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David Lane Wright photograph collection, 1929-1967

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Wright, David Lane, 1929-1967.
Title
David Lane Wright photograph collection
Dates
1929-1967 (inclusive)
1947-1966 (bulk)
Quantity
2 boxes, (1.0 linear ft. )
Collection Number
UUS_P0135
Summary
686 black and white photographs, 50 color photographs, and 14 postcards that, collectively, document the life of Wright from 1947 until 1966. Included are images of athletics at Utah State University, friends and family, U.S.O. and U.S.A.F. activities, and glamour portraits of dancers/actresses. Of particular interest are high quality snapshots of Saigon that document street life in that city, including children, businesses, transportation, and restaurants, and some of Hong Kong city/bay scenes. Also notable are some snapshots of Jim Miller (James Connelly Miller), fellow U.S.U. student and poet. Most of the photographs were removed from an original photograph album because of the high level of acidity in the paper.
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
Restrictions

Open to public research.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008
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Biographical Note

David Lane Wright was born in Bennington, Idaho on May 22, 1929 to Conover and Lenora Rich Wright. He was the fourth born of five children into an LDS family. While growing up in Bennington, Wright wrote constantly and carefully maintained his journals and correspondence. In 1946 he attended college at the Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) on a football and track scholarship. In addition to his athletic duties, Wright was football coach Dick Romney's sports publicist and a writer for The Scribble. He become a high school English teacher in Rexburg and Downey, Idaho after graduation. It was during this time that he met Nancy Claire Johnson (August 20, 1934 - June 8, 2004), one of his students, and on October 22, 1950 they married. While teaching at a grade school in Bennington near his parents he was called into active duty for the Air Force (USAF.)

In the USAF he won essay contests and he wrote a play entitled Still the Mountain Wind. This play defined his career as a writer and a poet. The central character was his brother Rich who died when Wright was seven. The play was performed at universities, colleges, and in many locations in southern Utah.

In 1963 and early 1964 Wright attended the University of Iowa earning a master's degree of fine arts in creative writing. Wright was a career USAF officer serving in several locations including the Dakotas, Florida, Iceland, Alabama, and Vietnam. He was transferred to Saigon in November of 1965 where he received a Bronze Star (for diplomatic abilities) and was promoted to the rank of Major. He returned from Vietnam in November of 1966 to his home in Montgomery, Alabama. Soon after he and his wife Nancy separated and then divorced. In February 1967 he suffered a heart attack and died four months later.

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Content Description

The David Lane Wright photo collection consists of 750 images (686 black and white, 50 color, and 14 postcards) that, collectively, document the life of Wright from 1947 until 1966. Included are images of athletics at Utah State University, family and friends, USO and USAF activities, and glamour portraits of dancers/actresses. Of particular interest are high quality snapshots of Saigon that document street life in that city including children, businesses, transportation, and restaurants. Most of the photographs were removed from an original photograph album because of the high level of acidity in the paper. Captions and some of the inscriptions are copied exactly as they appear in the album inside of quotation marks, with additional information enclosed in brackets. There are quite a few duplicates scattered throughout the collection.

Box 1 photographs in folders 1-23 were removed from a photograph album. Folders 1-16 consist of photos from his college years. Folders 17-20 are Wright's USAF photographs. Folders 21-22 are also of his college years. Folders 26-36 contain photographs taken during tour in Vietnam, 1965-1966. Photographs taken in Hong Kong are in folder 37.

Box 2 consists of, in part, both color and black and white snapshots, removed from Wright's Journal number 5. They are listed in order of appearance and the journal page number is also noted. Also included in the box are duplicates of Vietnam photos removed from MS 39 and added to the photo collection on 1/14/04. Some photos have inscriptions on the back. Because of the adhesive used to attach the photos to the album, the difficulty in deciefering the writing, and the sometimes lengthy inscriptions, however, not all of the information can be recorded here. Please see individual photos for any additional information. The portions included are enclosed in quotation marks and the spelling and punctuation are as it appears on the original.

Box 4 mostly includes photographs and negatives of family members and friends of David Wright from the 1940s to the 1960s. There are some photographs from David’s time as a teacher in Bennington and Downey Idaho, and a few from a ship he was on when he was serving in the military. Box 5 contains some VCR and reel-to-reel tapes that show scenes of his family. One of the VCR tapes is a production of a play that he wrote called “Still the Mountain Wind”, which was put on in Rexburg, Idaho in 1995.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Utah State University Libraries, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Permission to publish material from the David Lane Wright photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Photograph Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Preferred Citation

David Lane Wright photograph collection, 1929-1967. (P0135). Utah State University. Special Collections & Archives Department.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in numeric sequence according to Box, Folder, and Item

Acquisition Information

Donated in September 1973 by David Lane Wright's children: Janice L. Wright (Ruediger), Paul David Wright, Charlotte M. Wright (Piggot), and Gregory G. Wright. This collection was removed from the David Lane Wright Addendum MS 39 and the David Lane Wright Papers MS 2.

Processing Note

Register completed by Leticia Neal, October 2004.

Related Materials

David Lane Wright PapersCOLL MSS 2

David Lane Wright AddendumCOLL MSS 39

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

Finding aid created by Leticia Neal, October 2004.
2008

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

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