May 22, 2013 by Gordon Daines
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a missionary church since its founding in 1830. Missionary work introduces individuals to the gospel of Jesus Christ and strengthens the testimonies of members of the Church.
Brigham Young University has been involved with the Church’s missionary efforts since its founding in 1875. The Brigham Young Academy offered classes to prepare missionaries for their labors and that tradition continues today. Faculty members at Brigham Young University were involved in developing the language training programs utilized at the Missionary Training Center. The Church’s Missionary Training Center grounds are cared for Brigham Young University and Brigham Young University’s Food Services helps to feed thousands of missionaries each year. Many of the teachers at the Missionary Training Center are Brigham Young University students.
The history of the Missionary Training Center and its connections to Brigham Young University is told in two excellent books held in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections’ Americana Collection:
- BX 8656.1 .C838x 2001 vol.1-2 Cowan, Richard O., Every man shall hear the gospel in his own language : a history of the Provo Missionary Training Center and its predecessors (Provo, Utah : Missionary Training Center, c2001).
- BX 8656 .M68 2012 Missionary legacy : a school in Zion (Provo, Utah : Missionary Training Center, 2012)
If you have questions about these books or materials available for studying the history of the Missionary Training Center, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.
May 8, 2013 by Gordon Daines
Early this week the university closed campus drive and yesterday they knocked down the bridge connecting the law school with the rest of campus. This is all part of the campus unification project and soon a lovely pedestrian plaza will connect the law school with the rest of campus. The law school bridge has been part of campus for nearly forty years and the law school building will seem significantly different without the bridge connecting it to campus. Enjoy these historic images from the University Archives.
Dean Rex Lee examines a model of the proposed Law school building, 1971.
Sketch of the proposed law school building complete with bridge, 1970s.
The completed law school and the bridge connecting it with the main campus, ca. 1970s.
These images come from the Brigham Young University photographs of campus buildings, 1882-1985 (UA 827) which can be accessed here and the Edwin Butterworth collection for the Brigham Young University centennial celebration (UA P 2) which can be accessed here.
If you have any questions about these collections or about materials available for studying the history of the law school, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.
April 24, 2013 by Gordon Daines
The Brigham Young University Archives is pleased to announce the availability of a new digital collection: Collection of Brigham Young University photographs and negatives (UA 869). This collection contains photographs and negatives of students, faculty, activities, and organizations at Brigham Young University. It also includes images of the performing arts and various colleges and departments. Materials date from approximately 1876 to 1996.
Early cougar mascots named Cleo and Tarbo, 1920s.
The easiest way to access the images is through the finding aid which is available through the BYU Finding aids website. You can search for the subject that you are interested in (for example, “Cosmo” or “cheerleaders”) and access the digital images by clicking on the thumbnail image in the search results. This will take you to the digitized contents of the folder of photographs of that particular building.
You can also go directly to the finding aid for UA 869 and scroll through the list of images or search within the collection. Once you have located the image(s) that you are interested in, click on the thumbnail to access the digital file of photographs. Each thumbnail represents the digitized contents of a folder of photographs. Go ahead and see what you can find.
If you have any questions about this digital collection, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu
April 10, 2013 by Gordon Daines
The early 1960s saw a lot of discussion within the Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about the possibility of the developing Church-sponsored junior colleges. The Church saw junior colleges as a way to increase accessibility to the high quality spiritual and secular learning found at Brigham Young University. Church leadership was beginning to realize that Brigham Young University was no exception to the national trend of rising college enrollment and that it would eventually not be able to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend the university unless they increased enrollment. Church leadership was not willing to move past the 25,000 student cap on student enrollment at Brigham Young University. With Brigham Young University unable to increase enrollment without major expansion, the possibility of developing multiple smaller institutions (junior colleges) began to be explored.
Extensive investigation into Church population and Church growth was done to determine possible junior college locations. A list of potential cities was compiled based on LDS population, growth predictions and overall church strength. The top six cities were Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Portland, Spokane, and Idaho Falls. While it was suggested that a junior college be established in each of these locations, Los Angeles had the potential of being home to three individual colleges.
The University Archives is home to various collections discussing the purposed implementation of a junior college system. They include:
- UA 1168 Proposed pilot plan for junior colleges, 1963. This collection contains a proposal by Brigham Young University President Ernest L. Wilkinson discussing the pros and cons of LDS junior colleges.
- UA 468 Study to establish additional junior colleges as part of the LDS Church educational system, undated. This collection contains a study and analysis of various geographical regions to determine potential sites for junior colleges.
- UA 1239 Proposed Anaheim College Campus of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints records, 1964. This collection contains a 240 page analysis and proposal for a junior college in Anaheim California. The proposed college would facilitate 5,000 students and 250 faculty and staff.
If you would like to learn more about the resources for study the proposed junior college system, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.
Post written by Joseph Wiest.
March 21, 2013 by Gordon Daines
The Charles Redd Center for Western Studies was established in 1972 at Brigham Young University. It works to promote the study of the Intermountain West by sponsoring research, publication, teaching, and public programs. The Center receives operating funds and staff support from the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences and the College of Humanities.
The University Archives is home to a collection (UA 478) that documents the activities of the Redd Center. The collection contains reports, correspondence, articles, audiotapes, videotapes, corporate minutes, research files, and budgets from the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies dated 1970-2006. The bulk of the materials is from 1970 to 1996. A finding aid for the collection is available here.
If you would like to know more about the resources available in the University Archives, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.
March 7, 2013 by Gordon Daines
Edwin “Eddie” R. Kimball graduated from Brigham Young University in 1926 and would return to coach football beginning in 1936. He would become athletic director in 1937 and serve as both head basketball and football coach for several years. Kimball coached basketball from 1936 to 1941. In 1941 Kimball resigned as basketball coach to focus on his duties as head football coach and athletic director. As a basketball coach Kimball compiled a record of 56-48. Kimball served as football coach from 1936 to 1948. He compiled a football record of 34-32-8 before hanging up his coaching cleats to focus completely on his duties as athletic director in 1948. The following images of Kimball and his teams are part of our BYU History digital collections which can be searched here.
Eddie Kimball (left) and his assistant Floyd Millett (right), 1930s.
Eddie Kimball, second row left, and assistant coach Floyd Millett, second row right, with the 1938-1939 basketball team.
Eddie Kimball coached the 1937 football team to the school's best finish--third place in a twelve team league.
If you have any questions about Eddie Kimball, contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.
February 20, 2013 by Gordon Daines
Brigham Young University has always had a remarkable and highly talented faculty that is deeply devoted to educating the undergraduates that come here. Current faculty members are heirs to this wonderful tradition. The University Archives is home to many collections that document the dedication of faculty members to the university and its students.
One of these faculty members is Russell R. Rich. His papers are UA 611 Russell R. Rich papers and they document his career at Brigham Young University. The papers include talks, correspondence, class lectures, and research–including the research notes and chapter drafts for the textbook Ensign to the Nations. A finding aid is available here.
Russell R. Rich taught at Brigham Young University in the College of Religion from 1953 to 1977. Among the many classes he taught were survey classes on the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (for which he prepared a detailed study guide to B.H. Robert’s Comprehensive History of the Church). He also authored a popular textbook dealing with the history of the Church from 1846 to 1900 called Ensign to the Nations. Rich also taught several graduate classes in Mormon history.
If you would like to know more about faculty at Brigham Young University, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.
February 6, 2013 by Gordon Daines
Early in the month of February the United States celebrates National Girls and Women in Sports day. Brigham Young University has been fielding competitive women’s athletic teams for a very long time. In fact, the first basketball team at Brigham Young Academy was a championship winning women’s team.
Brigham Young Academy's 1900 championship basketball team.
The University Archives is home to a remarkable collection documenting the history of women’s athletics at Brigham Young University. The collection is UA 5584 Athletic Media Relations scrapbooks on women’s athletics. The scrapbooks highlight the involvement of women in sports at the university ranging from basketball to golf to gymnastics. A finding aid for the collection is available here.
If you would like to know more about the resources available for studying women’s athletics at Brigham Young University, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.
January 24, 2013 by Gordon Daines
Ephraim Hatch was a longtime employee of the Physical Facilities Division of Brigham Young University. He was also a rather good amateur photographer. He took hundreds of photographs documenting the Harold B. Lee Library and the Provo City Library (formerly the Education Building of the Brigham Young Academy). The Ephraim Hatch photographs of the Harold B. Lee Library and the Provo City Library contain many of these images. The collection is UA 5399 and is accessible through the L. Tom Perry Special Collections.
If you have any questions about this collection, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.
January 10, 2013 by Gordon Daines
The Brigham Young University Archives attempts to document the history of Brigham Young University from a variety of perspectives. This includes the intellectual life of the university which is best represented by the university’s faculty. The archives is home to several faculty papers collections including the Noel B. Reynolds papers.
Noel B. Reynolds served on the faculty of Brigham Young University in the Political Science Department from 1971 to 2011. He had a wide variety of interests that ranged from Plato’s political theory, constitutionalism and the rule of law, authorship studies, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Book of Mormon. The Noel B. Reynolds papers (MSS 7935) document Reynolds’ teaching career and his scholarly activities. The collection is divided into four series: 1. Correspondence, 1981-1997; 2. Research files, undated; 3. Faculty course materials, 1978-2011; and 4. Personal course materials, 1966-1985.
If you would like to learn more about the Noel B. Reynolds papers, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu
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