Lesser-known collection holds wealth of information
There is a room in a far corner of the Merrill Library not often frequented by students.
This room is the Special Collections and Archives Room. The Special Collections is the permanent home for the Arrington Historical Archives.
Leonard J. Arrington, a former professor at Utah State University and a historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, donated his historical archives to the university, said Stephen C. Sturgeon, a manuscript curator for the Special Collections.
The archives fill more than 600 boxes, Sturgeon said and includes Church of Jesus Christ history with an “overwhelming amount of Utah focus.”
“The papers are the largest single collection we have,” Sturgeon said.
According to the Leonard J. Arrington Archives, the papers also contain The Church of Jesus Christ Historical Department’s correspondence and files, women’s history, Utah history, personal and family papers, and writings of Arrington. The archive also has papers from other scholars in the field of history of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Sturgeon said Arrington deeded his archives over to the university for varying reasons. He started his career at USU and raised his family in Logan.
“Arrington thought the papers would be more open to the public if they were here,” Sturgeon said. “The vast majority [of the papers] was here by the time he died,” Sturgeon said.
“Starting in the early 1980s, Arrington began having discussions with USU about donating his papers,” Sturgeon said.
Students can access the papers by going to the Special Collections Room and requesting the collection index, said Ann Buttars, head curator for Special Collections.
This gives an inventory of what the archives contain. Once a person finds what they want, they fill out a request form and hand over their school identification. It takes workers a few minutes to find the requested papers. Patrons are then at leisure to read the documents within the reading room of Special Collections.
“We allow people to use items as they exist,” Buttars said.
If it is an original then patrons see the original. If it is a photocopy then they see the copy, Sturgeon said. If the original is fragile, then it is protected, but these items are very few.
The index of the papers and Arrington’s biography are available online by accessing the university’s home page, clicking on the libraries hyperlink, then the Special Collections hyperlink, where there is a hyperlink for the Arrington Archive, Sturgeon said.
Buttars said after the court controversy over the papers only three items were returned to the Arrington family. These items accounted for only about six inches of material. They included a book of anointings done in the Nauvoo temple, minutes from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ in the 1870s to the 1950s and photo-copied portions of Heber C. Kimball’s journal. The minutes were more like an agenda than complete minutes, Buttars said.
The Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture Series is held annually at USU in the early fall, Buttars said. This series was begun by Arrington who was the first lecturer. Each year a noted scholar in Church of Jesus Christ history is brought in. This year Donald Worster will be the guest lecturer.
“He is a specialist in Western environmental history and a major name in that work,” Buttars said.
He will be lecturing on John Wesley Powell and John Muir and their observations of and interactions with members of the church, Buttars said.
In past years speakers like Jan Shipps, a noted historian of the Church of Jesus Christ, and Richard Bushman have been hosted to discourse on their respective fields of study.
According to the Leonard J. Arrington Historical Archives, Arrington was born in 1917 in Twin Falls, Idaho. He both attended and taught at USU. He first started teaching at USU in 1942 where he worked on and off until 1972.
Sturgeon said Arrington was a historian for The Church of Jesus Christ until 1982 when he transferred to BYU. He retired at the age of 88 and was best known for his book Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the LDS. Some of his research notes for this book are included in the papers.