View XML QR Code

Harry Nelson papers, 1886-2015

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Nelson, Harry, 1901-1988
Title
Harry Nelson papers
Dates
1886-2015 (inclusive)
Quantity
6 linear feet, (11 boxes)
Collection Number
MS 0645
Summary
The Harry Nelson papers (1886-2015) are mainly a collection of materials documenting the life of Maud May Babcock (1867-1954), a theater teacher and director at the University of Utah from 1892 to 1938. Journals, travelogs, daily planners, teaching materials, manuscripts, programs, announcements, letters, and news clippings are included. Harry Nelson (1901-1988) was a theater student and friend of Maud May Babcock.
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
Return to Top

Historical Note

Harry Nelson was born on October 17, 1901 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Pehr and Ulrika Nelson, who were of Swedish descent. He graduated from Granite High School in 1919 and then attended the University of Utah until his graduation in 1924. Nelson was active in the drama department and appeared in several plays produced by Maud May Babcock. After graduating from the University, Nelson continued his studies in a graduate program at the University of London, England, where he became acquainted with Sir Laurance Olivier who was a fellow student. He later performed on Broadway and with traveling dramatic groups. He later returned to the Intermountain West and taught at Ricks College in Rexsburg, Idaho, and at the University of Utah. He married Alice Evelyn Moyle in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, and worked for ZCMI as the general merchandising manager for twenty years until his retirement in 1966. He served in various LDS Church positions. He died in 1988.

Return to Top

Content Description

The Harry Nelson papers (1886-2015) are mainly a collection of materials documenting the life of Maud May Babcock (1867-1954), a theater teacher and director at the University of Utah from 1892 to 1938. Journals, travelogs, daily planners, teaching materials, manuscripts, programs, announcements, letters, and news clippings are included. These materials describe Babcock's day-to-day life, her travels, her involvement with the theater community, and her participation in the LDS Church. Some personal materials of Harry Nelson, including programs and scripts relating to his theatrical activities, are included.

Click here to view digitized materials from the collection or visit ArchivesSpace for a container level list of digitized materials.

Return to Top

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.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Gift of Harry Nelson in 1983.

Addendum donated by Linda Burbidge-Gardner and Karin Brown in 2016.

Processing Note

Processed by Julie Middlemas in 1992.

Addendum processed by Betsey Welland in 2017.

Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.

Separated Materials

See also the Harry Nelson photograph collection (P0585) in the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Autobiographical Materials

  • Biographical Materials

    • Description: Envelope from Delaware Insurance Company

      Receipts of purchase.

      Dates: 1918-1934
      Container: Box 4, Folder 1
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Financial Information

      Receipts and tax information.

      Dates: 1931-1947
      Container: Box 4, Folder 2
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Mormon Church Participation

      Tithing receipts and information, letters, patriarchal blessings, membership materials, articles, and speeches.

      Dates: 1892-1937
      Container: Box 4, Folder 3
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Materials on Friends and Family

      Newspaper article on Dr. William W. Babcock, newspaper article on death of Edna H. Thomas, funeral services of Charles J. Ross, Maud May Milne.

      Dates: 1941
      Container: Box 4, Folder 4
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Genealogical Endeavors

      Remembrances, certificate, and application.

      Dates: 1899-1938
      Container: Box 4, Folder 5
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Pedigree Charts
      Container: Box 4, Folder 6
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Travel Items

      Postcard, passports, brochure, instructions, itineraries, speech notes, lists, etc.

      Dates: 1928-1937
      Container: Box 4, Folder 7
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Miscellaneous Items Found in Journals

      News articles and business cards.

      Container: Box 4, Folder 8
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Miscellaneous Items
      Container: Box 4, Folder 9
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Student Tributes to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 4, Folder 10
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Items from the University of Utah

      Programs, bulletins, newsletters, stationery, membership card, etc.

      Dates: 1918-1950
      Container: Box 4, Folder 11
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: University of Utah Alumnus Program
      Dates: 1921
      Container: Box 4, Folder 12
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: University of Utah President's Medal
      Container: Box 4, Folder 13
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Script of Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
      Container: Box 4, Folder 14
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Play Production of The Crooked Friday

      Character list, call information on play, manuscript on bell calls, maps of scenery and props, manuscript on furniture and property plots.

      Container: Box 4, Folder 15
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: Biographical Materials, Harry Nelson

      Funeral program, newspaper article of promotion within Z.C.M.I., obituary and newspaper article of death, personal synopsis of work, schooling and plays.

      Dates: 1946-1988
      Container: Box 4, Folder 16
      Location: Biographical Materials
    • Description: The Maud May Babcock Reading Arts Society

      Constitution, agenda, letter, articles, and newsletters.

      Dates: 1981-1988
      Container: Box 4, Folder 17
      Location: Biographical Materials

  • Scholarly Works

    • Description: Manuscript of Interpretation For College Part I, Section A
      Container: Box 5, Folder 1
      Location: Scholarly Works
    • Description: Manuscript of Interpretation For College Part I, Section B
      Container: Box 5, Folder 2
      Location: Scholarly Works
    • Description: Manuscript of Interpretation For College Part II, Section A
      Container: Box 5, Folder 3
      Location: Scholarly Works
    • Description: Manuscript of Interpretation For College Part II, Section B
      Container: Box 5, Folder 4
      Location: Scholarly Works
    • Description: Manuscript of Selections for Interpretation, Section A
      Container: Box 5, Folder 5
      Location: Scholarly Works
    • Description: Manuscript of Selections for Interpretation, Section B
      Container: Box 5, Folder 6
      Location: Scholarly Works

  • Theater Education Materials and Manuscripts

  • Theater Performance Programs

  • Correspondence

    • Description: Correspondence by Maud May Babcock
      Dates: 1919-1941
      Container: Box 8, Folder 1
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Correspondence about Maud May Babcock
      Dates: 1919-1935
      Container: Box 8, Folder 2
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Business Correspondence
      Dates: 1921-1950
      Container: Box 8, Folder 3
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Correspondence From Publishers
      Dates: 1930-1935
      Container: Box 8, Folder 4
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Miscellaneous Cards
      Dates: 1917-1937
      Container: Box 8, Folder 5
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Incomplete Correspondence
      Dates: 1911
      Container: Box 8, Folder 6
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Miscellaneous Correspondence
      Dates: 1914-1937
      Container: Box 8, Folder 7-8
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Card from D. R. Allen to Maud May Babcock (undated)
      Container: Box 8, Folder 9
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Notes from niece Bonnie to Maud May Babcock, 1932-1933
      Container: Box 8, Folder 10
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from niece Catherine to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 11
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from niece Jane to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 12
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Marion C. Watters Babcock to Maud May Babcock, 1918-1936
      Container: Box 8, Folder 13
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from "Mother" to Maud May Babcock, 1918-1936
      Container: Box 8, Folder 14
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from "Father" to Maud May Babcock, 1931-1932
      Container: Box 8, Folder 15
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from "Jr." (William Wayne Babcock) to sister Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 16
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Lt. Parley E. Baer to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 17
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Sympathy letter to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 18
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Dora C. Barnes to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 19
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from "Mrs. Bassett" to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 20
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Bertha B. and George W. Beach to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 21
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Ch. Belilowsky to Maud May Babcock, 1928
      Container: Box 8, Folder 22
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Gladys L. Borchers to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 23
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from H. J. Brassinne to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 24
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Sir Francis Campbell to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 25
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Ida Clyde Clarke to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 26
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from S. H. Clark to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 27
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Rudger Clawson to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 28
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Fannie V. G. Clayton to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 29
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Ralph Dennis to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 30
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Sister M. Dolorosa to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 31
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from H. B. Forbes to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 8, Folder 32
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Eva Le Gallienne to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 1
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Harold Goff to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 2
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters to Maud May Babcock, 1914 and 1920
      Container: Box 9, Folder 3
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Heber J. Grant to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 4
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from David Hammond to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 5
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: University of Utah Extension Division correspondence
      Container: Box 9, Folder 6
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from an admirer to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 7
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from H. S. Hyldahls to Sarah Jane Babcock 1918
      Container: Box 9, Folder 8
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Lady Jane Gray School Christmas letters
      Container: Box 9, Folder 9
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Emma Lucy to Maud May Babcock, 1937
      Container: Box 9, Folder 10
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from John Harvey Kellogg to Maud May Babcock, 1923
      Container: Box 9, Folder 11
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from E. W. Kelly to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 12
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Edith Wynne Kennedy to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 13
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Genevieve Lowry to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 14
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from (A. J.?) MacDonnell to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 15
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Vivian Butler, Maud Mary Milne, and Annie Milne to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 16
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from E. J. Milne to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 17
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Harry Nelson to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 18
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Alfred Oyred to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 19
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Bert C. Palmer to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 20
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Gilbert Parker to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 21
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Pearl K. Luce to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 22
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Josephine Preston Peabody to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 23
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Rollo Peters to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 24
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Abbie Birdsall Phillips to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 25
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Arthur E. Phillips to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 26
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Stanley L. Prescott to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 27
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Margery Rambeau to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 28
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Sister M. Reynolds to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 29
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Renzo Sano to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 30
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Lew Sarret to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 31
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Franklin H. Sargent to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 32
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Jack Sears to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 33
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters exchanged between Edwin R. Seligman to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 34
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from G. Bernard Shaw to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 35
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Otis Skinner to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 36
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from E. Wesley Smith to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 37
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Joseph F. Smith to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 38
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Edith Stone to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 39
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from Eliza Sutton Warren to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 40
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from "Edna" to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 41
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters from George Thomas to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 42
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Sybil Thorndike to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 43
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Gertrude M. Vickey to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 44
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letters exchanged between Matthew Watson to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 45
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Rita Wellman to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 46
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Hart Wenger to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 47
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: John A. Widtsoe correspondence
      Container: Box 9, Folder 48
      Location: Correspondence
    • Description: Letter from Major LeRoy C. Wilcox to Maud May Babcock
      Container: Box 9, Folder 49
      Location: Correspondence

  • Scrapbooks

    • Description: Scrapbook I, Clippings
      Dates: 1893-1900
      Container: Box 10, Folder 1
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1896-1911
      Container: Box 10, Folder 2
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1911-1912
      Container: Box 10, Folder 3
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1913-1914
      Container: Box 10, Folder 4
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1915-1916
      Container: Box 10, Folder 5
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1917-1918
      Container: Box 10, Folder 6
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1919
      Container: Box 10, Folder 7
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1920-1921
      Container: Box 10, Folder 8
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1922-1923
      Container: Box 10, Folder 9
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Dates: 1924-1925
      Container: Box 10, Folder 10
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Container: Box 10, Folder 11
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook II, Clippings and Programs
      Container: Box 10, Folder 12
      Location: Scrapbooks
    • Description: Scrapbook I and II, Extracted Clippings
      Container: Box 10, Folder 13
      Location: Scrapbooks

  • Addendum

    • Description: Autobiography titled, "My Story"

      This autobiography was compiled and edited by Linda M. N. Burbidge-Gardner.

      Dates: 2015
      Container: Box 11, Folder 1
      Location: Addendum

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • College theater--Utah--Salt Lake City
  • Drama teachers--Archives
  • Latter Day Saint women--Utah--Salt Lake City--Archives
  • Swedish Americans--Utah--Salt Lake City--Archives
  • Theater--Study and teaching--Utah--Salt Lake City
  • Women college teachers--Utah--Salt Lake City--Archives
  • Women theatrical producers and directors--Utah--Salt Lake City--Archives

Personal Names

  • Babcock, Maud May, 1867-1954--Archives
  • Babcock, Maud May, 1867-1954--Travel
  • Nelson, Harry, 1901-1988--Archives

Corporate Names

  • University of Utah. Department of Theatre--Alumni and alumnae--Archives
  • University of Utah. Department of Theatre--Faculty--Archives

Form or Genre Terms

  • Appointment books
  • Autobiographies (literary works)
  • Biographies
  • Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
  • Diaries
  • Financial records
  • Genealogical tables
  • Instructional and educational works
  • Literary readings
  • Manuscripts
  • Personal correspondence
  • Scrapbooks
  • Scripts (documents)
  • Speeches
  • Theater programs
  • Travel writing

Finding aid created by Julie Middlemas.
1992 (last modified: 2017 and 2019)

CC0

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

Loading...
Loading...