Using these Materials
Please contact the Center of Southwest Studies Archives Manager at archives@fortlewis.edu for more information about reproductions and accessing the collection.
Access Restrictions: There are no access restrictions on the use of this collection. The collection is non-circulating but open to the public for use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies.
Reproduction and Copyright: Materials held by the Center may be protected under U.S. and international copyright laws. Reproduction does not constitute a transfer of copyright or publication rights. Researchers are solely responsible for complying with copyright law and for obtaining any necessary permissions for reproduction or publication. The Center assumes no liability for unauthorized use of materials.
Related Materials: Mrs. Puls’s published book of poems, The Sword (1945), is cataloged with the Center’s book collection and shelved in the Southwest Studies Center Library. Richard T. Nelson dedicated his Early History of Durango (1932; typescript in the Center of Southwest Studies, collection M053) to his late friend William N. Searcy, who died on February 27, 1932.
For additional local history materials on the Boston and Searcy families, see collection M037, the Boston–Searcy Collection. Walter Boston (1878–1948) lived in Durango from around 1880 to 1902. His sister, Helen M. Boston, married William N. Searcy in 1879; their children were Ruth I. (who married A. D. Ironside, father of Roderick Ironside) and Helene W. (who married Louis Puls).
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Collection Title], [Collection Number], Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.
Collection Description
Historical/Biographical Note: Helene Wilhelmina Searcy Puls was a poet of national distinction, writing during the first part of the twentieth century. Born in 1900 to William Searcy and Helen Boston Searcy of Silverton (her father became District Judge in 1913), Puls spent much of her life in Southwestern Colorado. Even when far away—teaching on the plains of Nevada or traveling through the steppelands of Russia—her birthplace remained central in her mind and was frequently reflected in her verse. She died in early 1965 in Arvada, Colorado.
Acquisition Information: The Center of Southwest Studies acquired this collection in 1969 through a donation from the Denver Women’s Press Club, facilitated by Mrs. Gladys Parce. Mrs. Parce mentioned the collection to Richard Gobble at Fort Lewis College, to whom she had been referred by Mrs. Esther Liu, a member of the College’s library staff. The matter was then brought to President Rexer Berndt, who enthusiastically accepted the donation, noting the appropriateness of placing her work—so reflective of the Southwest—at the Center. Since April 1995, Roderick A. Ironside, nephew of Helene Puls, has added various items to the collection.
Processing Information: Arranged and described by Katharyn Heidelberg and Todd Ellison, Archivist.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Series descriptions
Note: Record groups (RGs), shown in boldface, are numbered consecutively. The lower levels of organization, following the RG number, are and series. Box numbers start with 1 in each record group.
The materials within most record groups are organized from highest hierarchical level to lowest, or from most general to most specific. Items within each series (e.g., reports, and correspondence) and within each box and folder are arranged chronologically, unless noted otherwise.
The boxes are numbered in one single numbering scheme starting with 1; folder numbers start with 1 in the first box, and begin again with folder 1 in box 2. Undated poems bearing publishing notification are placed after those which bear dates and notification. undated poems bearing no publishing notification will be placed after those unpublished poems which are dated.
Listing of Record Groups and Series
Record Group 1: Helene Puls papers
Series 1: Poems of Helene Searcy Puls, 1921-1962, 32 folders. Includes typewritten poems bearing publishing dates or similar notification (to be referred to as "published"); typewritten poems bearing no publishing notification (to be referred to as "unpublished"); handwritten copies; personal arrangements of poems; printed materials including: galley proofs, published clippings (not newspaper), and magazines and books featuring her work.
Series 2: Helene Puls biographical materials, 1926-1940, 5 folders. Includes assignments; personal correspondence; a certificate of award for a short story contest and stories which she submitted, along with a list of contest winners; and numerous newspaper clippings about her or featuring her poetry.
Series 3: Poems of other authors, 1930s and undated, 2 folders. Includes magazines and periodicals not featuring her work, as well as several loose-leaf pieces of paper, with the poems others have written or that she copied down.
Series 4: Photographs, 1917-1922, 1 folder. Five black and white photos of the Searcy family, and two photoprints of Helene W. Searcy: one (colorized) taken in August, 1922, in front of the Searcy home at 1361 3rd Ave., Durango; the other, a small portrait photo also dated 1922.
Container list
Box 1
Folder 1 Poems. List of poems sent out, and poem charts.
Folder 2 Poems. Published poems, typed, 1921-1924.
Folder 3 Poems. Published poems, typed, 1924-1928. Includes photocopies of The Barnard Bulletin, 6/6/1924 (2 p.) containing a class day poem by Helene Searcy; and cover and inside page of The Ukrainian Juvenile Magazine, October, 1928 (2 p.) containing a poem by Helene Searcy Pulse.
Folder 4 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, 1920-1926.
Folder 5 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, 1926-1932.
Folder 6 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, 1935-1943.
Folder 7 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, 1943-1949.
Folder 8 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, 1952-1958.
Folder 9 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, undated.
Folder 10 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, undated.
Folder 11 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, undated.
Folder 12 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, undated.
Folder 13 Poems. Unpublished poems, typed, undated.
Folder 14 Poems Unpublished poems, typed, undated.
Folder 15 Poems Unpublished poems, typed, undated.
Folder 16 Poems. Handwritten poems, 1921-1943.
Folder 17 Poems. Handwritten poems, 1943-1949.
Folder 18 Poems. Handwritten poems, 1951-1961.
Folder 19 Poems. Handwritten poems, undated.
Folder 20 Poems. Handwritten poems, undated.
Folder 21 Poems. Handwritten poems, undated.
Folder 22 Poems. Personal arrangement: roughly 300 pages of typed text, complete with a table of contents and a list of needed corrections and changes; poems ranging from 1920 through 1940.
Folder 23 Poems. Printed materials: complete with published clippings and a galley proof,1925.
Folder 24 Poems. Printed materials: magazines featuring her poems; The Sign: A National Catholic Magazine, 1947 January; The Survival, a journal put forth by her writing club, undated.
Folder 25 Poems. A personal arrangement by the author, 1922.
Box 2
Folder 1 Poems. Printed materials: A Tale of Lake Eldora, 1942 July, with accompanying letter; Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, 1932 July.
Folder 2 Poems. Printed materials: Lyric Invaders, 1930.
Folder 3 Poems. Personal arrangements, in leather-bound journals, undated.
Folder 4 Poems. Printed materials: The Lyric West, 3 volumes, 1922-1923.
Folder 5 Poems. Printed materials: Stratford Magazine, 1931 September; Stratford Monthly, 1924, and an acceptance letter.
Folder 6 Poems. Personal arrangement: "Homekeeping Notes" (for Louis), undated.
Folder 7 Poems. Personal arrangement: handwritten in 2 notebooks, 1938-1952.
Folder 8 Biographical materials. Assignments, including an autobiography, 1962.
Folder 9 Biographical materials. Assignments, including a later published research paper.
Folder 10 Biographical materials. Clippings: newspaper articles and book reviews, 1929- 1940.
Folder 11 Biographical materials. Correspondence, including personal letters and letters from publishers.
Folder 12 Biographical materials. Certificates: college graduation program and a short story award, including both stories submitted, and a list of winners.
Folder 13 Poems of other authors. The Scope Periodical, 3 volumes, 1932 Fall, 1933 Spring, and 1933 Winter.
Folder 14 Poems of other authors. Loose leaf pages of poems, mostly handwritten, by persons other than Helene Searcy Puls. Date undetermined.
Folder 15 Photographs. Five black and white photos of the Searcy family, presumably on Lake Electra, 1917-1918. Two photoprints of Helene W. Searcy: one (colorized) taken in August 1922, in front of the Searcy home at 1361 3rd Ave., Durango; the other, a small portrait photo also dated 1922.
| Creator | Puls, Helene Wilhelmina Searcy |
| Dates | 1917-1962 |
| Extent | .8 linear shelf feet (in two document cases) (approximately 500 items, in 40 folders) |
| This collection contains the writings and personal papers of Helene Searcy Puls, a Colorado poet whose work focused primarily on the Durango–Silverton area. Through her poetry and correspondence, Puls offers vivid insights into the region as well as the places she traveled, including Russia and Ukraine. Her creative works provide both literary and historical value, offering a window into the past. The collection also includes materials related to her relatives in the Boston and Puls families. |
| Language | English |
| Collection Identifier | M046 |
| Physical Location | This collection is located at the Center of Southwest Studies on the campus of Fort Lewis College (1000 Rim Dr. Durango, CO). |