Collection M 094:
|
Years this material was created:
1921-1975 (bulk 1940s - 1950s)
Quantity: 1.25
linear shelf feet (in 3 document cases)
Arranged and described by Jeri Smalley and Todd Ellison (revised March 1997)
© 1998 by Fort
Lewis College Foundation, Center of Southwest Studies account
Links to contents
|
|
Scope and contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Introduction/ Scope and contents
ZEKE FLORA PAPERS
Dates: 1921-1975; bulk 194- - 195-
1.25 linear shelf feet (approximately 1,000 items, in 3 document cases)
This collection contains the historically significant records retained from Isiah (Zeke) Flora's personal and business life, including photographs and writings on his archaeological and scientific interests.
This collection contains many handwritten and typed manuscripts by Zeke on archaeological subjects, including the Falls Creek Rock Shelters and dendrochronology, and manuscripts on various topics related to atomic energy. There are also business records of Zeke's Watch and Jewelry Shop, correspondence related to his archaeological and scientific activities, and miscellaneous legal document including uranium claims from San Juan County, Utah.
Special considerations: exercise special care due to fragility; wear cotton gloves provided by the Center; ask for assistance at reference desk
Isiah "Zeke" Flora was born in Ohio on April 3, 1901. He grew up and worked as a machinist there. In 1926 he married there. In 1933 he moved to Durango, Colorado with his bride, Gladys Ann. Here he followed an interest in archaeology as a result of prospecting for gold in area canyons. In 1934 he dug in some rock shelters in the Falls Creek area just north of Durango, unearthing many Basketmaker mummies, many of whom he gave individual names such as "Esther", "Bead Girl", and "Jasper". Earl Morris was notified, and using Zeke as a crew member, undertook major excavations there. On US Forest Service land, the "ownership" of artifacts excavated from this site, particularly the mummies continue to be controversial today. Manuscripts and drafts of articles relating to his archaeological experiences are part of this collection.
Zeke also did work for Harold Gladwin of Gila Pueblo and cultivated an interest in dendrochronology. As a result of work done in this area, Zeke was made a member of the Tree-Ring Society.
Zeke appears to have worked in a job connected to atomic energy during World War II based on a certificate he received from the U.S. War Department thanking him for work essential to the production of the Atomic Bomb.
After this time, his writing focus more on science related issues and includes stories about atomic energy. He also filed many uranium claims, both in the Durango area and in San Juan County, Utah.
This collection also contains copies of letters he sent to various publications and individuals accompanying articles he wrote.
In 1958 Zeke wrote, "Due to a health problem, I have been forced to give up both my shop and my hobbies". Correspondence from La Plata County social services, along with entries in his checkbook register attest to the ill health that plagued Zeke in later life. He committed suicide in 1978.
Records deaccessioned: (2 linear shelf feet)
* Manuscript and draft duplications
* Items that are not specifically pertinent to the life of Zeke Flora and can be found elsewhere
* Housekeeping records that lost their administrative purpose after a specified period of time, including (we deaccessioned his canceled checks because the details are in the Checkbook registers).
The Center of Southwest Studies' Southwest Studies student Jeri Smalley arranged this collection in October to December of 1996.
Note regarding the organization of this collection: materials in this collection are arranged by series. The series are numbered consecutively. Because we do not expect to add to this collection, the boxes are numbered in one single numbering scheme starting with 1.
Folder numbers start with 1 in each box. Items within each series (e.g., correspondence, reports) and within each folder are arranged chronologically, unless noted otherwise.
The series are organized from highest hierarchical level to lowest; from most general to most specific.
Series
1. Personal papers of Zeke Flora, 1939-197-, 24 folders. Includes address lists, correspondence, a diary, personal financial records including his checkbook registers, his uranium claims litigation correspondence, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Mr. Flora. Arranged by type, then chronological.
2. Zeke's Watch & Western Jewelry Shop business records, 1950-1955, 7 folders. Chronological.
3. Manuscript drafts and publications by Zeke Flora, 19 - 19, 40 folders. Alphabetical, then chronological within folders.
4. Photonegatives and photographs by Zeke Flora, undated, 2 folders. Primarily archaeological subjects.
Box 1
Folder 1: Zeke Flora address lists, undated
Folder 2: Zeke Flora ACLU correspondence, 1968
Folder 3: Zeke Flora archaeology correspondence, 1939-1959
Folder 4: Zeke Flora correspondence relating to his "Bedtime Stories in Science" manuscript, 1946
Folder 5: Zeke Flora family correspondence, 1958-1959
Folder 6: Zeke Flora miscellaneous correspondence, 1942-1960
Folder 7: Zeke Flora correspondence from Social Services, 1970s
Folder 8: Zeke Flora correspondence relating to his "Unity in Science" manuscript, 1958-1959
Folder 9: Zeke Flora uranium claims correspondence, 1957
Folder 10: Zeke Flora diary, 1921-1922
Folder 11: Zeke Flora personal checkbook registers, 1969-1975
Folder 12: Zeke Flora letter to the editor of the Durango Herald-News, 1953
Folder 13: Zeke Flora miscellaneous science notes, undated
Folder 14: Zeke Flora miscellaneous personal notes, 1955-1960
Folder 15: Uranium Crazy, with references to Zeke Flora, undated
Folder 16: Manhattan Project certificate, 1945 August
Folder 17: Zeke Flora's will, draft, 1977
Folder 18: Zeke Flora miscellaneous newspaper clippings, 1938-1965
Folder 19: Zeke Flora newspaper clippings referring to himself, 1939-1962
Folder 20: Zeke Flora's Happy Bottom Mine uranium claim and information, 1955
Folder 21: Zeke Flora's uranium claims, San Juan County (Utah), 1956-1965
Folder 22: Zeke Flora's uranium claims dropped, San Juan County, Utah, 1959
Folder 23: Zeke Flora's uranium claims U.S. vs. Crawford, Flora, & Ellenberger, legal case, 1954-1958
Folder 24: Snoplane, information about, undated (Zeke was a dealer.)
Folder 25: Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop business cards, etc., undated
Folder 26: Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1950
Folder 27: Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1951
Folder 28: Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1952
Folder 29: Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1953
Folder 31: Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1954
Folder 32: Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop
financial records, 1955
Box 2
Folder 1: Zeke Flora's Anasazi cranium drawings, undated
Folder 2: Zeke Flora's "Bedtime Stories in Science: Esther Neanderthal", undated
Folder 3: Zeke Flora's "Early Man" poem, undated
Folder 4: Zeke Flora's partial list of archaeology photographs, undated
Folder 5: Zeke Flora's "Pottery at Durango," undated
Folder 6: Zeke Flora's "Prehistoric Culture of the Durango, Colorado District," observations of, 1939
Folder 7: Zeke Flora's "Black and Red Beads," undated
Folder 8: Zeke Flora's miscellaneous archaeological captions, undated
Folder 9: Helen Sloan Daniels Sherds and Points article, undated
Folder 10: Zeke Flora's Sherds & Points: printed vol. II #XII-XIV, undated
Folder 11: Zeke Flora's "Tom, Dick, and Harry" story draft, undated
Folder 12: Zeke Flora's manuscript drafts Sherds and Points, 1930s-1940s
Folder 13: Zeke Flora's manuscript drafts, incomplete, Sherds and Points, undated
Folder 14: Mailing list for Sherds and Points, undated
Folder 15: Zeke Flora's "Social Order," manuscript, undated
Folder 16: Zeke Flora's "Building a Tree Ring Chronology with Charcoal," draft, undated
Folder 17: Zeke Flora's dendrochronology draft articles, undated
Folder 18: Dendrochronology publications, 1935-1951
Folder 19: Tree-Ring bulletins with reference to Zeke Flora, 1934-1942
Folder 20: Zeke Flora's list of materials sent to the Peabody Museum, 1939
Folder 21: Wood sample from The East Divide Project
(Homer Root's Bodo Project), 1969
Box 3
Folder 1: Zeke Flora's "Atomic Age" drafts, undated
Folder 2: Zeke Flora's "The Atomic Age is Here, So What?" draft, undated
Folder 3: Zeke Flora's "Atomic Age Through a Crystal Ball" draft, Feb. 1947
Folder 4: Zeke Flora's "Bedtime Stories in Advertising," undated
Folder 5: Zeke Flora's "Bedtime Stories in Science" television script, 1946
Folder 6: Zeke Flora's "Bedtime Stories in Science" manuscript, undated
Folder 7: Zeke Flora's "Flash Theory" manuscript, undated
Folder 8: Zeke Flora's "The Glider and the Helicopter," draft, undated Also, correspondence from Sikorsky Aircraft, 1946 Jan.
Folder 9: Zeke Flora's "It's Fun to be Skeptical," draft, 1949
Folder 10: Zeke Flora's "It's Fun to be Skeptical," manuscript, undated
Folder 11: Zeke Flora's "Little Jaunts in Science," draft, undated
Folder 12: Zeke Flora's "Mental Powering in Rays," draft, undated
Folder 13: Zeke Flora's "New Thoughts of the Atomic Age," draft, undated
Folder 14: Zeke Flora's "Pages from Zeke's Notebook," undated
Folder 15: Zeke Flora's "Project - Unity in Science," 1958 Oct.
Folder 16: Zeke Flora's "The Scientist's Problems are also the Layman's," 1959 Feb.
Folder 17: Zeke Flora's "Where the Old and the New Meet," undated
Folder 18: Zeke Flora's writings re: science, atoms. Context unclear, undated
Folder 19: Zeke Flora's "Zeke's Theory of Rays" manuscript drafts, undated
Folder 20: Zeke Flora photonegatives, undated
Folder 21: Zeke Flora photographs, primarily archaeological, undated
Container list index (linked to page # in printed inventory)
ACLU correspondence, 1968
(4)
Address lists
(4)
Anasazi cranium
drawings, undated (4)
Archaeological captions, undated (5)
Archaeological photographs (3), (5)
Archaeology correspondence, 1939-1959
(4)
Archaeology
photographs list (4)
Atomic Age MS drafts, undated (5)
Bedtime Stories in Advertising MS, undated
(5)
Bedtime Stories in
Science manuscript correspondence, 1946 (4)
Bedtime Stories in Science manuscript,
undated
(5)
Bedtime Stories in
Science television script, 1946 (5)
Bedtime Stories in Science: Esther Neanderthal MS,
undated (4)
Black and Red
Beads MS, undated (5)
Bodo
Project, 1969 (5)
Building
a Tree Ring Chronology with Charcoal draft, undated (5)
Business cards, etc.,
undated (4)
Clippings referring to himself, 1939-1962
(4)
Correspondence,
1942-1960 (4)
Crawford,
Flora, & Ellenberger, legal case, 1954-1958 (4)
Daniels, Helen Sloan (5)
Dendrochronology draft articles, undated
(5)
Dendrochronology
publications, 1935-1951 (5)
Diary, 1921-1922 (4)
Durango, Colorado District, observations, 1939 (4)
Early Man poem, undated (4)
East Divide Project (5)
Family correspondence, 1958-1959
(4)
Financial records,
1950 (4)
Flash Theory
manuscript, undated (5)
Glider and the Helicopter MS draft, undated (5)
Happy Bottom Mine uranium claim and information, 1955 (4)
It's Fun to be Skeptical MS draft, 1949 (5)
Letter to the editor of the Durango
Herald-News, 1953 (4)
Little Jaunts in Science MS draft, undated (5)
Manhattan Project certificate, 1945
August (4)
Manuscript
drafts (5)
Mental Powering
in Rays MS draft, undated (5)
New Thoughts of the Atomic Age MS draft,
undated (5)
Newspaper
clippings, 1938-1965 (4)
Pages from Zeke's Notebook MS, undated
(5)
Peabody Museum list,
1939 (5)
Personal
checkbook registers, 1969-1975 (4)
Personal notes, 1955-1960 (4)
Photographs, primarily archaeological,
undated (3),
(5)
Photonegatives
(5)
Poem (4)
Pottery at Durango MS, undated
(4)
Prehistoric Culture of
the Durango, Colorado District, 1939 (4)
Project - Unity in Science MS, 1958 Oct.
(5)
Root, Homer (5)
San Juan County (Utah), 1956-1965
(4)
Science notes, undated
(4)
Scientist's Problems
are also the Layman's MS, 1959 Feb. (5)
Sherds and Points (4), (5)
Snoplane, information about,
undated
(4)
Social Order
manuscript, undated (5)
Social Services correspondence, 1970s (4)
Theory of Rays manuscript drafts, undated
(5)
Tom, Dick, and Harry
story draft, undated (5)
Tree
Ring Chronology draft, undated (5)
Tree-Ring bulletins with reference to Zeke Flora, 1934-1942
(5)
Unity in Science manuscript corresp.,
1958-1959 (4)
Uranium
claims, San Juan County (Utah), 1956-1965 (4)
Uranium Crazy (4)
Uraniums claims correspondence, 1957
(4)
US vs Crawford, Flora,
& Ellenberger, (4)
US
vs Crawford, Flora, & Ellenberger, legal case, 1954-1958 (4)
Where the Old and the New Meet MS,
undated
Where the Old and the
New Meet," undated (5)
Will
draft, 1977 (4)
Wood
sample from The East Divide Project (5)
Zeke's Theory of Rays" manuscript drafts,
undated (5)
Zeke's Watch and
Western Jewelry Shop business cards, etc., n. (4)
Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial
records, 1950- (4)
This inventory was prepared by Jeri Smalley and edited by Todd Ellison, revised October, 1998; initial html conversion was done by Jesse Davila, September, 1998.
This collection is located at the Center of Southwest Studies on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Researchers wanting more information about using this material at the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center may email the archivist at archives@fortlewis.edu or click here to use our E-mail Reference Request Form (or phone the archivist at 970/247-7126). The Center does not have a budget for outgoing long-distance phone calls to answer reference requests, so please email if you wish to receive a response from the Center. To request reproductions/copies, click here for instructions.