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Valeen T. Avery Papers, 1800-2005

Overview of the Collection

Title
Valeen T. Avery Papers
Dates
1800-2005 (inclusive)
Quantity
64 boxes, (27 linear feet)
Collection Number
UUS_COLL MSS 316
Summary
The collection contains subject files, research files, and corresponding file cards, much of which Avery used to write her two books. Other items include materials related to Avery's books, writings, class notes, faculty and student evaluations, conference and lecture material, material related to the Mormon History Association, correspondence, miscellaneous articles and essays, and general office files.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions

Boxes 38-44 are sealed. Please see manuscript curator with any questions: not available through interlibrary loan.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Valeen Tippetts Avery was born on December 22, 1936 in Great Falls, Montana. After earning her bachelor of arts in foreign languages from Rocky Mountain College in 1959, she moved east, working various jobs in New York City, North Carolina, and Germany. Avery returned to the west in 1972 to produce and direct a weekly educational television program at KOAI TV in Flagstaff, Arizona. After six years with KOAI, she returned to school, earning her master of arts in history from Northern Arizona University in 1981. Avery went on to get her PhD at NAU in 1983, specializing in American social and intellectual history. NAU promptly hired her in 1984 as an assistant professor and the director for the Center of Colorado Plateau Studies. She earned tenure and a promotion to associate professor in 1990, and she gave up her role at the Center of Colorado Plateau Studies two years later. Avery became a full professor in 1998, and she worked in that capacity until her retirement in 2005. She was married to Charles C. Avery in 1961, with whom she had four children before their divorce in 1986. In 1996 she married colleague and English professor Bryan Short. Avery died unexpectedly on April 7, 2006, in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Avery was a prolific writer, authoring two books and numerous articles and book reviews. She is perhaps best known for her work on Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, a controversial book she co-authored with Linda Newell, first published in 1984. From Mission to Madness: Last Son of the Mormon Prophet, a biography of David H. Smith, was published in 1999. Both won the Evans Award for Best Western Biography. She was also a respected leader and teacher, serving as president of the Mormon History Association in 1987 and exciting countless students with her enthusiastic teaching style. In 2001, she was the Homecoming Dedicatee at NAU, chosen by a vote of students, staff and faculty.

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Content Description

This collection contains the papers of Valeen T. Avery and spans the period of 1800-2005. It is organized in various broad categories, and individual folders are largely labeled as they were in Avery's original files. The first group of boxes contains subject files, research files, and corresponding file cards, much of which Avery used to write her two books. Other items include: materials related to Avery's books, Avery's writings, class notes, faculty and student evaluations, conference and lecture material, material related to the Mormon History Association, correspondence, miscellaneous articles and essays, and general office files.

Boxes 38-44 are sealed. See Manuscript Curator with any questions.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Valeen T. Avery papers must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives manuscript curator and/or the Special Collections and Archives department head.

Preferred Citation

Initial Citation: Valeen T. Avery papers USU_COLL MSS 316, Box [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library. Logan, Utah.

Following Citations: USU_COLL MSS 316, USUSCA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in Avery's original files

Processing Note

Processed in April of 2007.

Acquisition Information

The materials in this collection were donated to USU Special Collections and Archives in 2006 by the children of Valeen T. Avery.

Related Materials

Mormon enigma: Emma Hale Smith: manuscript COLL MSS 85

Valeen T. Avery photo collection P0386

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid/Register created by Clint Pumphrey
2011

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

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