Dale Lowell Morgan papers

Dale Lowell Morgan papers, 1933-1978

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Morgan, Dale L. (Dale Lowell), 1914-1971
Title: Dale Lowell Morgan papers
Dates: 1933-1978 (inclusive)
19331978
Quantity: 0.75 linear feet, (2 boxes)
Collection Number: MS 0579
Summary: The Dale Lowell Morgan papers (1933-1978) consists of correspondence, microfilm, photocopies, histories, publication information, and other materials relating to The Mormon Bibliography. Included are Morgan's introduction to the the bibliography, the preface by Chad Flake, sample pages, correspondence between the Mormon Bibliography Committee and the University of Utah Press, and histories of how the bibliography evolved. Also inlcuded in the collection are photocopies of his correspondence with Bernard De Voto, materials concerning Western and LDS Church history, comments on books written by De Voto and Juanita Brooks, and discussions of the fur trade. Several letters discuss differing interpretations of the mental condition of Joseph Smith, the founder of the LDS Church.
Repository: University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions: Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Dale Lowell Morgan was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1914. When he was five years old his father died, and his mother taught school to support the family. When he was fourteen, Morgan contracted meningitis, which left him totally deaf. He graduated from West High School in 1933, and went on to the University of Utah. In 1937 he earned a bachelor's degree in art, with a minor in English.

Morgan's first job was with the Utah Works Progress Administration (WPA). He wrote introductory historical essays for the Historical Records Department, and his talents were soon acknowledged. The WPA published Morgan's first monograph in 1940. In the same year, the Utah Historical Quarterly published his The State of Deseret. He was soon transferred to the writer's program of the WPA, where he edited and did most of the writing for Utah, A Guide to the State, published in 1941.

The WPA project closed in 1942, and Morgan went to Washington, D.C., to work for the Office of Price Administration, until 1946. In 1947, he received his first Guggenheim fellowship. He wrote The Great Salt Lake in 1947, and Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West in 1953. In 1961, the California Historical Society presented him with the Henry R. Wagner Memorial Award in recognition of his editions of The Overland Diary of James A. Pritchard, 1959. In 1970, he received his second Guggenheim fellowship.

Throughout his career as historian and writer, Morgan contributed chapters and sections to books by other authors, and wrote articles and book reviews, in addition to his own projects. He worked on a project he called "The Mormons and the Far West," which entailed typing more than 2,000 pages of articles from microfilm. Since his move to Washington in 1942, Morgan compiled material for the publication which was eventually published as A Mormon Bibliography in 1978.

In 1954, Morgan took a position with the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. He remained there until his death in 1971. His bibliography was completed and published in 1978 after six years of work on behalf of a committee formed by Dr. Everett L. Cooley, Director of Special Collections at the Marriott Library at the University of Utah, and Chad Flake, Curator of Special Collecttions at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Dale Lowell Morgan papers (1933-1978) contain correspondence, microfilm, articles, histories, publication information, and other materials relating to The Mormon Bibliography. Included in the materials are Morgan's introduction to the bibliography, the preface by Chad Flake, sample pages, correspondence between the Mormon Bibliography Committee and the University of Utah Press, and histories of how the bibliography evolved. Among these materials are the notification of Dale Morgan's death in the Bancroft Library newsletter, and the list of books which were received by Brigham Young University upon Morgan's death. Related collections include MS 0560, Dale L. Morgan papers microfilm collection.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Location of Originals

Photocopies were copied at Stanford University Library in 1972.

Originals of De Voto letters are in the Bernard De Voto Papers, Stanford University Library; Palo Alto, California.

Acquisition Information

Received from Stanford University at the request of Avis De Voto in 1972.

Received from T. Gerald Bleak in 1973.

Processing Note

Processed by Kate Kimball in 2003.

Related Materials

See also the microfilmed Dale L. Morgan papers from the Bancroft Library (MS 0560).

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

General MaterialsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
1	1-3	Bernard DeVoto, Correspondence	1941-1954
1	4	Bernard DeVoto, "Utah"
1	5	T. Gerald Bleak, Personal Information
1	6-14	T. Gerald Bleak, Correspondence Four original letters have been removed from folder 6 and placed in Reserve. Photocopied versions are available in the collection for access purposes. Access to the originals must be given by the Manuscripts Curator and by appointment. An archivist must remain with the items if being used.	1933-1970
2	1	Dale L. Morgan, "Introduction to the Mormon Bibliography"
2	2	Dale L. Morgan, "Introduction to A Mormon Bibliography," Offprint from 1st Edition	1978
2	3	Chad Flake, Editor's Preface to A Mormon Biblipgraphy
2	4	A Mormon Bibliography, Sample Pages	1969
2	5	A Mormon Bibliography, Key to Symbols and Chronical Index
2	6	University of Utah Press, Order Forms for a Mormon Bibliography, 1830-1930
2	7	A Mormon Bibliography Committee, Correspondence and Notes	1970-1976
2	8	Correspondence Regarding Bibliography	1966-1978
2	9	Reference Lists
2	10	Chad Flake, Introcution to Bibliography
2	11	John James, "Remembering the Mormon Biography and Dale L. Morgan"	1978
2	12	Notification of Dale L. Morgan's Death in Berkeley General Library Newsletter	1971
2	13	Dale L. Morgan, List of Books at BYU
2	14	Ray Billington, Correspondence	1969-1973
2	15	Alvin M. Josephy Jr., Correspondence	1961-1974
2	16	Rodman W. Paul, Correspondence	1970
2	17	Marguerite Sinclair, Correspondence	1962-1966
2	18	University of Utah, Correspondence	1952-1974
2	19	Everett L. Cooley, Correspondence	1967-1975
2	20	Correspondence	1966-1970
Reel
1		Dale L. Morgan Letters (microfilm)

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Fur trade--West (U.S.)
Historians--United States--Correspondence
Latter Day Saint churches--History

Personal Names

De Voto, Bernard, 1897-1955--Corespondence
Morgan, Dale L. (Dale Lowell), 1914-1971--Archives
Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844

Geographical Names

West (U.S.)--History

Form or Genre Terms

Correspondence

Archives West Finding Aid

Table of Contents