1954
       03           Clippings (originals)- 1953-1954
       04           Clippings (originals)- 1954-1961
       05           Miscellaneous