Archives West Finding Aid

This series includes an assortment of material reflecting H.G. Merriam's early experiences, family activities, and personal interests. Biographical materials include a first grade report card from 1890, an early letter of recommendation written by Merriam's high school principal, draft resumes, testimonials, and a eulogy. Also included is an undated caricature of H. G. Merriam that was likely produced for a yearbook section. Clippings from various periods of Merriam's life lend insight into his professional activities and personal interests as well as his attention to family and friends. A small selection of financial and legal documents detail matters ranging from Merriam's personal book holdings to his charitable gifts, from family budgets to his first wife's final will and testament. This series also contains an undated proposal to construct a public mall at the intersection of Higgins and Broadway avenues in Missoula, Montana, including an architectural drawing drafted by Merriam.

This series contains an array of correspondence, both incoming and out-going. During 2003 reprocessing items of correspondence directly regarding subjects in other series were relocated to those series. Items include incoming correspondence written in French, advice on job searches, job offers, acceptance to graduate study programs, and organization of various writers' conferences. Prominent correspondents include federal elected officials, state political leaders, university presidents, nationally and regionally renowned authors, scientists, and significant figures in literary criticism. Among these correspondents are U.S. Senators Joseph Dixon, Mike Mansfield, James Murray, Thomas Walsh, and Burton Wheeler of Montana as well as university presidents C. Valentine Boyer of the University of Oregon, Dexter Keezer of Reed College, Ernest Holland of Washington State University, and James Morrill from the University of Minnesota. Correspondents also include literary figures Struthers Burt, Grace Stone Coates, Bernard DeVoto, Frank Hill, Joseph Kinsey Howard, Dorothy Johnson, Frank Bird Linderman, John Lomax, Norman MacLean, Archibald MacLeish, Ogden Nash, Theodore Spencer, Mildred Walker, and Robert Penn Warren as well as scientists Albert Einstein and Edwin Hubble.

General correspondence after 1954 is predominantly editorial exchanges between Merriam and budding authors. Most of these authors were Montana citizens seeking first-time publication of articles, short stories, or historical novels; however, these materials also include a few authors from other western states. Merriam's extensive correspondence with Lucia Mirrielees provides significant insight into their friendship and how Merriam helped to nurture her career as a writer and teacher at the University of Iowa's Bread Loaf School, Stanford University, and the University of Montana. Materials regarding Montana, The Magazine of Western History include several extended exchanges that provide interesting insights into the management and mission of a fledgling regional historical literature magazine. Some of these topics include a political imbroglio surrounding Senator Richard Neuberger's service on the Regional Board of Editors, organizational debates regarding the role of various advisory boards in editorial decision-making, and controversies generated by Michael Kennedy during his tenure as Editor.

The materials in this series document Merriam's service during WWI as an English instructor for French officers. The series includes several documents detailing Merriam's involvement with the Canadian wing of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), the organization that facilitated Merriam's wartime service.

This series includes records from Merriam's participation in the first group of Rhodes Scholars as well as his lifelong commitment to the program as a solicitor, trustee, and selection committee member.

This series documents Merrriam's long service to the university in Missoula as a professor and administrator. Much of the series consists of correspondence with university chancellors, administration, fellow professors and instructors, colleagues at other universities, students, and professional contract staff. Of particular note, the series includes an extensive sequence of correspondence and documents detailing the rationale employed to dismiss Merriam from his teaching position in 1939 as well as the campus and statewide response to the Board of Regents actions.

This series includes a large file of correspondence regarding Merriam's retirement from the University of Montana in 1954. Most of the correspondents are former students expressing appreciation and admiration for his years of service and quality instruction. Notable correspondents include D'Arcy McNickle, Weldon Niva, Arthur Sanderson. S. Rae Logan, and Leslie Fiedler. The series also includes documents regarding Merriam's activities to create memorial funds to benefit university students and preserve the memory of his teaching colleagues. Lucia Mirrielees Memorial Fund Correspondence includes a memorial written about Edith Mirrielees, Lucia's sister. This document is retained in this folder as a reflection of Dr. Merriam's placement with such materials. Materials are arranged by subject, then chronologically.

The materials in this series include correspondence, draft article and short story manuscripts, and publication materials from the Frontier and Midland journal. The Frontier and Midland is recognized as the first regularly published literary anthology for Montana and the Northern Rocky Mountain region. Materials in the series record Merriam's commitment to establishing and promoting standards for folklore collection, editing, source acknowledgement, and publication. The series includes numerous submissions and sequences of correspondence between Merriam and Montana and Western authors, including Struthers Burt, Grace Stone Coates, Vardis Fisher, Helen Addison Howard, Dorothy Johnson, Frank Bird Linderman, Bob Marshall, Ezra Pound, and Paul Tracy.

This series includes materials generated and collected by Merriam during his tenure with the Montana Institute of the Arts. Series documents detail efforts to establish and expand the organization as a grassroots arts and humanities program in the state. The Montana Institute of the Arts helped create avenues for fostering and promoting artistic expression by Montanans who often lacked access to the established outlets.

This series includes correspondence, draft manuscripts, hand-written notes, and publication materials from the documents Merriam wrote himself or edited to such an extent they became, in essence, his own work. The series provides insights into Merriam's multi-faceted literary projects as well as his influence on contemporaries. The Moxon manuscript and correspondence materials include correspondence with Moxon's descendents as well as some of the most notable English literary figures of the mid 19th Century.

This series includes correspondence and published materials gathered by Merriam out of personal interest or submitted to Merriam both as gifts and as requests for editorial feedback. This series contains extensive correspondence and a portion of text material regarding The Galloping Swede, by Hugo Aronson and Lou O. Brockman. Merriam provided extensive editorial advice on the manuscript through his correspondence with Brockman and extended assistance in contacting potential publishers. Merriam's involvement with the manuscript remained informal throughout the project and received only a note of acknowledgement in the published volume.

This series includes awards and honors received by Merriam during his long career.

This series includes four bound scrapbooks and photo albums. Most materials are from the early years of Merriam's life and professional career. Volumes include numerous loose materials. Researchers are asked to exhibit particular care in viewing the materials in this series.

This series includes photographs collected throughout Merriam's life but the majority of materials document the activities, gatherings, and publications of the Montana Institute of the Arts. Other photographs can be located in the photo albums and scrapbooks described in Series XI.