Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Thomas Battersby Child papers, 1909-2000
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Child, Thomas Battersby, 1888-1963
- Title
- Thomas Battersby Child papers
- Dates
- 1909-2000 (inclusive)19092000
- Quantity
- 5.25 linear feet, (7 boxes, 1 oversize box, and 1 map case folder)
- Collection Number
- ACCN 1877
- Summary
- The Thomas Battersby Child papers (1909-2000) consist of his collected writings, focusing on two aspects of his life, the LDS Church, and a park he created in his backyard, the Gilgal Sculpture Garden, now protected by Salt Lake City as a public park. Child was a mason, businessman, husband, and a bishop of the LDS Church.
- 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
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Thomas Battersby Child was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 6, 1888. He was an expert mason and masonry contractor; husband; and bishop of the LDS Tenth Ward. Married to Bertha Derrick Runel (1891-1965) in 1911, they had three children. He was president of Thomas B. Child and Co., a masonry contracting firm founded by his father. He built the stone and brick work for many prominent buildings in Utah including: the Ogden High School; the chapel for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington, D. C.; LDS temples in Idaho Falls, Idaho and Los Angeles, California; and more. He served as senior member of the Sons of Utah Pioneers Luncheon Club.
One of his crowning achievements of his life was the park he created in his backyard, which amounts to his testament to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The park contains Thomas Child's interpretation, in stone, of the basic tenets of the church, Christianity and work. Called the Gilgal Sculpture Garden, the grounds were purchased from its current owners, the Henry Fetzer family by The Friends of Gilgal in 1999 for $670.000. It was then turned over to Salt Lake City, which maintains and protects it as a public park.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Thomas Battersby Child papers consist of his collected writings, focusing on two aspects of his life, the LDS Church, and a park he created in his backyard, the Gilgal Sculpture Garden, now protected by Salt Lake City as a public park.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
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.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Donated by Hortense Child Smith in 2003.
Oversize map case folder donated by Robert L. Bliss in 2009.
Processing Note
Processed by Elizabeth Rogers.
Related Materials
See also the Friends of Gilgal Garden (ACCN 2610) located in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
I: Personal materials and biographiesReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence |
1909-1990 |
| 1 | 2-4 | Day planners |
1943; 1956; 1959 |
| 1 | 5-6 | Journals |
1961 |
| 1 | 7 | Notes for memoirs |
|
| 1 | 8 | The personal journal of Thomas B. Child Jr. [typescript] |
1960-1961 |
| 2 | 1 | "A Portrait of Thomas B. Child" |
1958 |
| 2 | 2 | "Reminiscing at 65" the life of Bertha Derrick Rumel Child |
1956 |
| 2 | 3 | Thomas and Bertha Child life sketches |
1963-1993 |
| 2 | 4 | Friendships Garden birthday book |
1953 |
| 2 | 5 | Family events |
1958-2000 |
| 2 | 6 | Family biographies |
|
| 2 | 7 | Family group records and addresses |
|
| 2 | 8 | Genealogy records |
|
| 2 | 9 | Legal documents |
1950-1968 |
| 2 | 10 | Printed materials |
1936-1995 |
| 2 | 11 | Newspaper column and correspondence |
2000 |
| 2 | 12 | Documents, photocopies and family crests |
|
| 2 | 13-14 | Newspaper clippings |
1934-2000 |
| 2 | 15 | Cousins Reunion, descendants of Thomas Child |
1996 |
| 2 | 16 | Miscellaneous writings |
I: WritingsReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 3 | 1-4 | "The Niche" books 1-4 |
|
| 4 | 1-3 | "The Niche," volume 1 |
|
| 4 | 4 | Preface |
|
| 4 | 5 | Psalm 139 and preface |
|
| 4 | 6 | Addenda to Gilgal, 2nd book |
|
| 4 | 7 | Gilgal |
|
| 4 | 8 | The testimony of Job and Daniel II |
|
| 4 | 9 | "The Monument to the Trade" and Hortense H. Child Smith's finished manuscript |
1998 |
| 4 | 10 | "The Last Chapter of Ecclesiastes" |
|
| 4 | 11 | "The Alter" |
|
| 4 | 12 | "The Sphinx" |
|
| 4 | 13 | "My Religion and My Trade" |
|
| 5 | 1 | Book 1 |
|
| 5 | 2 | Book 2 |
|
| 5 | 3 | Book 3 |
|
| 5 | 4 | Book 4 |
|
| 5 | 5 | Book 5 |
|
| 5 | 6 | Book 6 |
|
| 5 | 7 | Book 7 |
|
| 5 | 8 | Book 8 |
|
| 6 | 1 | Book 9 |
|
| 6 | 2 | Book 10 |
|
| 6 | 3 | Book 11 |
|
| 6 | 4 | Book 12 |
|
| 6 | 5 | Book 13 |
|
| 6 | 6 | Book 14 |
|
| 6 | 7 | Book 15 |
|
| 6 | 8 | Book 16 |
|
| 7 | 1 | Book 17 |
|
| 7 | 2 | Book 18 |
|
| 7 | 3 | Dictionary with definitions |
|
| 7 | 4 | "The Dispensation of the Fullness of James" or "Restoration of the Gospel" |
III: Family recordsReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | |
| 7 | 5 | Battersby family record book |
| 7 | 6 | Brown and Mason families record books |
| 7 | 7 | Barrie family record book |
| 7 | 8 | Notes |
IV: Gilgal Sculpture GardenReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 7 | 9 | Ursula M. Brinkmann Pimentel, "Gilgal: A Sculpture Garden in Salt Lake City" |
1996 |
V: Oversize materialsReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 8 | 1 | Baptisms, endowments, and temple lists |
|
| 8 | 2 | Gilgal planning renderings
See also the oversize folder located in the map case.
|
|
| 8 | 3 | Guest book |
|
| 8 | 4 | "Creative Teaching in the Elementary School" |
1963 |
| map-case-folder | |||
| 1 | Gilgal Garden designs
Landscape design funded by Friends of Gilgal Garden and drawings by Robert L. Bliss.
|
2002 | |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Latter Day Saints--Utah--History--Sources
- Outdoor sculpture--Utah--Salt Lake City
- Sculpture gardens--Utah--Salt Lake City
Personal Names
- Child, Thomas Battersby, 1888-1963--Archives
Corporate Names
- Gilgal Garden (Salt Lake City, Utah)
