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Guide to the Lucas James DeKoster Papers

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Collection Overview
Date Span: 1967-1982
Creator: DeKoster, Lucas James (1918-2000)
Extent: 5.50 linear feet.
Collection Number: MSC0289
Repository: University of Iowa Special Collections
Summary: Iowa state senator. DeKoster's correspondence and legislative newsletters from his terms in the legislature.

Alternate Extent Statement: Photographs Box 4

Access: This collection is open to research.

Use: Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information.

Acquisition: These papers were given to the University of Iowa Libraries by Mr.DeKoster in installments from 1973 to 1982.

Preferred Citation: Papers of Lucas James DeKoster, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

Repository: University of Iowa Special Collections
Address: Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone: 319-335-5921
Curator: Greg Prickman
Email: lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Website: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc

Lucas James DeKoster was born in Hull, Iowa, on June 18, 1918. He attended Kansas State University before transferring to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where he graduated in 1939 with a degree in mechanical engineering. From 1940 to 1947, he worked for the NACA (a forerunner of NASA) where he did propeller and jet engine research. DeKoster attended the Cleveland Marshall Law School, graduating in 1949. He then worked as a patent attorney in Cleveland. In 1951, he returned to Hull, Iowa, to establish a legal practice. A Republican, Mr. DeKoster was elected in 1967 to the first of five terms in the Iowa state senate, until 1983. He died in Hull, Sioux County, Iowa, on February 23, 2000.

The papers of Lucas J. DeKoster date from 1967 to 1982. A group of clippings make up the first series.

Correspondence makes up the second series. Letters from Charles Grassley, Thomas Tauke, and Arthur A. Neu are included here.

DeKoster wrote a newsletter, aimed at his constituents, in which he kept them up-to-date on what was going on in the Iowa Legislature. These newsletters (which in his diary he refers to as "a euphemism for campaign letter") are included in the third series, Legislative. Apparently DeKoster sent these out to the newspapers in his area for them to quote from as they chose. Included in most of these files are the original typewritten copies, with DeKoster's holographic corrections and additions, and a carbon copy or photocopy of the final copy. Closely allied to the newsletters as a way of reaching his public, are a series of letters to the editors he wrote, often in response to articles and other letters. These are included in the legislative series as well. Papers relating to his committee service during his years in the Senate are included here. He served on the Judiciary Committee and the Corrections and Mental Health Appropriations Subcommittee among others. There are local and national publications and copies of articles about these topics included in the legislative series since they are thought to have served as research for proposed amendments to bills under the guidance of these committees.

The Miscellaneous series contains items that wouldn't fit comfortably under another heading.

Campaign materials, family business, community service items, and speeches are collected under the rubric Personal.

Photographs make up the last series in the group.

Browse by Series:
Series 1: CLIPPINGS
Series 2: CORRESPONDENCE
Series 3: LEGISLATIVE FILES
Series 4: CAMPAIGN MATERIALS
Series 5: PERSONAL
Series 6: OTHER COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITIES
Series 7: REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA
Series 8: GENERAL

  • Series 1: CLIPPINGS
  • Box 1:
  • The Des Moines Register, January 13 - 1983
  • Series 2: CORRESPONDENCE
  • Box 1:
  • Correspondence - 1961-1966
  • Correspondence - 1967
  • Correspondence - 1968
  • Correspondence - 1969
  • Correspondence - 1970-1971
  • Correspondence, January-July - 1972
  • Correspondence, August-December - 1972
  • Correspondence, January-August - 1973
  • Correspondence, September-December - 1973
  • Correspondence, January-February - 1974
  • Correspondence, March - 1974
  • Correspondence, April - 1974
  • Correspondence, May - 1974
  • Correspondence, June-July - 1974
  • Correspondence, August-December - 1974
  • Correspondence - 1974
    Copies of letters
  • Correspondence, January-July - 1975
  • Correspondence, August-December - 1975
  • Correspondence, January-August - 1976
  • Correspondence, September-December - 1976
  • Correspondence, January-September - 1977
  • Correspondence, October-December - 1977
  • Correspondence, January-August - 1978
  • Correspondence, September-October - 1978
  • Correspondence, November-December - 1978
  • Box 2:
  • Correspondence, January - 1979
  • Correspondence, February - 1979
  • Correspondence, March-April - 1979
  • Correspondence, May-June - 1979
  • Correspondence, July-December - 1979
  • Correspondence, January - 1980
    Including from Arthur A. Neu
  • Correspondence, February - 1980
  • Correspondence, March - 1980
  • Correspondence, April - 1980
  • Correspondence, May-June - 1980
  • Correspondence, July-September - 1980
  • Correspondence, October-December - 1980
  • Correspondence, January-June - 1981
  • Correspondence, July-October - 1981
  • Correspondence, November-December - 1981
  • Correspondence, January-December - 1982
  • Series 3: LEGISLATIVE FILES
  • Box 2:
  • Biographical sketch for Iowa Official Register
  • Birth Defects Advisory Committee
  • Corrections Subcommittee - 1980
  • Corrections Subcommittee, March - 1982
  • Corrections Subcommittee, April - 1982
  • Committee on Judicial Districts
  • Judiciary Committee
    See also Judiciary Committee folder in Box 5
  • Senate Ethics Committee
  • Senator Joe Welsh case
    Includes Remarks from Senator Joe Welsh to Senate Ethics Committee, January 6, 1992
  • Senator Joe Welsh case
    Includes Iowa Trust board meeting minutes for January 25, 1990
  • Legislative Advisory Committee
    This is DeKoster's advisory committee, made up of people from his constituency, not the Legislative Advisory Committee of the State Senate
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1967
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1969
    Typed carbons
  • Box 3:
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1970
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1971
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1972
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1973
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1974
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1975
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1976
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1977
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1978
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1979
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1980
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1981
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter - 1982
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter, n.d.
    Typed carbons
  • Legislative Newsletter recipients
    List of newspapers and radio stations to which the Legislative Newsletter was sent
  • Letters to the Editors - 1974-1983
  • Press releases - 1974-1978
  • Miscellaneous pamphlets, speeches, forms, certificate - 1968-1988
  • New office building floor plans
  • Notes on cards - 1976; 1988
    Possibly for speeches
  • Pardon for James Filarski, correspondence from Governor Robert D. Ray - 1981
  • Series 4: CAMPAIGN MATERIALS
  • Box 3:
  • Campaign finances - 1970-1974
    Check stubs
  • Campaign for State Senate - 1964
  • Campaign for State Senate - 1968; 1972
  • Campaign for State Senate - 1978
  • Miscellaneous campaign materials - 1974-1976
  • Republican campaign fund - 1960
  • Series 5: PERSONAL
  • Box 3:
  • Family business
  • Family business expenses for building in Hull, Iowa
  • Series 6: OTHER COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITIES
  • Box 3:
  • Annual performance of The Messiah - 1960-1970
  • Cooperation with the Boy Scouts of America [brochure published by the U. S. Navy, Great Lakes, Illinois; correspondence about Naval training cruise] - 1956-1957
  • Sioux County Tuberculosis and Health Association. Members and program - 1954-1956
  • By-Laws of the Boyden-Hull Community PTA - 1963
  • Hull Public Library. Board of Directors - 1978-1983
    Includes remodeling instructions, floor plan
  • Hull Public Library. Board of Directors correspondence - 1966-1977
  • Hull Public Library. Board of Directors correspondence - 1963-1965
    Includes 1963 contract
  • Iowa State University. Alumni Achievement Fund, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa, and Big 8 Conference scholarships - 1954; 1966
  • Iowa State Bar Association, Insurance Committee - 1984-1985
  • Iowa State Bar Association, Insurance Committee - 1980-1981
  • Iowa State Bar Association, Insurance Committee - 1985
  • Iowa State Bar Association, Judicial Immunity Ad Hoc Committee - 1984
  • Iowa State Bar Association, Legislative Committee - 1979
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction - 1982
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction - 1983
  • Box 4:
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction - 1984
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction - 1985
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction - 1985
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction - 1986
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction - 1986
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction correspondence, January-June - 1987
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction correspondence, July-December - 1987
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction correspondence, July-September - 1987
  • Iowa State Board of Public Instruction - 1988
  • Micah Corporation, Board of Directors - 1982-1984
  • Series 7: REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA
  • Sub-Series: Christian Action Commission
  • Box 4:
  • Church and Economic Life
    2 folders
  • Church and Economic Life
    2 folders
  • General - 1963-1965
  • General - 1964-1968
  • General - 1964-1967
    Includes Right to Work Laws
  • Human Rights and Race Relations
  • International Affairs
  • Marriage, Family Life, and Mental Health
  • Public Morals
  • Sub-Series: Reformed Church in America
  • Box 4:
  • Classis and Judicial Business - 1984-1985
  • Committee of Church Government - 1978-1980
    Includes constitution, articles of incorporation
  • Committee of Church Government correspondence - 1971-1977
  • Organ Committee reports
  • Organ Committee correspondence
  • Christian Action Commission
  • Pamphlet, Sabbath Observance; Library of Congress correspondence - 1962
    Published by the Social Action Committee
  • Series 8: GENERAL
  • Box 4:
  • Speeches
  • Photographs, DeKoster official portrait for the Iowa Official Register - 1964
  • Photocopy of a photograph of DeKoster; candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Terry Branstad; candidate for the Iowa House, Doug Ritsema, n.d.
  • Box 5:
  • Judiciary Committee
    2 folders; folder two of two is housed in Box 2
  • Prison Committee - 1981
  • Education Committee - 1981
  • Speech to Judges Association, Trends in Legislation, June 16 - 1982
  • Correspondence, including from Charles E. Grassley and Thomas Tauke, March - 1979

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.


Corporate Names:
Republican Party (Iowa)

Occupations:
Legislators

Geographic Names:
United States -- Iowa
United States -- Iowa