Boone, Lalia Phipps, 1907-1990

Professor of English, University of Idaho, 1965-1973.

Daughter of a minister and one of seven children, Lalia Phipps Boone was born April 19, 1907 in Tehuacana, Texas. She graduated from Westminster Jr. College in Tehuacana in 1925. From 1925 to 1944 she taught school first in Navaroo Co. schools, then at Wortham High School in Wortham, Texas. At the same time she was attending East Texas State College where she received her B.A. in English in 1938. She was principal of Wortham High School from 1944 to 1946. She continued her studies and received her M.A. in Medieval Literature and Linguistics in 1947 from the University of Oklahoma where she served as an instructor in the English Department from 1946 to 1949. She then became the first woman professor at the University of Florida where, in 1951 she became the first woman to receive a doctoral degree from that institution; again her emphasis was on Linguistics and Medieval Literature.

She continued teaching at the University of Florida, moving through the ranks from instructor to assistant, and finally to associate professor until 1965 when the accepted a position as Professor of English at the University of Idaho. She remained at the university until her retirement from teaching in 1973; her final year was as Professor of Education. Following her retirement she spent several years serving as a consultant to secondary schools in Idaho and Spokane, Washington.

Dr. Boone is the author of many books and articles including From A-Z in Latah County (1984), Idaho Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary (1985), Petroleum Dictionary (1951), "Post Offices of Latah County, Idaho," "Names of Idaho Counties" Names, XVI, No.1, March 1968 (reprinted in Congressional Record, June 4, 1970), plus many articles on the history of words and teaching language skills to children.

She was instrumental in organizing the Idaho Council of Teachers and served as its president for several years. She was also a member of the American Association of University Women, American Dialect Society, American Name Society, Modern Language Association, National League of American Pen Women, Idaho Council of Teachers of English, and the Idaho Educational Association. In 1966 she was named Penrose Fellow by the American Philosophical Society. She received the American Association of University Women's Idaho Golden Anniversary Endowment Award in 1982.

Following the completion and publication of her Idaho place name book she moved to Silver Spring, Maryland. She died there December 1, 1990.