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Carol and Dwight Myers papers

 Collection
Identifier: Ms-0315

Scope and Content

The Carol and Dwight Myers Papers contains scrapbooks, albums, letters and images of New Mexico, books and authors. The collection has been divided into five series: (1) In Celebration of the Book Material, (2) Personal Papers, (3) John D. Rittenhouse Material, (4) Dawson, New Mexico Material and (5) Images. All of the series reflect the Myers' lifelong love of New Mexico and its history, and books and those involved in the New Mexico book scene.

Encompassed in the collection are original layout pages for In Celebration of the Book, as is material relating to the publication of the book which celebrated the 10th anniversary of the New Mexico Book League. The collection also consists of a few personal items, and a video recording of Dwight Myers' memorial service.

The Dawson, New Mexico material contains images, newspapers and video collected by the Myers relating to the town and its history. The almost 400 photographs of Dawson, New Mexico in the collection show the town of Dawson from 1920-1926.

Images include scrapbooks of murals and libraries of New Mexico.

Not present in the collection are the records of the New Mexico Book League, founded by Carol and Dwight Myers, which is its own collection in the Archives and Special Collections.

Dates

  • 1920-2000

Language of Materials

English.

Access and Use Restrictions

This material may be examined by researchers under supervised conditions in the Search Room.

Copy Restrictions

Limited duplication is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with copyright and other applicable statutes.

Copyrights associated with this collection have not been transferred and assigned to New Mexico State University.

Biography

Dwight A. Myers was born November 24, 1931 in Jamestown, NY to a Baptist minister and his wife. The Myers family resided in New York state until 1939 when they moved to California. Dwight began his university education at the University of Redlands in Redlands, CA where he meet Carol, a 1946 graduate of Dawson High School in Dawson, NM, and his future wife. Carol, a few years ahead of Dwight in her education, accepted a job teaching music in Barstow and Dwight transferred to Pasadena City College to continue his degree.

In 1952, Dwight joined the Air Force and the Myers moved to Georgia where he was stationed. Soon after, their first child Robert was born in 1953. The family was then transferred to Kirtland Air Force base in Albuquerque, NM. Their second child, Debbie was born in 1955 and their third, Jim, in 1957.

After his honorable discharge from the Air Force, Dwight pursued a degree in history at the University of New Mexico, graduating in 1959. While a student, he worked in the university bookstore. Upon graduation, he was offered a sales position with the Prentice Hall publishing company. His first sales territory included New Mexico but he was soon promoted to the head office in New York. The family moved to New York where they spent the next 10 years. Dwight then requested to be demoted so he could return to New Mexico. His return to the Southwest would not take him off the national publishing scene as he served as regional manager of the west, the south and even as interim national sales manager. Simon & Schuster, which purchased Prentice-Hall, created the Dwight A. Myers Excellence in Regional Publishing Award honoring small presses in the Rocky Mountain West.

In 1970, Carol and Dwight founded the New Mexico Book League. The league's publication Book Talk was published until 2001.

Dwight retired in 1993, but found time to work part-time in the Page One Bookstore. He died September 16, 1995.

Extent

7 Linear Feet

Abstract

Papers, images and audio-visual material relating to New Mexico and its history, as well as the book in New Mexico.

Acquisition

  1. RG84-158 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  2. RG85-122 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  3. RG85-128 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  4. RG87-128 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  5. RG87-069 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  6. RG87-070 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  7. RG87-150 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  8. RG91-098 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  9. RG91-138 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  10. RG91-139 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  11. RG94-115 Gift of Carol and Dwight Myers
  12. RG96-180 Gift of Carol Myers
  13. RG2001-066 Gift of Carol Myers

Existence and Location of Copies

A searchable, online database to the images in this collection may be accessed at http://archphotos.nmsu.edu/

Related Material

Ms 0184 New Mexico Book League Records, Ms 0286 Jack D. Rittenhouse papers (unprocessed)

General

Contact Information

  1. Archives and Special Collections Department
  2. New Mexico State University Library
  3. P.O. Box 30006
  4. Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-8006
  5. Phone: (575) 646-3839
  6. Fax: (575) 646-7477
  7. Email: archives@nmsu.edu
  8. URL: https://lib.nmsu.edu/archives/

General

Processing Note

The collection processing was begun with the copying of the negatives of accession RG87-069 in 1988. This portion of the collection constitutes the first three boxes. No other papers were processed at this time. The rest of the accessions were processed in August of 2004.
Title
Register of the Carol and Dwight Myers papers, 1920-2000
Status
Edited Full Draft
Author
Processed by Maura Kenny
Date
© 2004
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English

Revision Statements

  • June 28, 2004: PUBLIC "-//New Mexico State University::Archives and Special Collections//TEXT (US::NmLcU::ms0315::Carol and Dwight Myers Papers)//EN" "nmlcu1#0315.sgml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
  • Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.

Repository Details

Part of the New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Branson Hall
PO Box 30006
MSC 3475
Las Cruces New Mexico 88003 USA