Archives West Finding Aid

The first five boxes of this collection consist of materials pertaining to the Clayton and Ellerbeck families, of which Wanda Clayton Thomas was a descendant. This section represents the original collection previous to the donation of Wanda Thomas' personal materials. This section dates from 1839 to the 1980s and includes, for the most part, personal information on various individuals. Although some family information is included in personal diaries, family pedigree charts and other genealogical documents are concentrated in box 1, folders 1-9. An original diary kept by Sarah Jarrold Hyder Free is located in box 1, folder 14, but patrons are requested to use the photocopy available in folders 12-13. Other documents are in photocopy and/or typescript form, such as William Clayton's diary, also in box 1. Clayton's original diary is located at the LDS Church's Historical Department. Documents pertaining specifically to Newell H. Clayton, located in boxes 2-3, focus on his missionary experiences for the LDS Church in England. A letterbook and notebook, located in folders 4 and 7 of box 2, are photocopies of the originals. Box 4 focuses on Alice Rosa Ellerbeck Clayton, and contains personal as well as family information. Folder 13 of that box houses a tattered edition of The Progressive Speaker, used by Alice for a class taught by John R. Park at the University of Utah. Box 5 also houses personal information, including writings by Wanda Clayton Thomas, located in folders 5-6. Of interest is an epaulet from Sarah Free's father's military uniform, found in box 5, folder 13.

This section, dating from 1914 to 1990, focuses mainly on Wanda Thomas' teaching career. Personal documents, however, can be found in boxes 6-7, including hand-written autobiographical notes in box 6, folder 3 in which Wanda describes her interest in theater and later in radio drama. She also describes some of her education at the University of Utah and mentions her two marriages. Boxes 8-9 concentrate on Wanda's speech classes taught at the University of Utah. Folders 1-4 of box 8 contain materials relating to other universities in Utah and Arizona, in addition to the University of Utah. The notecards present in boxes 10-11 contain information on various subjects, with a focus on speech and poetry. Most of the literature samples present in box 12 are photocopies from anthologies and, therefore, are not dated. Teaching materials on poetry, including documents on style, symbolism, and interpretation, have been kept separate from documents relating to individual poets. Documents relating to Wanda's "American Poet Series" are present in boxes 14-16. Folders 1-4 of box 14 contain background information to the series while the rest of the folders contain scripts, notes, and poetry samples concerning individual poets. These folders are listed alphabetically by poet. "The Paper Mill" and theater scenes in box 17 are housed together due to their oversize nature.