Arrington papers issue concludes
The issues involving the Arrington collection between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah State University have come to a conclusion. A small portion of the collection has been returned to The Church of Jesus Christ.
The Arrington family has requested a small portion of the collection to be returned to its rightful owner, The Church of Jesus Christ, said President Kermit L. Hall. He said the portion returned is “roughly one half of 1 percent of the collection.”
President Hall said the university did not return the portion of the collection directly to The Church of Jesus Christ. Instead, the university handed the returned portion to the Arrington family, he said. The Arrington family has found evidence of ownership in only a small portion of the collection, which was later returned rightfully to The Church of Jesus Christ, he said.
“We have no obligation to the church at all,” President Hall said.
He said the only obligation the university has concerning the documents is to the Arrington family. The family has requested a small portion of it to be returned, and that is exactly what the university has done, he said.
“The collection is now open to the public,” President Hall said. “I believe USU is the beneficiary of the most priceless collection dealing with American West and Mormon history.”
President Hall said he is satisfied with the current status of the collection.
The Arrington collection consists of historical documents and papers of The Church of Jesus Christ. The collection, which also includes rare and original documents of the church, was donated to the USU Merrill Library by Leonard J. Arrington, the church’s historian, after his death.
Soon after the Arrington collection was officially opened to the public in October, The Church of Jesus Christ quickly requested portions of the collection to be returned, claiming ownership of the documents. As a result, boxes of the collection were sequestered for a period of time.
“I am thrilled that the researchers will now have the opportunity to benefit from Arrington’s lifetime of scholarship,” President Hall said.