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Governor John Howard Pyle, RG1, SG 16 1951-1955

RG 1, SG 16

Biographical Note

John Howard Pyle was born March 25, 1906, in Sheridan, Wyoming. In 1925, the family moved to Tempe, Arizona. He graduated from Arizona State University in 1930 and served as Program Director for KFAD until 1951. During World War II, Pyle served as a war correspondent. Pyle ran for governor in 1950 and won by 3,000 votes in his first try at politics. In 1952, his win was more decisive - a difference of 53,000 votes. Governor Pyle is credited with bringing the two-party system to fruition in Arizona. In 1953, Pyle authorized the raid on Short Creek, a Mormon community which still practiced polygamy. The raid resulted in several arrests and the removal of over 250 children from the community. The public's negative reaction to the raid is believed to have prevented Pyle from serving a third term as governor. In 1954, Governor Pyle became a member of President Eisenhower's White House team as head of state and federal relations. After the White House, Pyle became president and chief executive officer of the National Safety Council in 1959 and retired in 1974. Governor Pyle died at age 81 on November 29, 1987.

Scope and Content

The Governor's Office arranged the Governor's correspondence alphabetically by subject, government agency, personal name and private organization. Correspondence files contain letters, reports, newspaper clippings, statistics, petitions, speeches and telegrams. Major topics in these files include the federal government, business, land and water. A second set of correspondence files include invitations, greetings, personal appearance requests and constituent letters and are arranged alphabetically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

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Many documents held by the Arizona State Archives come under the Public Record law (ARS 41-1350). Documents created by the government are not copyrighted. The United States of America Copyright Law (P.L. 94-553, effective Jan. 1, 1978) extends statutory rights of authority to unpublished works which were previously protected by literary property rights under common law. Such works do not have to be registered with the Copyright Office to receive protection under the law.

Related Material

For related material see the Arizona Governor's Office Subject Files.

Controlled Access Terms

Accession Number

The State Archives received these materials from the Governor's Office prior to the creation of an accessioning system.

Administrative Information

Custodial History

The State Archives received these materials from the Governor's Office.

Scope and Content

Bibliographic citations must cite the title of the record group(s), the box or volume number, the History and Archives Division and the name of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records in full. Please use the following example:

Governor George W.P. Hunt to Ely Sims, November 21, 1919, Box 14, Office of the Governor, RG 1, History and Archives Division, Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.

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