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Gregory A. Prince papers, 1829-2020

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Prince, Gregory A., 1948-
Title
Gregory A. Prince papers
Dates
1829-2020 (inclusive)
Quantity
49 linear feet, (114 boxes)
Collection Number
ACCN 1334
Summary
The Gregory A. Prince papers (1833-1995) contain correspondence, research materials and notes, and the transcripts of oral interviews collected during the writing of Prince's various books about Mormon history. Draft manuscripts of several of those works are also included.
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.

Box 67 has been removed and placed in Reserve. Access is unavailable until waivers are received from interviewees.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Gregory Antone Prince (1948-) was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. After high school, Prince attended Dixie College (now Utah Tech University) in St. George, Utah and graduated as valeditorian in 1967. Prince then served a two-year proselytizing mission in Brazil for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After returning home, Prince pursued graduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1973, Prince graduated with a D.D.S. degree from the UCLA School of Dentistry (again serving as valedictorian of his graduating class). In 1975, Prince received a Ph.D. in Pathology from the UCLA School of Medicine, where he had researched respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), one of the leading causes of infant pneumonia worldwide. That same year, Prince accepted a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Insitutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. From 1975 to 1990, Prince worked at the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins University, researching the prevention of RSV in high-risk infants through the administration of antiviral antibody therapies. In the late 1980s, Prince co-founded Virion Systems, Inc., a biotechnology company aimed at commercializing his research of RSV and developing pharmeceuticals to aid in RSV prevention. In the 1990s, Virion Systems formed a joint venture with MedImmune, Inc. to conduct a series of clinical trials that resulted in the Food and Drug Administration approval of the pharmeceuticals RespiGam in 1996 and Synagis in 1998. Prince has served as the President and CEO, as well as Director of Research, of Virion Systems. Concurrently, Prince has held academic appointments as Research Professor of Pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, and as visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Pathology at the UCLA School of Medicine. Prince has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers dealing with immunology and the pathogenesis of human respiratory viruses. Prince has also served on the national advisory boards of Johns Hopkins University, Montgomery College, Wesley Theological Seminary, the University of Utah, Utah Tech University, and Utah Valley University.

In addition to his career in medical research, Prince has developed an avocation as a researcher and writer of Mormon history. Prince's first historical monograph, Having Authority: The Origins and Development of Priesthood During the Ministry of Joseph Smith, was published by the John Whitmer Historical Association in 1993. Expanding on his work in Having Authority, Prince published Power From on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood in 1995. In 2005, Prince (and co-author Wm. Robert Wright) published the biography David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. This biography was the result of many years of research and an extensive series of oral interviews, and was also the first publication to draw upon materials in the David O. McKay Papers (MS 0668) at the University of Utah Marriott Library Special Collections. This biography also received a series of awards, including: the Evans Handcart Award, the Mormon History Association's Best Biography Award, and the Utah State Historical Society's Best Utah History Book Award. In 2016, Prince published the biography Leonard Arrington and the Writing on Mormon History. Prince has been very active in various organizations, including as a board member of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons, aimed at increasing empathy for LGBTQIA+ members within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as establishing an understanding of the biological causes of sexual orientation. In 2018, Prince contributed a chapter on sexual orientation and genetics to John H. Tyson's Homosexuality: A Conversion: How a Conservative Pastor Outgrew the Idea That Homosexuality is a Sin. Then, in 2019, Prince published the historical commentary Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences.

Prince is married to JaLynn Rasmussen Prince. They have three children. In 2008, Gregory and JaLynn established the Madison House Autism Foundation, which is named after their son who has autism. This foundation, of which JaLynn R. Prince is the President, seeks to "promote, model and advocate for the full inclusion of adults with autism and their families".

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Content Description

The Gregory A. Prince papers (1833-1995) contain correspondence, scriptural and historical research materials and notes, and the transcripts of oral interviews collected during the writing of Prince's various books on Mormon history, including: Power From on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood (1995); David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism (2005); Leonard Arrington and the Writing on Mormon History (2016); and Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences (2019). Several series of this collection also include the draft manuscripts, along with editorial notes and peer comments, of their respective publications. David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism (2005) was the first publication to utilize the David O. McKay Papers (MS 0668); the series devoted to research for that book contains source materials copied from that collection. For Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences, Prince also had access to the research materials of Hugo Olaiz which have since been added to the Hugo N. Olaiz papers (ACCN 2154). Prince's collection also contains correspondence and research materials related to subjects not included in Prince's books, including materials about proselytizing efforts toward the Jewish population in Southern California and various interview transcripts about the life of Paul H. Dunn.

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Use of the Collection

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.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Gift of Gregory A. Prince in 1992, 1997, 2005 and 2021.

Processing Note

Processed by Valery Richey in 1997.

Addenda processed by Kate Kimball in 2001, Samuel J. Passey in 2005, and William Challis in 2022.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid created by William Challis.
2005 (last modified: 2022)

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