Harold B. Lee Library

Thomas L. Martin and BYU

February 3, 2010

In 1921 President Franklin S. Harris began to reorganize the academic structure of Brigham Young University and recruit new faculty members to the university. Among his early recruiting successes was Thomas L. Martin. Professor Martin had a doctoral degree from Cornell University and was asked to join the faculty of the university as the department chair of the Agricultural Department. He would be a member of the faculty for 37 years.

Professor Martin was renowned as a soils agronomist and was extremely enthusiastic about research. It was an enthusiasm that he shared with his agronomy students and which Martin worked hard to install as a key component of agricultural education at Brigham Young University. He was very successful in this effort. In 1950, he was acclaimed by the American Society of Agronomy as the most successful teacher of agriculture in the United States.

Professor Martin wanted students to have the best possible educational experience and worked to strengthen the curriculum of the Agricultural Department as well as that of the College of Applied Science. He oversaw the addition of two new courses (bacteriology and landscape architecture) to the College of Applied Science curriculum in 1936. Professor Martin would eventually serve as Dean of the College of Applied Sciences.

The University Archives is home to several collections that document the impact the Professor Martin had on Brigham Young University. They include:

• UA 98 Thomas L. Martin Papers, 1924-1950. This collection includes correspondence, scrapbook items, published works, and other items documenting Professor Martin’s academic career.
• UA 1065 Thomas L. Martin Photographs, 1924-1950. This collection includes photographs of Thomas L. Martin as well as photographs taken by Professor Martin.
• MSS 3687 William Martin photograph of Thomas L. Martin, 1950. This photograph is of Thomas L. Martin in a group with two other men and three other women. It was taken in December 1950 by Thomas L. Martin’s son, William.
• BX 8670.1 .M367m My Life Story by Thomas L. Martin. This item is an autobiographical work by Thomas L. Martin.
• BX 8663.1 .C47 1924-25 no.4 Lesson book for the religion classes in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, fifth grade. This religious instruction manual was authored by Thomas L. Martin for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

If you would like to learn more about researching the contributions of faculty members such as Thomas L. Martin, contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.

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New Digital Collection

January 20, 2010

The University Archives is proud to announce that a project to digitize the early student newspapers of Brigham Young University is underway. We will be digitizing the Academic Review, the BYA Student, the Normal, and the White and Blue. Several issues of the Normal

and the White and Blue

are already online at the BYU History digital collections site.

Student publications got their start in 1884 when the Polysophical Society of the Brigham Young Academy began to publish the Academic Review. This literary periodical ran through May 1885 and contained information about the Academy, reports on campus events advertisements, and other interesting information. In 1891 a new student paper was begun and titled the BYA Student. This periodical featured content similar to its predecessor and lasted for about five months. Six years later (in 1897) students decided to give it another go and established The White and Blue. The paper was originally published every other month but eventually gained enough traction that it was decided to publish it twice a month. The White and Blue ran through 1921 when it was supplanted by the Y News. The White and Blue featured more original student writing and reporting than its predecessors. It included essays on the character of Brigham Young University, information from the various school classes, literary essays, poetry, information on sporting events, and other interesting details of student life. These early student papers are a wonderful window into student life from the 1890s through the early 1920s. They help us gain a better understanding of what it was like to be a student at Brigham Young University during an important transitional period in the university’s history.

If you have any questions about these early student newspapers, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.

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Spicing up student life

January 5, 2010

Students at Brigham Young University have always looked for ways to enliven their college experience. They have numerous opportunities for extracurricular activities in 2010. They attend musical and theatrical performances at the Harris Fine Arts Center. They flock to athletic events in the Smith Fieldhouse, the Marriott Center, South Field, and LaVell Edwards Stadium. They enjoy campus comedy groups such as Divine Comedy, Humor U and Laugh Out Loud. They also attend lectures in the Harold B. Lee Library, the Joseph F. Smith Building and other campus venues. There is plenty to do at Brigham Young University.

Creativity is the hallmark of many student activities. The University Archives is home to records and photographs that describe many of these creative activities. A few of the more interesting student activities took place in the 1960s when students participated in frog and turtle races as well as tiger wrestling.

If you are interested in learning more about the activities of students at Brigham Young University, you can consult numerous collections in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections (1130 HBLL) including the following:

• UA 384 Coeds living on fifty centers a day, 1958
• UA 770 Alumni Memories of BYU, 1990
• UA 376 Records and minutes of the Associated Men Students of Brigham Young University, 1941-1945
• UA 919 Brigham Young University Campus photographs, ca. 1880-1958
• UA 1055 Chi Triellas records, 1974-1991
• UA 153 Rocky Mountain Oratorical League records, 1925-1928, 1930

For more information on how to learn about student life at Brigham Young University, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.

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The BYU Bookstore

December 16, 2009

This is a busy time of year on a college campus with students working to finish final projects and cramming for final exams. They are also trying to figure out which of their textbooks they can sell back to campus bookstores and which they will be stuck with for the next twenty years. They are also pondering what to do with the limited funds that they will get back–do they spend it on themselves or do they buy Christmas gifts for friends and loved ones. For over one hundred years the BYU Bookstore has served as a focal point for campus purchases.

The BYU Bookstore was established in 1906 as the Student Supply Association to supply the books and other school supplies that students needed. The Student Supply Association was housed on lower campus in the Education Building and there was only enough space for one employee to work at a time. As Brigham Young University grew, the Student Supply Association grew as well and was housed in various locations on campus including College Hall and an old army surplus building on upper campus.

By the 1950s it was clear that the Student Supply Association needed a home of its own and, under the direction of President Ernest L. Wilkinson, planning began for the Herald R. Clark Building. The completed Clark Building not only housed the Student Supply Association it also was home to a post office, university housing, and university purchasing. It was the bookstore, however, that was the main draw for students.

Brigham Young University experienced tremendous growth in the 1950s and 1960s going from a student population of 5,000 to 25,000 and this prompted a number of building projects on campus. Among those projects was a student center that would be named the Ernest L. Wilkinson Student Center and that included a large space for the bookstore. In 1965 the Student Supply Association became the BYU Bookstore and moved into its current situation as part in the Wilkinson Student Center.

The BYU Bookstore offers students more than just textbooks. It also sells general interest books, LDS books, clothing, games, art work, music, and other materials. It is convenient resource for the students of Brigham Young University and they take full advantage of its services.

The University Archives is home to several collections that document the history of the bookstore. They include:

• UA 1223 Brigham Young University Student Auxiliary Services, 1952-1995. This collection details the workings of the Brigham Young University Department of Student Auxiliary Services. It is comprised of staff minutes, programs, clippings, and reports outlining the various objects and activities which the Student Auxiliary Services dealt with. It includes information on the bookstore. To access the finding aid for this collection, click here.
• UA 1149 Brigham Young University Administrative Vice-President Records, 1994-1998. This collection contains correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, policies, subject files, and other items necessary to the functioning of the Administrative Vice President’s office. Includes information on the BYU Bookstore. To access the finding aid for this collection, click here.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the holdings of the University Archives, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu

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Showing School Spirit

November 25, 2009

Go to any athletic event at Brigham Young University and you will hear students cheering on their beloved Cougars. You will also hear them attempting to demoralize the opposing team with creative chants and yells.

Athletics was introduced to Brigham Young University by Benjamin Cluff, Jr. in 1891. Baseball was the first sport played at the young institution and was followed by football (1896), track and field (1899), and basketball (1900). Cluff had become convinced that athletics was a vital part of university life while attending the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He felt that they strengthened school spirit. He also felt that school yells were an appropriate way to demonstrate that school spirit.

Early students attempted to institutionalize the yells and cheers utilized at early athletic events by producing Yell books with detailed on instructions on how to perform the yells and the words to each of them. The University Archives is home to numerous Yell books from the early 20th century that provided young Cougars with appropriate yells and cheers to use at athletic events. The images below are of the cover of an early Yell book and the first page of another. Note the detailed instructions on how to perform the yells.

These materials and others can be found in UA 330 Yells and songs of Brigham Young University, 1900-1960 in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections (1130 HBLL) at Brigham Young University.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.

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The Professional Papers Program and faculty

November 11, 2009

The University Archives is responsible for documenting the administrative, cultural, social, and intellectual history of Brigham Young University. The Archives accomplishes this task through a number of different programs. The Professional Papers Program was established in the mid-1990s to help the Archives capture pieces of the intellectual and administrative history of the university. The program is designed to gather basic information about the faculty, staff, and administrators and their activities while employed at Brigham Young University.

An important component of the Professional Papers Program is the acquisition of the personal papers of representative faculty members.

Faculty members and their various activities (including teaching, research, and involvement with professional associations) lie at the heart of the intellectual vitality of Brigham Young University. It is important that this aspect of the university’s history be documented. While the University Archives would prefer to acquire the complete personal papers of every faculty member employed by Brigham Young University, this is not practical or possible given the Archives’ limited resources. The Archives has created a policy to help guide the University Archivist’s selection activities and to ensure that a representative sample of faculty papers is acquired as part of the Professional Papers Program. The Faculty Papers Collecting Policy is available at: Faculty Papers Collecting Policy (2009) This policy aids the University Archivist in making decisions about which faculty members’ papers to acquire and what portions of those papers should be acquired.

The Archives has also created another document to help faculty members understand what types of materials the Archives is interested in. This enables the faculty member to make determinations on what types of materials to save long-term and what types of materials that they can dispose of when they are finished using them. This document is available at: Faculty and staff papers

If you have any questions about the Professional Papers Program or donating faculty papers to the University Archives, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.

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Franklin S. Harris and Brigham Young University

October 28, 2009

Franklin S. Harris began his association with Brigham Young University in 1903 as a student in the high school. He received his high school diploma in 1904 and returned home to Colonia Juarez, Mexico to teach school. However, his passion for learning had been ignited and in 1905 he returned to Brigham Young University and commenced his college studies under the direction of Dr. John A. Widtsoe. He completed his college studies in 1907 and took a job at the Utah State Agricultural College in Logan, Utah. After teaching at the Agricultural College for one year he took his young bride and moved to New York to pursue graduate studies in agronomy at Cornell University. Upon the completion of his doctorate he returned to the Agricultural College as a professor of agronomy and an agronomist on the staff of the Experiment Station.

In 1921 he was offered the presidency of Brigham Young University and returned to his alma mater. Under the capable direction of President Harris Brigham Young University was accredited by the Northwest Association of Colleges and Universities in 1923 and by the American Association of Universities in 1928. Accreditation was an important step in the university’s history as it became formally recognized by other institutions and it became easier for Brigham Young University graduates to attend graduate schools. Harris also laid out an ambitious plan of growth for university and began to articulate the important role that Brigham Young University would play in the educational system of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The University Archives is home to several collections that document the influence that Franklin S. Harris had on the development of today’s world class university. They include:

• UA 1089 Brigham Young University President’s Records, 1921-1945. The presidential papers of Franklin S. Harris include alphabetical correspondence files, budget files, and information on the early accreditation of the university. To access the finding aid for this collection click here.
• MSS 340 Franklin Stewart Harris papers, 1912-1959. This collection includes personal correspondence, diaries, research notes, rough drafts of publications, and a copy of his thesis.
• MSS 340 P Franklin Stewart Harris photographs, 1910-1954. This collection contains photographs taken by Harris on multiple trips around the world and in the Western United States. To access the finding aid for this collection click here.
• UA 1106 Janet Jenson Collection of Franklin S. Harris materials, 1847-2002. This collection contains materials gathered by Janet Jenson in the course of writing a biography of her grandfather Franklin S. Harris. The materials include articles by or about Franklin S. Harris, Franklin S. Harris’ testimony in the Confederated Bands of Ute Indians vs. the United States, some business records of Franklin S. Harris, newspaper clippings about Franklin S. Harris, correspondence of Franklin S. and Estelle S. Harris, certificates of Franklin S. and Estelle S. Harris, and the typescripts or copies of the diaries of Estelle S. Harris and Eunice S. Harris. It also contains a draft of the biography of Franklin S. Harris written by Janet Jenson and audiocassettes of oral histories with people who knew the Harris family as well as the notes Jenson used to write the biography. To access the finding aid to this collection click here.

If you would like to learn more about the holdings of the University Archives on Franklin S. Harris, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.

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Honoring the Founders

October 14, 2009

Brigham Young University has a rich heritage and every year during Homecoming the university pauses to reflect on those men and women who have helped to create the educational institution that we enjoy. The honored founder this year is Eugene Lusk Roberts. Roberts served as the first head of the Brigham Young University’s athletic department from 1910 to 1928 and was well known for his love of the outdoors and his commitment to allowing everyone to have an athletic experience. He will be honored in several different ways as part of the Homecoming celebrations that begin next week.

The tradition of honoring our founders runs deep at Brigham Young University. The practice was initiated by Benjamin Cluff, Jr. in 1891 as a way to encourage class and institutional spirit.

Cluff wanted students and faculty to have a way to tap into the rich heritage of the young educational institution. Every year during October students and faculty would gather at the Academy Building to listen to speakers extol the virtues of the men and women who had sacrificed time, talents, and money to allow the Brigham Young Academy to survive and flourish. They told wonderful stories about the early founders to illustrate the importance of sacrifice, commitment, loyalty, and hard work–some of which were even true!

These stories established a rich oral history that lives on today in our Homecoming celebrations. This oral tradition will be on display next week as the winner of the Brimhall essay contest reads his or her winning essay in front of thousands of students and faculty–an essay that discusses the contributions of Eugene L. Roberts to the university and what those contributions mean to us today. The oral delivery of the essay ties the university community back to the original Founders Day of 1891 as we connect to the past through the spoken word.

If you have any questions about the history of Brigham Young University, please contact the university archivist at (80) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.

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Owen S. Rich, Broadcast Education Pioneer

October 1, 2009

Owen S. Rich was a broadcast education pioneer at Brigham Young University. He came to BYU in 1946 at the request of T. Earl Pardoe. Pardoe was looking for someone to introduce radio broadcasting at the university. Rich had been serving as a chief electronic technician for the United States Coast Guard when Pardoe contacted him. Rich came to BYU as an undergraduate student in 1946 and immediately set to work establishing KBYU radio. He graduated from BYU in 1950 and was appointed the first full-time broadcasting instructor at the university. In the early 1950s Rich was asked by President Ernest L. Wilkinson to go to California to learn more about broadcast television. Rich packed up his small family and began studies in telecommunications at USC. After receiving his MA degree from USC, he returned to BYU and began planning for KBYU-television in 1958. Rich taught at the university for 40 years and was well respected by colleagues and students.

The University Archives is home to several collections that document Rich’s influence on the development of communications education at Brigham Young University. These collections include:

• MSS 5784 Personal histories of Owen S. and Ora Rich, 1922-2006. This collection contains the personal histories of Owen S. Rich and his wife Ora. It also includes a bound volume containing letters of appreciation from colleagues and students.
• UA 1142 KBYU-related photographs and material, 1940-1960. This collection contains photographs and other materials related to the history of KBYU television and radio.
• MSS 2127 Owen S. Rich papers. This collection includes information relating to the communications courses that Rich taught at BYU. It also includes an autobiography of his career in broadcast education.
• UA 989 Speech and videos on KBYU, 1987-1990. This collection contains a speech given by Rich on the establishment of KBYU. It also includes a video documenting Rich’s career at KBYU.

If you would like to learn more about Owen S. Rich or the University Archives, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu .

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Heber J. Grant Library

September 16, 2009

From the beginning of his presidential administration Franklin S. Harris campaigned for a library building. He believed that Brigham Young University could never successfully join the ranks of the country’s colleges and universities without a strong library. A library building would be a visible symbol of the university’s commitment to scholarship and learning and it would help the young university’s efforts to build a strong library collection. In August of 1924 President received word that the General Church Board of Education had approved his request to build a library on Temple Hill. The completed building would join a small cluster of buildings on upper campus and would be further evidence of the university’s intention to move from its previous location.

Construction on the Heber J. Grant Library began in October of 1924 and the building was dedicated one year later. The new library was two stories high and contained office space and classrooms in addition to closed stacks for the library collections and a large reading room. It also included a room for university’s Ancient American collection (an early precursor of today’s Special Collections). It was named after Heber J. Grant, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to honor his love of reading.

The University Archives is home to several collections that document the early history of the Heber J. Grant Library. They include:

• UA 405 Contributors to the Heber J. Grant Library. This collection includes a list of individuals and institutions who contributed to the Heber J. Grant Library.
• UA 231 Collected articles about the Heber J. Grant Library. This collection includes a series of articles from the Alumni Announcer concerning the Heber J. Grant Library.
• UA 1089 Franklin S. Harris Brigham Young University presidential records. This collection includes correspondence that documents Harris’ lobbying activities on behalf of the new library building.

If you would like to learn more about the Heber J. Grant Library, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu

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