Archives West Finding Aid

Biography of Virginia Hanson (1907-1978)

Virginia Hanson was an important local figure in Cache Valley but most especially in the small town of Cornish, Utah. As head librarian at the Cache County public ibrary for thirty years, Miss Hanson instilled a love of reading into generations of young people. But Virginia Hanson was more than simply a librarian. Her influence was felt through her varied activities, which included organizing games and writing and presenting plays for the Cornish LDS ward.

Nellie Virginia Hanson was born in Logan, Utah on February 19, 1907. Virginia, as she was known, was the daughter of William O. and Hilma Anderson Hanson. One of six children, Virginia had three sisters Mae, Inez, and Helvie and two brothers Carl and Byron. Mae, who became a schoolteacher was Virginia's constant companion. Those who remember Virginia remember that Mae was always at her side. The Hanson family settled in Cornish, Utah in 1914. The farm the Hansons settled on became known locally as "Dreary Acres."

Virginia attended elementary school in Cornish then went to the Brigham Young College in Logan. Later she graduated from Utah State University.

Early in her career, Virginia Hanson was a teacher. She taught elementary school at Cornish and Lewiston in Cache County and at Hiawatha in Carbon County and at Heber City in Wasatch County.

But Miss Hanson is best remembered as a librarian. She began work as an assistant librarian at the Cache County public library in 1941. She quickly rose to the position of head librarian which she held for thirty years from 1944 until her retirement in 1974. A voracious reader and lover of books, Virginia Hanson encouraged reading at every opportunity. She read to the residents of Sunshine Terrace and was active in promoting the enjoyment of books through the Lewiston Literary League.

Community and church affairs were the stuff of Hanson's life. She served as the cochairman of the Cache Bicentennial Committee, a member of the board of directors of the Sunshine Terrace Foundation, a charter member of the Lewiston Literary League, and a sponsor of the Foreign Students Association at Utah State University. She was a member of the Utah Library Association. She was scorekeeper for the Cornish baseball team.

In addition, Virginia and Mae Hanson were travelers. They visited every state in the Union and traveled in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America. The sisters had returned from a BYU tour of Central America only weeks before the fatal train-car accident.

Virginia, and her sister Mae (1909-1978) were killed on January 25, 1978, when a Union Pacific train struck their car at a railroad crossing at "Dreary Acres" in Cornish, Utah. Both sisters, constant companions in life, were buried in the Logan City Cemetery.