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Richard Lee Merritt Papers, circa 1889-2018

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Merritt, Richard Lee, 1922-2017
Title
Richard Lee Merritt Papers
Dates
circa 1889-2018 (inclusive)
Quantity
12.4 linear feet, (13 electronic files (224 megabytes))
Collection Number
Mss 812
Summary
Richard Lee Merritt was born in Missoula, Montana, and attended the University of Montana. He was an army veteran, a librarian, an author, an artist and a long-time resident of San Francisco. The collection includes Merritt's correspondence, writings and artwork.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.

Languages
English, German, Spanish
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Biographical Note

Richard Lee Merritt was born in Missoula, Montana, in 1922. He attended the University of Montana (then called Montana State University) from 1941-1943, where he was enrolled in the Journalism School. He served in the military during World War II, assigned to Headquarters, 364th Fighter Group, United States Army Air Force. While in Europe he frequented book shops and purchased several books he later gifted to the University of Montana's library. Following the war he returned to the university, helped to reactivate the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, was tapped for Silent Sentinel, and graduated in 1948 with a degree in English.

Following the war Merritt moved to Paris on the G.I. Bill. He went to the Alliance Française for six months, to the Sorbonne from 1949-1950, and then to Mallorca, Spain, with friends. He returned to Montana in 1950 and worked for Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph for three years. Following another short stint overseas he moved to California in December, 1953. In February 1954 he got a job as a reference librarian for the San Francisco Examiner, where he worked until his retirement in 1977.

Merritt met his wife, Gertrude Hutchinson, in 1954. She was a medical librarian at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in San Francisco. They both valued frugality in daily living and grew their savings. Together they bought and repaired old houses, and then rented or sold them. They lived from 1955 until their deaths in a Victorian in Noe Valley they paid off in less than four years. They both enjoyed travel and took six-month tours of Europe by car in 1963 and 1969. They were also regular contributors of money and books to the University of Montana library. Following Gertrude's death in 1971, Richard established the Gertrude Merritt Memorial Fund for the library to purchase foreign literature books in original and translation.

Merritt continued to purchase houses after Gertrude's death, and helped friends grow gardens of fruit, vegetables and roses. Following his retirement, Merritt started two long-time volunteer activities. For over twenty years he worked with a group picking up litter in Golden Gate Park. He also received training and then worked as a volunteer tutor for over ten years at the Adult Learning Center, working with, in his words, "English-speaking adults who had been short-changed in their early schooling." In the 1990s, as his hearing became worse, Merritt turned from tutoring to writing and produced two book-length manuscripts and dozens of short stories.

In 1997, Richard Lee Merritt established the Mnemosyne-Minerva Fund to support the University of Montana's Mansfield Library, and continued to donate books from his extensive collection until his death. Merritt died in San Francisco in December 2017, leaving his body to science and an estate valued at over $2 million to the library.

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Content Description

This collection consists of Merritt's original writings, including two full-length manuscripts and many short stories and poems, and original artwork. It also includes personal photographs and extensive examples of Merritt's personal and philanthropic correspondence. A small amount of personal material from Gertrude Merritt is also included.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

Richard Lee Merritt Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection has been divided into six series:

Series I: Biographical Materials, 1889-2018, 0.7 linear feet

Subseries 1: Photographs, 1889-2018, 0.1 linear feet, 13 electronic files

Subseries 2: Non-Photograph Items, 1922-1950, 0.15 linear feet

Subseries 3: European Travels and Translations, 1949-1991, 0.15 linear feet

Subseries 4: Personal Interests, 1983-2014, 0.3 linear feet

Subseries 5: Digital Video, 2018, 10 electronic files

Series II: Gertrude Hutchinson Merritt, circa 1937-1955, 0.1 linear feet

Series III: Correspondence, 1949-2015, 1.0 linear feet

Series IV: Philanthropy, 1955-2016, 1.0 linear feet

Series V: Writings, 1937-2012, 1.4 linear feet

Subseries 1: Book Manuscripts, 1993-1996, 0.4 linear feet

Subseries 2: Short Stories, 1937-2012, 0.6 linear feet

Subseries 3: Poetry, 1982-2011, 0.2 linear feet

Subseries 4: Scrapbook, 1990s-2000s, 0.2 linear feet

Series VI: Artwork, 1922-2017, 8.2 linear feet

Subseries 1: Bound Artwork, 1986-2003, 6.4 linear feet

Subseries 2: Loose Artwork, 1922-2017, 1.8 linear feet

Custodial History

The materials in this collection were held by Richard Merritt and his executor until their transfer to the University of Montana.

Acquisition Information

The two book manuscripts were donated to the Archives in the fall of 2004 by Richard Merritt. The other collection materials were gifted to the Archives as part of Merritt's estate.

Processing Note

Personal materials and correspondence arrived with little arrangement and were organized during processing. Most materials in this collection were foldered or refoldered during processing.

Related Materials

The University of Montana's Archives and Special Collections also holds the Gertrude Hutchinson Merritt Papers (Mss 602) which were donated by Richard Merritt in the 1970s.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Donna McCrea and Donovan Douglas
2011

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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