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Barbara Boyett Collection, 1935-2013

 

Summary

Extent:
1.8 Linear Feet 1 Five inch legal standard document container 1 sixteen x twenty inch flat box
Language:
English Japanese

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains historical booklets and tourist material about Merseyside and Liverpool, England, as well as more general English tourist information. These items tie to Barbara Boyett Rutenkroger's English childhood during World War II. Other materials pertain to life on Misawa Air Base in the 1960s and the Boyetts' experience while stationed there. These include contemporary newspapers like the Pacific Stars and Stripes and the Misawa base's newspaper Wing Span, pamphlets about the base, and Lloyd K. Boyett's Certificate of Service for 2 ½ years serving on the 1953rd Communications Squadron. Japanese tourist material from the 1960s is included too. Additionally, this collection contains examples of Japanese folk art that Barbara Boyett Rutenkroger seems to have acquired in the 1960s while living at Misawa. These include three Yawata-Uma horse figurines, a set of three carved and painted wooden plates, a carved wooden tablet, a painting, and a piece that appears to have been created by painting a carved sheet of rubber.

Biographical / historical:

Barbara Boyett Rutenkroger (born Barbara Alexandra Hunt; January 2, 1933 – October 28, 2024) was born in Liverpool, England. She was only six years old when the United Kingdom entered World War II, and like many local children she was sent to stay in the countryside for her safety during the war. Later in life she maintained a historical interest in the Liverpool Blitz, which devastated her hometown between 1940-1942. She married Edgar A. Barzey in July 1954 in Wallasey, England; this marriage seems likely to have ended in divorce. She then became acquainted with Lloyd Kenneth Boyett, a US airman stationed in England. On May 18, 1962, she married Boyett in Yuba, California. She accompanied Boyett to numerous locations where he was stationed during his Air Force career. She kept an array of souvenirs from the period when her husband was stationed at Misawa Air Base on the island of Honshū, Japan, from about 1966-1969. She was deeply involved with volunteer work while Boyett was stationed at Misawa, and she appears to have taken a keen interest in Japanese folk art and culture. When her husband retired from the Air Force, the couple moved to the Lakeland area. They had become active in various Lakeland community committees and organizations by the 1990s. Lloyd Boyett passed away on January 27, 2007. In 2011, Barbara married widower Earl Rutenkroger, who passed away on December 20, 2018.

Acquisition information:
After Barbara Boyett Rutenkroger passed away in 2024, this collection was donated to the McKay Archives by her family and friends in 2025.
Processing information:

The largest of the 3 Yawata-Uma horse figurines is stored on a shelf near the collection, rather than in Box 2.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into the following series: 1) History, Merseyside and Liverpool, England, 2) Tourism, England, 3) Misawa Air Base and Lloyd K. Boyett military career, 4) Tourism, Japan, and 5) Japanese art, including folk art. Oversized items from Series 3 and 5 are stored in Box 2. These include certificates and art pieces.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Researchers must contact McKay Archives in advance for access to unprocessed born digital materials in this collection. Collection restrictions, copyright limitations, or technical complications may hinder the archive's ability to provide access to unprocessed born digital materials.

Terms of access:

The Barbara Boyett Rutenkroger collection is owned by Florida Southern College. This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Please inquire if you have questions - archives@flsouthern.edu

Location of this collection:
Florida Southern College
111 Lake Hollingsworth Dr.
Lakeland
FL
33801
USA