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Dorothy M. Johnson Papers, 1844-1984

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Johnson, Dorothy Marie, 1905-1984
Title
Dorothy M. Johnson Papers
Dates
1844-1984 (inclusive)
Quantity
67.5 linear feet
Collection Number
Mss 127 (collection)
Summary
Dorothy Johnson was a Montana writer known for her Western fiction. The primary focus of the collection is Johnson's literary career, but it also includes personal correspondence, financial records, speeches, photographs, and some limited works from other authors.
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
Sponsor
Funding for updating this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Dorothy Marie Johnson was born in McGregor, Iowa, on December 19, 1905. Her family moved to Great Falls, Montana, in 1909, and to Whitefish, Montana, in 1913. Johnson graduated from Whitefish High School in 1922, enrolled that fall at Montana State University in Bozeman and transferred to The University of Montana in Missoula the following year. There, she studied creative writing under H.G. Merriam, one of the university's legendary professors. She was married briefly to George W. Peterkin.

After graduation in 1928, she found work as a stenographer in an Okanogan, Washington, department store. After working another stenographer position in Menasha, Wisconsin, she spent fifteen years as a magazine editor in New York City at Gregg Publishing Company and Farrell Publishing Corporation. After moving back to Montana, she was news editor of the Whitefish Pilot from 1950-1953. Following that, she returned to Missoula in 1953, where she was the secretary-manager of the Montana Press Association and taught part-time at the University of Montana's School of Journalism (at that time, called Montana State University). Johnson retired from both her teaching and her Press Association jobs in 1967 because of poor health.

She wrote sixteen books, beginning with Beulah Bunny Tells All in 1941 and ending with All the Buffalo Returning in 1979. Her subjects include Native Americans (Sitting Bull: Warrior for a Lost Nation; Buffalo Woman; All the Buffalo Returning); stories for children (Farewell to Troy; Greece--Wonderland of the Past and Present); and history (Famous Lawmen of the Old West; Some Went West; Flame on the Frontier; Western Bad Men; Montana; The Bloody Bozeman). She also co-authored The Bedside Book of Bastards with Robert Turner, a professor of history at The University of Montana. She is perhaps best known for her three short stories made into movies: "The Hanging Tree," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," and "A Man Called Horse." Her short stories were widely anthologized in textbooks and other collections. Johnson was also a frequent writer of letters to the editor of the Missoulian; some of her letters influenced managerial decisions in Missoula city government.

Johnson received numerous awards, including the Western Heritage Wrangler Award, 1978; The Golden Saddleman Award, 1976; an honorary doctorate from The University of Montana, 1973; a University of Montana Distinguished Service Award, 1961; and Montana's Outstanding Professional Woman of the Year, 1952. She died November 11, 1984 in Missoula.

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Content Description

This collection consists of the personal papers and professional records of author Dorothy Johnson. The collection is heavily focused on her literary career. It contains biographical information; business and personal correspondence; financial records; manuscripts of her short stories, articles, speeches, and books; published forms of her works; her research files; manuscripts written by others based on her works; photographs; awards and certificates, and other materials.

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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 is not held by The University of Montana. McIntosh and Otis, Inc. of New York serves as Johnson's literary agent and handles all requests related to publication and republication of her works.

Preferred Citation

Dorothy M. Johnson Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is divided into sixteen series:

Series I: Biographical and Personal, 3 folders, 1965-1981

Series II: Correspondence, 5.0 linear feet, 1940-1984

Series III: Financial Records, 1.5 linear feet, 1936-1976

Series IV: Clippings and Publications, 1.5 linear feet, 1920-1984

Series V: Speeches, 1 linear foot, 1956-1981

Series VI: Articles, Short Stories, and Plays, 6.5 linear feet, 1923-1982

Series VII: Book Manuscripts, 11.5 linear feet, 1968-1971

Series VIII: Research, 5.0 linear feet, undated

Series IX: Travel, 1.75 linear feet, 1961-1974

Series X: Awards and Certificates, 3.0 linear feet, 1886-1984

Series XI: Journals, 2.5 linear feet, 1924-1984

Series XII: Books, 25.0 linear feet, 1844-1984

Series XIII: Manuscripts of Others, 0.5 linear feet, 1953-1978

Series XIV: Photographs, 2.5 linear feet, circa 1880-1982

Series XV: Publicity Materials, 0.5 linear feet, 1962

Series XVI: Artwork, 3 items, undated

Custodial History

The main portion of the collection came from Johnson in numerous sections, through the Friends of the Library, an organization in which she was active, at The University of Montana--Missoula. The first section, the manuscripts for The Last Boat, The Most Wonderful Time/Elk Tooth Dress, A Time of Greatness, The Man Who Could Not Dream, and Flame on the Frontier, arrived in May 1963. The manuscript and page proofs for Some Went West followed in May 1965. In 1971, the Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collection received the manuscripts for Montana, and Western Bad Men. Johnson added the manuscript of Christmas Celebrations in the West in 1972, and the manuscripts of fourteen short stories and five books followed in 1974. She added to the collection in 1975, 1976 and 1979, including the manuscripts of All the Buffalo Returning and Beulah Bunny Tells All. Johnson added correspondence, the manuscripts for Sitting Bull, Western Lawmen, her Charlie Russell book and some articles later in 1979. After her death in 1984, her will named the Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections as recipient of her remaining books and papers. Correspondents Ward Powell and Lydia Maury Skeels also donated letters written to them by Johnson. In 1997, Manuscript materials for The Bloody Bozeman, formerly placed at Montana State University by Johnson, were transferred to the Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections. The University of Montana's School of Journalism also transferred some of Johnson's correspondence and clippings in 2007.

Acquisition Information

Gifts of Dorothy M. Johnson, 1963-1979, Dorothy M. Johnson Estate, 1984, Nancy Hubble, 1985 and 1987, Ward Powell, 1988 and 1995, Lydia Maury, 1989, and Montana State University--Bozeman, 1997.

Processing Note

The collection was originally processed as four separate entities. In 1997, these four entities were combined into one collection, with substantial revisions to the arrangement of manuscripts. In 2003, photographs and photograph albums that were accessioned in 1995 were integrated into the collection. In 2024, correspondence, mostly to a Kathryn Wright, and clippings transferred from the University of Montana School of Journalism were added to the collection.

Separated Materials

Dorothy Johnson's collection of books is not physically housed with the manuscript collection, though the titles are listed in Series XII. In addition, a few pieces of correspondence sent with the manuscripts and addressed to the library were removed to collection control files.

Related Materials

Dorothy M. Johnson-Kay Burnham Correspondence, Mss 210.

In addition, Princeton University Libraries hold 0.35 linear feet of Johnson manuscripts.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Dale Johnson (1984), Dave Robertson (1995), Jodi Allison-Bunnell (1998), and Jennifer Rusk (2003)
2003

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