Donald F. Howard's papers consist of four boxes, covering the time period from his entrance into the teaching field in the 1920s until his death in 1989. The processor found that the papers fell into three distinct categories: Personal Materials, Teaching, and Creative Works.

The first category, Personal, contains papers relating to his private life. Included are his doctoral dissertation and master's thesis, old graduate school examinations, personal correspondence, photographs, and two biographical folders. The correspondence consists of two types of letters: letters written to Howard and letters written by Howard to colleagues, campus officials, former students, and friends. The following is a list of the notable individuals with whom he corresponded: Clifford McCollum, J.W. Maucker, John Kamerick, James Hearst, Constantine Curris, Marvin Diemer, Ross Nielsen, M.R. Thompson, William C. Lang, Leland Sage, Douglas Vernier, Robert Morin, Jimmy Carter, Willard L. Boyd, and Daryl Pendergraft. Most of this correspondence is currently available for research.

The two folders of photographs contain pictures of Howard at different periods in his life; friends; the UNI campus; and unidentified photos. One notable color photograph is of his 50th Iowa State Teachers College class reunion in 1981.

Howard's biographical materials have been separated into two folders. The first folder contains general biographical items such as articles written about him, interview scripts, and programs. The second folder contains items that would be found in a faculty member's personnel file. It contains personnel action forms, evaluations, correspondence, and his faculty record. Some items in this folder are restricted from general viewing.

The folders in the second category, Teaching, contain the materials relevant to his teaching career. The first three folders contain notes and outlines for units in "American History-1877 to Present," a course he taught for several years. Also included in this area are examinations, evaluations, teaching certificates and contracts, and written recommendations.

The third area contains his creative works. This includes speeches and articles written by Howard. The folders labeled "Articles" contain typed copies or photocopies of his articles that were published in newspapers. As far as the processor could determine, the majority of the articles were published in The Waterloo Courier, in which he wrote a column called "Another View"; The Des Moines Register; and The College Eye. They are arranged chronologically.

The speeches are also arranged chronologically (see additional finding aid for a complete list). Following this sequence are eight folders of undated speeches, arranged alphabetically by title or, if the title was not given, by subject. These titles also appear on the additional finding aid.

His handwritten and typed notes and drafts of the speeches and articles are in separate folders from the actual works. There is one folder which contains notes for only his speeches; this folder is with the speeches. There is also a folder containing notes for both speeches and articles. For these, the processor could not determine which notes referred to speeches and which to articles. If researchers are looking for drafts or notes of either type of work, they are advised to examine the contents of both folders.

Howard and a colleague, Herbert Hake, conducted a radio show entitled "Behind the Headlines." Included in his papers are several folders containing letters he received from listeners and other correspondence, and print copies of the broadcasts which were submitted to newspapers. Of special interest to researchers may be a subject folder containing the proposed route for Interstate 380 through Cedar Falls and Waterloo.

Also located in Box 4 are two army uniform lapel insignias and a golf trophy. At the Beaver Hills Country Club in Cedar Falls, Howard shot a hole in one to receive a plastic glass award. The winning golf ball is included with the award. Please note that the collection's control file contains a list of Howard's speeches.

Please ask SC&UA staff for access.