A Guide to the Records of
Florence Burge
Collection No. 82-36

Florence Burge, 1912-1986

Florence S. Burge (Mrs. Lee Burge) was born in New York and attended the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Nevada-Reno, where she studied journalism under Professor Alfred L. Higginbotham. She began freelance writing in 1954, doing feature stories for Reno newspapers.

Burge became women's editor of the Reno Evening Gazette in 1959, a position she held until 1966. Subsequently she worked as a reporter and editor for the North Lake Tahoe Sierra Sun; owned and operated the Flo Burge public relations and advertising agency at Incline Village, Nevada; and did freelance writing.

Burge was the 1964 recipient of the J.C Penney-University of Missouri award for best women's pages for a paper with circulation of up to 25,000, and was awarded several state and national awards by the National Federation of Press Women. She was president of the Nevada Press Women; secretary of the National Federation of Press Women; director of Region Two of the National Federation of Press Women; and a member and officer in numerous other professional, civic, and cultural organizations.

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The papers of Florence Burge were donated to the Special Collections Department by Mrs. Burge in 1981. The collection consists of four cubic feet of material dating from 1955-1966. There are no restrictions on most of the collection; however, the manuscript material and photographs for the Noble Getchell biography are closed to researchers at the present time.

The material documents Burge's professional newspaper writing and editing career and includes an unpublished manuscript biography of Noble Getchell co-authored by Burge and Getchell. Burge wrote numerous articles on a freelance basis both before and after her appointment as women's editor for the Reno Evening Gazette; at least a portion of that work is represented in this collection in the form of typed drafts or published articles. Many of the subjects were historical in nature, focusing on individuals, families, and businesses who were Reno pioneers. These pieces were frequently illustrated with photographs copied from originals belonging to the subject of each article; both the published images and unused photos are part of this collection (all photos except those from the Getchell manuscript have been placed in the photo archives of the Special Collections Department). Subjects included Cannon's Drug Store, Charlie Eaton, Charlie Nash, Orrin C. and Silas Ross, and the Nevada Republican Party, to name a few.

Although not complete, one series in this collection documents Burge's career as editor through numerous copies of her column "Round About" and many editions (which she edited) of the women's pages of the Gazette. These copies often contain comments by the Gazette editor, Rollan Melton. Burge also kept files of samples of what she thought were good society pages from other newspapers; a limited number of these are also part of the collection.

An important series for documenting Burge's career as a journalist pertains to the award which she received from J.C. Penney - University of Missouri for best women's pages. This section contains correspondence regarding the award; congratulatory notes from readers, friends, and peers; and materials used in workshops held in conjunction with the presentation of the award in Missouri. There are also a number of photographs of the award ceremonies.

The last series of this collection contains an unpublished manuscript biography of Noble Getchell, which was co-authored by Burge and Getchell. The research notes and draft biography may be viewed by researchers but not published; the photographs may be published with permission of the Special Collections Department.

 

Processed by: Susan Searcy
Date: January 13, 1988

 

 

The Florence Burge papers have been arranged into the following series:

I Correspondence

II J.C. Penney - University of Missouri Award

III Published Articles of an Historical Nature

IV Women's Page Editor

V Noble Getchell Biography Manuscript

 

 

Series I. Correspondence, 1960-1966.

This series includes letters, cards, and notes to Burge from readers, friends, and associates. The correspondence of a professional nature comments, compliments, or critiques articles of Burge's which appeared in the Reno Evening Gazette, or thanks her for her articles about local organizations; there is also a small number of letters from personal friends regarding her professional activities. One folder includes congratulatory letters to Burge for winning the Penney-Missouri award. Arranged by type of letter and chronologically within each type.

Box 1

I/1-4 Correspondence, 1960-1964.

I/5 Congratulatory letters, 1964-1965.

I/6-7 Personal correspondence, ca 1965.

I/8-9 Thank you letters for publicity, 1962-1966.

 

Series II. J.C. Penney - University of Missouri Award, 1964-1965.

This series contains material related to the award for best women's pages for a newspaper of up to 25,000 circulation. Included is correspondence concerning the award ceremonies, material used in the editing workshop which was held concurrently on the University of Missouri campus, and newspaper articles about Burge's winning of the award.

Box 1

II/1-2 Award presentation and workshop, March, 1965.

II/3-4 News articles about Burge's award, 1964-1965.

Series III. Published Articles of an Historical Nature, 1956-1965.

Included in this series are individual published articles written by Burge, most of which have a historical topic. Each usually includes the original typescript and a clipping of the published article. Photographs which were considered and/or used with the article were usually present; they have been placed in the photo archives. Arranged alphabetically by title or subject.

Box 1

III/1 Cannon's Drug Store, 1958.

III/2 Child's Long-age Dream Comes True - She Collects Mark Twain First Editions, 1963.

III/3 Crane, Mrs. & Mrs. J. B., 1962.

III/4 Deer Hunters, 1956.

III/5 Eaton, Charlie, 1957.

III/6 Genealogical notes, n.d.

III/7 Geno's Studio, 1963.

III/8 Giving and Christmas, 1957.

III/9 Harrah, Scherry, 1962.

III/10 Herz, Mrs. Walter, 1962.

III/11 Mary Stott's Visit to Reno, 1963.

III/12 Matley, Martha, 1956.

III/13 Nash, Charlie, 1957.

III/14 Pen Women's Luncheon - The Gordons, 1963.

III/15 Princess Margaret's Visit, 1965.

III/16 Railroad Mishaps, 1958.

III/17 Rawhide, 1957.

III/18 Reno Fire, 1957.

III/19 Republican Ball, 1965.

III/20 History of the Republican Party in Nevada, 1956.

III/21 Ross, Orrin C., 1957.

III/22 Ross, Silas, 1957.

III/23 State Wives [wives of public officials], 1959.

III/24 Steele Ranch, 1957.

III/25 White, Fred, 1957.

III/26 White, Jay, 1957.

III/27 Yorty, Sam [Mayor, Los Angeles], n.d.

 

Series IV. Women's Page Editor, 1955-1966.

This series consists primarily of newspaper clippings of the women's pages of the Reno Evening Gazette as edited by Burge; copies of the "Round About" column by Burge; and articles by Burge which appeared in the Gazette and other newspapers. Some "tear sheets" or rough drafts are included with comments from editor Rollan Melton. Arranged chronologically; the "Round About" column and tear sheets are in separate files.

Box 2

IV/1 "Round About" column and publicity.

IV/2 Tear sheets, ca 1966.

IV/3 Father's Day, 1965.

IV/4 Mother's Day, [1966].

IV/5 Articles by Burge, 1955-1957.

IV/6 " " 1960.

IV/7 " " 1961.

IV/8-9 " " 1962.

IV/10 " " Jan. - Sept., 1963.

IV/11 " " Oct. - Dec., 1963.

IV/12 "Fun in the Sun" series, July - Aug. 1963.

IV/13 Articles by Burge, Jan. - May, 1964.

IV/14 " " June - Dec., 1964.

IV/15 " " Jan. - May, 1965.

IV/16 " " June - Dec., 1965.

IV/17 " " 1966.

IV/18 "Good Society Pages," 1966.

 

Series V. Noble Getchell Biography Manuscript, ca 1958.

Florence Burge and Noble Getchell jointly authored a biography of Getchell which was completed in about 1958. Prior to release of the manuscript to potential publishers, Mr. Getchell placed a prohibition on its publication. This series consists of several drafts of the biography, Burge's notes, taped interviews Burge made with Getchell and others, and original photographs which were to serve as illustrations in the book. The research notes and typescript copy of the manuscript may be viewed for scholarly research but may not be published; the photographs are available for research and may be published.

Box 3

V/1-8 Retyped manuscript.

V/9-12 Duplicate, re-written manuscript.

V/13 Uncorrected manuscript.

V/14 Research notes.

V/15 Bibliography.

V/16 Book, The Political History of Nevada. 1948.

V/17-18 Burge's research notebooks.

V/19-20 Photographs of Cash Mine, Getchell's mining activities, and Getchell.

 

Box 4

V/ Taped interviews (7 reels).

 

Box 5

V/ Note cards (Burge's).

 

The Burge papers originally included numerous copies of magazines and monographs to which Burge contributed articles, but because of their bulk, these publications have been removed from the manuscript collections and transferred to the book stacks of the Special Collections Department. The following is a list of these publications. Unless otherwise noted, Florence Burge is either the author or editor of each item.

"Judge Richard Nash Held Esteem of Entire Town." In Nevada Historical Miscellany, pp 61-68. Published by the Nevada Press Women. Sparks: Western Promoting and Publishing Company, 1976.

"My God I Thought...." etc. (Spring 1977): 12-13.

Burge, Florence. In Nevada Pen and Palette. A Collection of Memorabilia, pp 23-28. Edited by Florence Burge. Reno: Nevada Press Women, 1976.

The Press Woman [contain mentions of Burge]. Vol. XXVIII No. 2 (Mar. - Apr. 1967); and Vol. XXVIII No. 3 (May - June 1967).

View: A Guide to High Country Living. Vol. I No. 6 (Aug. 1966).

"Untapped Goldmine." View. Vol. 2 No. 2 (May 1967) 4-5.

View Reno - Lake Tahoe 24 Hour Guide. 1967.

"Winter Cruise." View. Vol. 1 No. 10 (Feb. 1967) 7.

"Nevada - The Cultural Flop?" View. Vol. 2 No. 1 (Mar. 1967).

View. Vol. 1 No. 9 (Jan. 1967).

"Ski Incline Village." View. Vol. 1 No. 8 (Nov. 1966).