Small Manuscript Collections, Neal Joseph Boyle Collection

Neal Joseph Boyle (1924 – 2020) was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, to Neal Patrick and Beatrice Theresa Boyle. After graduating from high school in 1942, Boyle served in World War II in the U.S. Coast Guard as an areologist dispensing valuable weather data. After the war, Boyle graduated from Georgetown University SFS in 1951. When he retired, Boyle had been serving as Vice President and CFO of the American Red Cross. Before that, Boyle served as Sr. Vice President at GEICO and was the Chairman of the Finance Commission of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva, Switzerland. He was a past President of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Financial Executives Institute. Boyle was a former St. Jude’s Apostle Finance Committee member in Lewes. Boyle was married to Tilda R. Boyle, who died before him, for 56 years. He was married to Jane A. Hood for ten years after Tilda’s death. Neal Joseph Boyle was an avid collector of paper ephemera, specializing in postcards.

Postcards (9200-B29-001): This series is entirely comprised of postcards collected by Neal Joseph Boyle. Most postcards capture events and locations around Delaware, while a few feature locations in Maryland. Images include churches, courthouses, local and federal government buildings, hotels, train stations, banks, post offices, bodies of water, local celebrations, street scenes, historical buildings and monuments, and more. The images are photographic or illustrated; some lack pictures and serve as invoices or simple communication cards. A majority of the postcards include a combination of messages, postmarks, and postage stamps. Some postcards served as business advertisements, while many served as correspondence between parties. These postcards were addressed to places across the United States, Canada, and Cuba.

Records (9200-B29-002): This series is comprised of records collected by Neal Joseph Boyle. The records include wedding, funeral, and graduation invitations. It also contains advertisements for insurance, building materials, businesses and tools, examination papers and grade reports, correspondence, ribbons, tickets, cards, various documents relating to Delaware associations, and a driver’s license. All the records either occurred in or involved someone from Delaware.