Photographs, scrapbooks, and printed materials, 1896-2010 (bulk 1910-1927).
This collection is comprised of photo albums, scrapbooks, loose photographs,
and printed materials documenting the life and travels of Emile Cyrus Houle.
The bulk of the material relates to his medical career as a surgeon for the
S. P. de Mexico Railroad Company and USA Medical Corps in France during WWI,
and archaeological excavations undertaken in Mexico and the American southwest.
Topics of interest include the Mexican Revolution, WWI, and medical research
and publications on a number of topics including yellow fever on the northwest
coast of Mexico in the early-mid 1920s.
Collection Number:
MS 478
Repository:
University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections
University of Arizona
PO Box 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
Phone: 520-621-6423
Fax: 520-621-9733
URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/
Biographical Note
Emile Cyrus Houle was born June 5th, 1881 in Michigamme, Michigan and graduated,
M. D., from the University of Michigan in 1904. Following brief stays at the
Tamarack Hospital in Calumet, Michigan and the Mohak and Wolverine mines in
Kearsarge, Michigan as Assistant Surgeon from 1904-1905 and 1905-1907 respectively,
Houle became the Assistant Surgeon of the Sud Pacifico (S. P.) de Mexico Railroad
Company on the west coast of Mexico in 1907 where he worked under George Emory
Goodfellow, M. D. Over the next 10 years, Houle advanced from Assistant Surgeon to
Chief Surgeon of the S. P. de Mexico Railroad Company before enlisting in the
U. S. A. Medical Corps in 1917 for the WWI war effort. His military service
included service in the 1st Battalion 20th Engineers, Dax, France and the Surgeon
Camp, Dax, France, and a commission to Major, M. C., before discharge after 13
months of service in 1919. After his military service, Houle returned as Chief
Surgeon of the S. P. de Mexico Railroad Company in 1919 where he stayed before
resigning in 1926. His medical career continued as a general practitioner in his
home, Nogales, until the 1950s. During his medical career, Houle contributed to
and wrote a number of published research articles on a variety of topics, including
yellow fever on the Mexican west coast from 1921-1925, and is credited with aiding
in the eradication of malaria in Sonora, Mexico.
Houle was married to Loretta Fitzpatrick Houle and had two sons, Alan and Peter.
Apart from his medical career, Houle was also an amateur archaeologist, his excavations
having resulted in a collection of pre-Columbian statues which have since been donated
to a state museum, many photographs documenting his finds, and a written narrative of
his travels. His time with the S. P. de Mexico Railroad Company also offered Houle a
unique perspective of the Mexican Revolution as it proceeded in Empalme, Sonora Mexico.
This perspective is reflected in research gathered in conjunction with the superintendent
of the railway and friend, Victor W. Bennett.
Emile Cyrus Houle passed away October 21st, 1966.
Scope and Content Note
Photographs, scrapbooks, and printed materials, 1896-2010 (bulk 1910-1927). This collection
is comprised of photo albums, scrapbooks, loose photographs, and printed materials documenting
the life and travels of Emile Cyrus Houle. The bulk of the material relates to his medical
career as a surgeon for the S. P. de Mexico Railroad Company and USA Medical Corps in France
during WWI, and archaeological excavations undertaken in Mexico and the American southwest.
Working as a surgeon for the S. P. de Mexico Railroad Company on the west coast of Mexico from
1907-1920’s, Houle was present for events related to the Mexican Revolution, which are documented
in photographs, journal entries, and research printed materials in the collection. Well
represented events include the Banquet Massacre of Yaqui Chiefs and the Imuris Incident. His
medical career also included 13 months of service in the U.S.A. Medical Corps in France during
WWI from 1917-1919 with promotion to Major, M. C., U.S.A, which is documented primarily in
correspondences, journal entries, and other documents.
Houle’s time in Mexico and the American southwest also allowed for a career as an amateur
archaeologist with excavations in Ixtlán del Río, Mazatlán, and Tepic, Mexico, and Nogales and
Tuba City, AZ, among other locations. These archaeological excavations are greatly represented
in two scrapbooks and loose items of mainly photographic material depicting sculpture figurines
and rock art. The two scrapbooks include copies of a potential future publication documenting
Houle archaeological career, with the inclusion of notes, rough drafts, and final versions of a
five chapter personal narrative describing it. The narrative can be found in the printed materials.
Apart from his professional careers, his personal life is represented in early photographs starting
from 1902 and correspondences and photographs from later in life mainly during the 1950s and 1960s.
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish
from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record,
the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The
user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the
University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all
claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of
copyright.
This series contains two scrapbooks document Emile Cyrus Houle’s archaeological
findings and travels. They contain photographs and descriptions of pre-Columbian archaeological
finds, including statuettes, figurines, rock art, pottery, and other ceramics from locations such
as Manzanillo, Guaymas, and Ixtlán del Río along the west coast of Mexico. These scrapbooks may
have been layouts for intended publications and thus loose items have been documented by the pages
they were originally found on or between. Scrapbook 1 is more complete than Scrapbook 2.
box
1
Scrapbook 1,
circa 1910-1950s
box
2
Scrapbook 2,
circa 1910-1960s
box
folder
3
1
Scrapbook 1 - Loose Items by Page, Cover – p. 83,
circa 1910-1950s
3
2
Scrapbook 1 – Loose Items by Page, p. 84 – 127,
circa 1910-1950s
3
3
Scrapbook 2 – Loose Cover Items – Maps and Other,
circa 1910-1960s
3
4
Scrapbook 2 – Loose Cover Items – Notes,
circa 1910-1960s
3
5
Scrapbook 2 – Loose Cover Items – Photographs and Negatives,
circa 1910-1960s
3
6
Scrapbook 2 – Loose Items by Page
, circa 1910-1960s
This series contains printed materials from Houle’s professional and personal lives including
correspondences, journal entries, and research files. Materials of interest include journal
entries during his military service in WWI, a five chapter narrative of his archaeological
travels and excavations, and research regarding the Mexican Revolution and yellow fever on
the Mexican west coast in the 1920s.
box
folder
10
1
Archaeology and Anthropology
, circa 1950s, undated
10
2
Archaeology Narrative,
undated
10
3
Certificates,
1919-1925, 1936, 1966
10
4
Correspondences,
1907-1937, 1947-1966, undated
10
5
Correspondences – Family and Friends,
1932-1935, 1953-1959
10
6
Correspondences – Family and Friends,
1960-1971, 2008-2010, undated
10
7
Correspondences – Victor W. Bennett,
1953-1956
10
8
Correspondences – Victor W. Bennett,
1957-1962
10
9
Correspondences – Victor W. Bennett,
undated
10
10
Correspondences – George Goodfellow, M. D.,
1908-1910
10
11
Deeds,
1937
10
12
Houle Biography,
circa 1920s, 1960, undated
10
13
Houle Dayplanners,
1953, 1956
10
14
Journals
, Spring 1907-Nov. 1917, May 1919-Jan. 1922
box
folder
11
1
Journals – WWI,
Nov. 1917-May 1919
11
2
Newspaper Clippings
, circa 1940-1960s, undated
11
3
Research,
circa 1920s, 1950s, undated
11
4
Research – Biographies,
circa 1920s, 1940s, undated
11
5
Research – George Goodfellow, M. D.,
1932, circa 1950-1960s, undated
11
6
Index Cards, A-W
11
7
Research – Medical
, 1925, 1944, 1964, undated
11
8
Research – Medical – “The Balmis Expedition For Control of Smallpox by Vaccination”,
circa 1930s, undated
11
9
Research – Medical – “Belated Serum Treatment of Sequelae of Diphtheria”,
1933
11
10
Research – Medical – “Bone Metabolism in Relation to Industrial Surgery”,
circa 1930s, undated
11
11
Research – Medical – “Calcium in Therapeutics”
, 1935, undated
11
12
Research – Medical – “Evaluation of Factors in Bone Union”
, 1938, undated
11
13
Research – Medical – “Metabolism in Relation to Fractures”
, circa 1930s, undated
11
14
Research – Medical – “Yellow Fever – West Coast 1921-1925”
, 1923-1925, 1930
11
15
Research – Mexican Revolution
, 1913-1915, 1921, undated
11
16
Research – Mexican Revolution – Banquet Massacre of Yaqui Chiefs
, 1921, 1953, 1957
box
folder
12
1
Research – Mexican Revolution – Imuris Incident
, circa 1910-1920s, 1950s, undated
12
2
Research – Poetry, Songs, and Stories
, 1909, 1958, 1961, undated
This series contains materials of various formats as they were collected by Houle
and later descendants in order to document their genealogy. Formats include photographs
and printed materials, including correspondences, family histories, maps, newspaper
clippings, and notes.
box
folder
12
4
Albert J. Houle
, 1896-1917, 1964, undated
12
5
Alice Houle (Alice Sturgeon)
, 1950, undated
12
6
Arthur Houle
, 1912, 1923-1962, undated
12
7
Borbeau Family
, 1954-1958, undated
12
8
Eugene Houle
, 1949-1965, undated
12
9
Louise Exilia and Cyrille Houle III
, 1900, 1925-1927, undated
12
10
Fitzpatrick Family
, 1913-1938, 1955-1963, undated
