Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers - TCU Library - Texas Christian University

Special Collections, Texas Christian University
Guide to the
Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers
Manuscript Group 101
Compiled by Claire C. Galloway
Fort Worth, Texas
2006-2007, 2009-2010, 2012

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 2
Contents
Overview of the Papers 3
Biographical Sketch 5
Description of the Papers 6
Inventory
Series I. Personal Papers, 1887-2004 7
Series II. Correspondence, 1935-2004 8
Series III. Writings, 1937-2004 9
Series IV. Course Material, 1949-1993 13
Accession 2007-M-008, 1920-2007 13
Accession 2009-M-001, 1940-2009 14
Accession 2009-M-004, 2004-2007 15
Accession 2010-M-001, 1972-2010 15
Accession 2011-M-004, 2007-2011 16
Accession 2012-M-001, 2009-2012 17

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 3
Overview of the Papers
Creator Boller, Paul F.
Title Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers, 1887-2010 (inclusive), 1948-2004
(bulk).
Physical description
15.50 linear ft.
Arrangement Arranged in four series and four additions: Series I.
Personal Papers, 1887-2004. Series II. Correspondence,
1935-2004. Series III. Writings, 1937-2004. Series IV.
Course Material, 1949-1993. Accession 2007-M-008,
1920-2007. Accession 2009-M-001, 1940-2009. Accession
2009-M-004, 2004-2007. Accession 2010-M-001, 1972-
2010; Accession 2011-M-004, 2007-2011, Accession 2012-
M-001, 2009-2012..
Biographical sketch
Summary
Paul F. Boller, Jr. was born on December 31, 1916 in Spring
Lake, New Jersey. He received a B.A. degree in 1939 and a
Ph.D. in 1947, both from Yale University. He served as a
Japanese translator for the U.S. Navy from 1942 through
1946 and then as a civilian analyst for the Office of Naval
Intelligence in Washington, D.C. He taught history as a
professor at several universities, including Southern
Methodist University in Dallas, Texas (1948-1966), the
University of Texas at Austin (1963), Queens College in
New York (summer of 1964), the University of
Massachusetts at Boston (1966-1976), and Texas Christian
University in Fort Worth, Texas (1976-1983). He published
numerous books, the most famous of which was
Presidential Anecdotes in 1981.
The papers document the life and career of Paul Boller. The
papers consist of materials related to Boller’s published and
unpublished writings, as well as professional
correspondence, research material, and course material.
Included in the papers are personal correspondence and
diaries that provide an insight into Boller’s private life, as
well as promotional material for his written works.
Provenance Gift of Paul F. Boller, Jr., 2004, 2007, 2009, and 2010.
Terms governing use
Copyright has been transferred to Texas Christian
University.

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 4
Preferred citation
For further
information
Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers. Special Collections, Mary Couts
Burnett Library, Texas Christian University.
Special Collections
Mary Couts Burnett Library
Texas Christian University
TCU Box 298400
Fort Worth, TX 76129
Tel.: (817) 257-7108
Fax.: (817) 257-7282

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 5
Biographical Sketch
Paul F. Boller, Jr. was born on December 31, 1916 in Spring Lake, New Jersey. He
graduated from Yale University in 1939 with a B.A. degree and proceeded to Yale
Graduate School. He attended the U.S. Navy Language School in Boulder, Colorado in
1942 and 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy as a translator of Japanese in the Language
Section JICPOA [Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific Ocean Area] in Honolulu and Guam.
After completing his naval service in 1946, Boller returned to Yale and graduated with
his Ph.D. in 1947. Over the next sixty years, Boller worked as a professor of history at
various academic institutions and as a writer of nationally best-selling histories.
After leaving Yale in 1947, Boller worked as a political-economic Naval Intelligence
Analyst in the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C. In 1948, he left this
civilian analyst position to become an assistant professor of history at Southern Methodist
University in Dallas, Texas, where he later became a full professor. He taught as a
visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin during 1963 and at Queens College
in New York during the summer of 1964. During his tenure as a professor in Texas
Boller began writing books, beginning with 1961’s controversial high school textbook,
This Is Our Nation, with Jean Tilford. Critics questioned his loyalty to American values
and accused Boller of being associated with “communist-front organizations.” A group
called Texans for America, especially spokesman J. Evetts Haley, unsuccessfully
attempted to have the textbook banned from classrooms due to its so-called “soft” stance
on communism. In 1963, he wrote George Washington and Religion. Disagreements
with the administration at SMU led Boller to leave the school for a position at the
University of Massachusetts at Boston in 1966. During the ten years in which he taught
there, he wrote three notable books, Quotesmanship: the Use and Abuse of Quotations
for Polemical and Other Purposes in 1967, American Thought in Transition: the Impact
of Evolutionary Nationalism, 1865-1900 in 1969, and American Transcendentalism,
1830-1860: an Intellectual Inquiry in 1974.
Boller left the University of Massachusetts in 1976 to take up the appointment of the
newly-created Lyndon Baines Johnson Chair of American History at Texas Christian
University. In 1978 he wrote Freedom and Fate in American Thought before becoming a
nationally best-selling author with Presidential Anecdotes in 1981. Anecdotes became a
Book-of-the-Month Club selection and led to an Oxford book tour in the fall of 1981. He
retired from teaching in 1983 to become a professor emeritus and devoted himself to
scholarship. He completed his trilogy of presidential books with Presidential Campaigns
in 1984 and Presidential Wives in 1988. Other books Boller wrote after he retired
included Hollywood Anecdotes in 1987, A More Perfect Union with Ron Story in 1988,
They Never Said It with John George in 1989, Congressional Anecdotes in 1991,
Memoirs of an Obscure Professor in 1992, Not So!: Popular Myths About America in
1995, and Presidential Inaugurations in 2001.
During his distinguished career, Dr. Boller received the Henry Seward Fellowship, the
Ford Foundation Faculty Fellowship, the Foote-Sheldon Clark Fellowship, the Macy-
Howard Fellowship, the TCU Brachman Award for Excellence in Teaching, Mortar

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 6
Board Top Professor Award, Honorary Alumnus Award, the John H. McGinnis Award,
the Honors Faculty Recognition Award, and a 1993 doctorate in literature, honoris causa,
from Texas Wesleyan University.
Description of the Papers
The papers document the life and career of Paul Boller. The papers consist of materials
related to Boller’s published and unpublished writings, as well as professional
correspondence, research material, and course material. Included in the papers are
personal correspondence and diaries that provide an insight into Boller’s private life, as
well as promotional material for his written works.

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 7
Series I. Personal Papers, 1887-2004
The series includes press clippings, photographs, diaries, and biographical information
arranged alphabetically by document type. Diaries comprise a significant part of the
collection and are the highlight of this series because they narrate Boller’s daily activities
and interests, both personal and professional, over more than forty years. Biographical
information about Paul Boller chronicles major activities, both professional and personal,
in his life. Newspaper clippings recount Boller’s acquaintances, the highlights of his
career, and his professional honors. The series also includes photographs of the Boller
family.
Description Date Box Folder
Biographical information
Boller family 1887-1985 1 1-3
Boller, Paul 1916-2000;
n.d.
4-10
Clippings 1940-2004 2 11-13
Diaries
1939; 1956-1961 14-20
1962-1981 3 21
1982-1993 4 22
1993-2004 5 23
2004 6 24
Donations 1970-2002 25
Honors 1935-2001 26
Photographs 1950-1989;
n.d.
27-28

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 8
Series II. Correspondence, 1935-2004
The series contains personal correspondence sent and received by Paul Boller spanning
seven decades. The general correspondence is arranged chronologically and chronicles
all of the important activities during Boller’s life, including undergraduate and graduate
school at Yale, service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, his career as a history
professor, and his life as a writer. The majority of the general correspondence is between
Boller and his immediate family, but it also includes letters to and from acquaintances.
The series concludes with letters between Boller and several important writers and
historians, including Harry Elmer Barnes, Merle Curti, and John R. Erickson.
Description Date Box Folder
General
1935-1942 7 1-8
1942-1952 8 9-17
1953-1975 9 18-25
1976-1995 10 26-33
1996-2001 11 34-40
2001-2004 12 41-46
Barnes, Harry Elmer [sociologist and revisionist historian] 1941-1968;
1980
47
Curti, Merle [intellectual and social historian] 1978-1984 48
Erickson, John R. [Boller’s former student and children’s
author of “Hank the Cowdog” books]
1963-1999 13 49-52

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 9
Series III. Writings, 1937-2004
The series includes correspondence, contracts, reviews, promotional material, and drafts
related to Paul Boller’s published and unpublished writings. This series begins with his
published books, arranged chronologically by the date of publication. The book material
includes correspondence, contracts, reviews, and promotional material. Essays and
reviews contain both drafts and the final products of published essays and book reviews
written by Boller. Lectures and speeches include announcements and publicity related to
Boller’s public lectures and speeches. The series ends with research notes and
correspondence related to unpublished writings. In keeping with the original order of the
collection, correspondence regarding Boller’s professional writings resides in this series,
while personal correspondence is in Series II.
Description Date Box Folder
This Is Our Nation (published in 1962) 1954-1974;
n.d.
14 1-2
George Washington and Religion (1963) 1962-2000 3
Quotesmanship (1967) 1966-1988 4
American Thought in Transition (1969) 1968-2001 5
American Transcendentalism (1974) 1970-1977;
1992-2000
6
Freedom and Fate in American Thought (1978) 1976-1983 15 7
Presidential Anecdotes (1981)
Contract and correspondence 1976-1985;
1996
8
Correspondence 1981-2000 9-10
Reviews 1981-1983 11-12
Extracts published 1981-1985;
n.d.
Interviews 1981-1983;
2001
Talks and references to 1981-1999;
n.d.
13
14
16 15

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 10
Description Date Box Folder
Presidential Anecdotes, continued
Promotion and book tours 1981-1984 16 16
British Commonwealth 1981-1983 17
Penguin Paperback (1982) 1981-1988 18
Presidential Campaigns (1984)
Contract and correspondence 1981-1985 19
Correspondence 1984-1999 20
Reviews 1984-1988 21
Extracts published on subject 1983-1990 22-23
Promotion and interviews 1982-1996 17 24-25
British Commonwealth 1984-1985 26
Hollywood Anecdotes (1987) with Ronald L. Davis
Contract and correspondence 1984-1989 27
Reviews and correspondence 1987-1994 28
Permissions 1987-1988 29
British Edition, Ballantine Paperback, audio 1987-2001 30
Presidential Wives (1988)
Contract and correspondence 1983-1989 31
Correspondence 1985-1994 32
Reviews 1988-1991 18 33
Promotion and book tour 1988-1989 34
Interviews, talks, excerpts 1987-1999 35

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 11
Description Date Box Folder
A More Perfect Union (2 vols., 1988) with Ronald Story 1982-2001 18 36
They Never Said It (1989) with John George
Contract and correspondence 1966-1990 37
Correspondence 1985-1999 38-39
Correspondence with John George 1995-2001 19 40
Reviews and promotion 1988-1992 41
Fake quotations for a new edition 1944-1953;
1984-2004
42
Congressional Anecdotes (1991) 1991-2001 43
Memoirs of an Obscure Professor (1992)
Correspondence 1986-2000 44
Notes and clippings used 1942-1962;
1974-1991;
n.d.
45
Research notes 1942-1994 20 46-49
Not So!: Popular Myths About America From Columbus to
Clinton (1995)
Contract and correspondence 1993-1995 50
Correspondence 1992-2000 51-52
Permissions 1994-1995 53
Reviews 1995-1996 21 54
Correspondence with Oxford and tour 1994-1996 55
Presidential Anecdotes (1996) 1994-1999 56
Presidential Anecdotes and Presidential Campaigns
(updated editions, 1996)
1994-2001 57

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 12
Description Date Box Folder
Presidential Wives (revised edition, 1998) 1997-2001 21 58
Presidential Anecdotes and Presidential Wives (Japanese
translations, 1999-2001)
1996-1999 59
Presidential Inaugurations (2001) 1999-2002 60-61
Presidential Campaigns from George Washington to
George W. Bush (2004)
2002-2004 62
Essays and reviews
1941-1971 22 63-68
1972-2004 23 69-73
Essays and reviews – correspondence 1937-2004 74
Lectures and speeches
Announcements and publicity 1938-2003 24 75-79
Drafts, 1958; 1982-1991 80
Drafts, 1988-2001 25 81-83
Unpublished writings
Research notes 1941-1950;
1977; 1998-
2000; n.d.
84-86
Research notes – Charles Beard (1972) [historian] 1952-1979 87
Vietnam manuscript 1968 88
Humorous Side of American History (1979) 1977-1979 26 89
Texas project [abandoned, 1992] 1988-1992 90
Bushspeak manuscript 1992 91
Short pieces 1952-2003;
n.d.
92

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 13
Series IV. Course Material, 1949-1993
The series contains course material documenting Paul Boller’s career as a history
professor. The records have been arranged alphabetically by type and chronologically
within category. The lectures include many of the speeches Boller gave during his
teaching years, including a lecture on communism in 1953. The series concludes with
student comments answering the question, “What ideas discussed in this course have
changed your mind about things”
Description Date Box Folder
Course listings and agreements 1951-1993 27 1
Exams 1961; 1979-
1980
Lectures 1950-1960;
1976-1981;
n.d.
2
3-6
Student comments 1949-1950 7-8
Accession 2007-M-008, 1920-2007
The addition includes correspondence, contracts, articles, and photographs arranged
alphabetically by document type. The general correspondence and the photographs are
mainly of a personal nature. The writing material contains contracts, correspondence,
notices, and reviews related to Boller’s writings.
Description Date Box Folder
Clippings 2004-2007 1 1
Correspondence – general
1951; 2003-2006 2-7
2007 2 8-9
Lectures 1996-2007 10-11
Photographs 1920-2003 12

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 14
Description Date Box Folder
Writings
Articles / essays 2004-2007 3 13
George Washington and Religion (1963) 2004-2007 14
A More Perfect Union (1988, 2006) 2007 15
Presidential Anecdotes (1981, 1996) 1981; 2004-
2007
16
Presidential Campaigns from George Washington to
George W. Bush (2004)
2004 17
Presidential Diversions (2007) 2004-2007 18
Presidential Inaugurations (2001) 2004-2005 19
Presidential Wives (1988, 1998) 2004 20
Steiner, Max [proposed book about this film music
composer]
1935-2002 21
They Never Said It! (1989) 2005 22
Accession 2009-M-001, 1940-2009
The addition includes correspondence, diary summaries, letters to editors, and materials
related to Boller’s writings and speaking engagements. The clippings include media
references to Boller’s writings as well as articles and cartoons he collected. In 2007-
2008, Boller summarized his diaries from 1939-1941. The summaries cover Boller’s last
semester as an undergraduate and his first two years in graduate school at Yale, as well as
his cross-country travels and his thoughts on the outbreak of World War II. He also
summarized diaries of his mother, Grace Hall Boller, from the 1970s.
Description Date Box Folder
Boller Presidential Symposium overview 2007 1 1
Clippings 2004-2009 2
Correspondence 1997-2009 3-5

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 15
Description Date Box Folder
Diary summaries
Paul Boller [diaries from 1939-1941] 2007-2008 1 6
Grace Hall Boller, mother [diaries from 1974, 1976-
1977]
2007-2008 7
Letters to the Editor 1940, 1951,
2008-2009
8-9
Review, Presidential Diversions 2007 10
Speaking engagements
Promotional material 2007-2009 11
Public lectures 2007-2009 2 12-13
Writings 2007-2009 14
Accession 2009-M-004, 2004-2007
Description Date Box Folder
Diaries 2004-2007 1 1
Accession 2010-M-001, 1972-2010
Description Date Box Folder
Boller Symposium 2009 1 1
Clippings 2008-2009 1 2
Correspondence 2009-2010 1 3
Diaries 1972-1981,
2007-2009
2 4

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Papers (MS 101) - 16
Description Date Box Folder
Letters to the editor 2009 2 5
A More Perfect Union: Documents in U.S. History
[publicity]
2004 2 6
Speeches 2006,
undated
2 7
Accession 2011-M-004, 2007-2011
Description Date Box Folder
Correspondence 2010-2011 1 1
Writings: Presidential Diversions 2007-2011 1 2
Accession 2012-M-001, 2009-2012
Description Date Box Folder
Articles/clippings 2011-2012 1 1
Boller Symposium 2009 1 2
Correspondence 2012 1 3
Publicity 2009-2012 1 4