Literary rights:Literary rights were not granted to Wichita State University. When permission
is granted to examine the manuscripts, it is not an authorization to publish
them. Manuscripts cannot be used for publication without regard for common law
literary rights, copyright laws
and the laws of libel. It is the responsibility of the researcher and his/her
publisher to obtain permission to publish. Scholars and students who eventually
plan to have their work published are urged to make inquiry regarding overall
restrictions on publication before initial research.

Restrictions: None

Content note:
The Isely Collection contains the manuscripts, research notes and correspondence
of two Wichita writers, Bliss Isely and his wife, Flora Isely. (She wrote under
the pseudonym, Kunigunde Duncan.) Although the majority of the collection consists
of materials related to their work, there are some personal documents that contain
biographical information. The documents in the collection roughly span the time
1904 to 1963.

Biographical note:
Flora (Kunigunde Duncan) Isely, b. 1886, wrote and published a great deal of
poetry during the early 1900s and later wrote a number of books. She graduated
from Wichita High School in 1904 where she later taught three years. In 1911
she married author Bliss Isely, and during most of their married lived on a
farm near El Dorado, Kansas. They had three sons, Malcolm, Kenneth and David,
who died in childhood. In 1938 she published the book Blue Star, a book
based on the life of Corabelle Fellows Campbell Tillman, and during the 1940s
she co-authored a book with D.F. Nichols on Mentor Graham. She wrote a number
of articles dealing with the Dust Bowl and Wichita history for local and national
newspapers. Her books include a book of poems, The Land of the Little Boys,
and Mentor Graham: The Man Who Taught Lincoln (1944).

Bliss Isely (1881-1963), a native Kansan, was a well known publicist and historian.
He wrote several textbooks for elementary and secondary public schools on Kansas
history, among them Early Days in Kansas (1927) and Four Centuries
in Kansas (1936). Mr. Isely graduated from Fairmount College in 1906 and
remained involved with Wichita University throughout his life. He was employed
by several newspapers; the St. Louis Star, The Kansas City Star, and The Wichita
Beacon, as a feature writer at different times during his career. In 1916 he joined Fairmount
College as a field secretary or fund raiser. He later served as the Publicity
Manager of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. In 1955 he retired on his farm southeast
of El Dorado.

His books include Sunbonnet Days (1935), Blazing the Way West
(1939), Presidents Men of Faith (1953), and The Horseman of Shenandoah
(1962) , in addition he wrote numerous articles for local and national newspapers
and magazines.