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Proper citation must be given to Dr. Boyd for quotes taken from any of his research, published or unpublished.
Biographical/Historical:
Mary Bailey Lewis was a member of the Lewis family, a prominent Tallahassee family who were active in the financial, social, and civic life of Tallahassee and Leon County, Florida. She was interested in local history, collecting materials on the Lewis family, Florida, and prominent Florida writers. Benjamin Cheever (B.C.) Lewis came to Tallahassee in the 1830s. In 1856, he entered banking. His three sons, George, Edward, and William, followed him in the banking business, forming B.C. Lewis and Sons, which later became the Lewis State Bank. B.C. Lewis died in 1880; his son, Edward Lewis, died in 1901. In 1929, Mary Lewis her husband William resigned from the bank, although it was continually under Lewis family ownership until it became part of First Florida Bank in 1974.
Dr. Mark Frederick Boyd (1889-1968) was a prominent physician in the field of public health and tropical medicine, as well as a published Florida historian. In 1931, Dr. Boyd established a research laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida, and worked for the State Board of Health of Florida from 1947 to 1952. Dr. Boyd's other primary interest was in the Spanish settlement of Florida. He served as president of the Florida Historical Association and as a historian for Florida's National Parks. Because of his interest in Florida history, Dr. Boyd acquired the historical files from the Mary Lewis estate for his research. Lewis and Boyd both often conducted research for the Tallahassee Historical Society.
The Historical Records Survey (HRS) was a federal work relief program designed to identify and preserve historical records throughout the nation. Administered through the Federal Writers Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, HRS activities included transcribing original documents, creating soundexes for federal censuses, and publishing lists of cemetery records, historic maps, school records and military records. They also conducted hands-on surveys of local, state, and national records to identify series for archiving. On the state level, the FWP and the State Library Board administered the HRS, and administrative costs were shared by the state and Federal government.
Summary:
The collection consists of the historical research files of Mary Lewis, acquired and organized by Dr. Mark Boyd. The files include family history materials, WPA typescripts and weekly reports, and drafts of historical manuscripts. The Lewis family historical materials include receipts, maps, speeches, and collected ephemera such as invitations to the 1901 Presidential inauguration, fraternal organization publications, and Key West broadsides. Also included are three maps: one from the 1920s showing real estate plots in Pensacola; another of the Everglades drainage district in 1915; and a 1915 rail map for the Florida East Coast Railway.
The collection also includes weekly reports -- from June 1937 to December 1938 -- of the WPA's Florida Historic Records Survey. Finally, there are several typed manuscripts by various Florida historians, including Dr. Boyd and William T. Cash. Overall, the papers provide not only information on Florida history from the 1880s to the 1940s, but also document the efforts to research and preserve the state's history in the first half of the twentieth century.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
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Associated Materials:
For more on Dr. Mark Boyd and his research, see Collection M86-40, Mark Frederick Boyd Papers, 1912-1968 (12.25 cubic feet). For more on the Lewis Family, see Collection M87-38, Lewis Family Papers, 1853-1967 (21.5 cubic feet). In addition, the University of Miami maintains the Mark F. Boyd Collection, ASM0037. Finally, for more records relating to the WPA's Florida Historic Records Survey, see series S 1935, Florida Historical Records Survey files, 1936-1938 (.25 cubic foot).
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Lewis family. Lewis, George Edward, 1880-1972
Federal Writers' Project (Fla.) Florida East Coast Railway. Lewis State Bank (Tallahassee, Fla.) Tallahassee Historical Society. Works Progress Administration (U.S.)
Bank directors Florida. Family Florida Financial institutions Real estate investments. New Deal, 1933-1939.
Broadsides. aat Financial records. aat Manuscripts. aat Maps. aat Surveys. aat
Everglades (Fla.) Key West (Fla.) Pensacola (Fla.) Tallahassee (Fla.) Washington (D.C.)
for detailed listing.