University of Arizona

                                             Special Collections will be closed December 20, 2023 through January 1, 2024 in observance of the University Holiday break.

Papers of Mary Kidder Rak

Crayon Drawing by Charles Owen, Illustrator for Mary Kidder Rak's book A Cowman's Wife

Mary Kidder Rak is most widely known for being an author and a rancher in Southern Arizona. Rak wrote the book A Cowman's Wife.

Her collection includes correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, notes, photographs, and other papers relating to her writing career. Included are three unpublished manuscripts of western fiction, articles, and stories; a letter containing Kidder family genealogy; two photographs of Charles Rak and their ranch home from 1920; and five crayon drawings by Charles H. Owen which were used to illustrate her 1934 book, A Cowman's Wife.