Archives West Finding Aid

The Luretta Young papers (1943-1988) documents the experiences of a Salt Lake City family in the post-World War II era as seen through the eyes of a wife, mother, homemaker, breadwinner, and political activist. Included are financial documents, such as family account ledgers; miscellaneous correspondence and other personal documents; and correspondence, brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, membership rosters, meeting minutes, financial records, reports, and other documents documenting political and other organizations in Utah during the 1970s.

The collection is organized in three groups. The first group, housed in boxes 1-11, consists of personal information in the form of family financial records and miscellaneous documents collected by Luretta, often with explanatory notes added. This material is organized chronologically. Boxes 1 and 2 contain personal items such as greeting cards, notebooks, correspondence, biographical sketches, and Luretta's personal notes written on envelopes, receipts, membership cards, and other miscellaneous paper. Boxes 3-6 contain the Young family's household ledgers--7" x 11" bound ledgers arranged by vendor and family member--in which Young kept a complete family financial record, including monies earned from such diverse sources as babysitting, newspaper recycling, birthday gifts and the sale of fruit. Also included are complete lists of persons with whom the Youngs did business, organizations they participated in, charities and causes espoused, and churches and schools attended. In addition to the bookkeeping entries, Luretta also noted employment and medical histories, job losses, illnesses, presents bought, prescriptions taken, flowers planted, movies seen, food canned, and bargains struck. She also added personal comments concerning purchases and services provided. Boxes 7-11 contain 7" x 9", 12-column household account books that detail cash disbursed by category (food, clothing, operating expenses, etc.). These books, which record checks written, also contain personal comments, although to a lesser extent than do the ledgers.

The other two groups of material in the collection are arranged by organization and subject. For these materials, the dates noted in this inventory reflect the date span of each complete record series, but not necessarily the documents within individual boxes. Documents arranged by organization name are in boxes 12-41 and consist of material saved by Young in relation to various organizations in which she was active. Included are correspondence, brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, membership rosters, meeting minutes, financial records, reports, press releases, advertisements, and schedules of events. The bulk of this material is related to Utah politics in the 1970s. Also of interest are documents related to Young's activities as secretary for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 465, which was affiliated with the AFL-CIO. A bound volume of handwritten meeting minutes from June 1965 through March 1972 is located in box 30. The last group in the collection, contained in boxes 42-44, offers material organized by topic. These files often contain documents produced by organizations represented in boxes 12-41, as well as material from other sources. Included are pamphlets, brochures, newsletters, conference and commission reports, surveys, membership rosters and press releases from such diverse sources as the American Civil Liberties Union, People, Thiokol Corporation, and various citizen advocacy groups. Subsidiary topics include alcoholism and drug addiction, and adult education.