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Ralph Elijah Cloward papers, 1911-1967

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Cloward, Ralph Elijah, 1883-1964
Title
Ralph Elijah Cloward papers
Dates
1911-1967 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 linear feet
Collection Number
MS 0243
Summary
The Ralph Elijah Cloward papers (1911-1967) consists of biographical information, family correspondence, articles and correspondence by Cloward on medicine, religion, the United Nations, politics, education, military philosophy, China, communism, India, the LDS Church, and Samoa. Cloward (1883-1964) was a doctor who had a great concern for the people of Samoa, as well as other Polynesian people, and their welfare.
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.

Two original letters have been removed and placed in Reserve. Photocopied versions are available in the collection for access purposes. Access to the originals must be given by the Manuscripts Curator and by appointment. An archivist must remain with the items if being used.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Ralph Elijah Cloward (1883-1964) was born on 21 April 1883. He was raised in Utah as a member of the LDS Church. He spent three years, 1904-1907, serving a proselytizing mission in Samoa. His stay there created a life-long interest in the Samoan people and their welfare. Shortly after his return from the Pacific, Cloward married Virginia Staker and began classes at the University of Utah. After graduation Cloward went east to study medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated in 1913 and returned to Price, Utah to begin his practice.

The world unrest in the early 1900s caused Cloward to join the Medical Reserve Corps. He was commissioned a First Lieutenant on 16 July 1917. When the United Stated entered the first World War (WWI) his reserve group was activated. In August 1917, Cloward was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas for training. By June of the following year he was in Liverpool, England with the fourth Sanitary Train headed for France. While in France, Cloward worked near the front lines in various ambulance dressing stations as well as the field hospital at Cuisy before being promoted to Captain and commander of Ambulance Company number nineteen. He also served as commander of Ambulance Company number twenty-eight, in Germany, in early 1919. Captain Cloward was given an honorable discharge in 1919.

For four months in 1919 and 1920, Cloward took postgraduate courses in eye, ear, nose and throat (EENT) at Harvard University, before re-enlisting in the Army Medical Corps as a Captain. While in the Army he worked at his profession and took various military courses including those qualifying him as a flight surgeon. After transferring to Hawai'i, in 1926, Cloward resigned his commission to accept a position as an EENT specialist at The Clinic. He continued to practice medicine in Hawai'i, including doing necessary surgery at various island charitable hospitals until 1939. Cloward officially retired on 15 July 1939, because heart ailment and Parkinson's disease made it impossible for him to perform surgery.

After a period of travel, Cloward settled in Los Angeles, California, in 1940. He reintegrated himself with the LDS Church community there and eventually found himself in conflict with many of the teachings and practices of the church. He wrote numerous letters to LDS Church authorities seeking definitive historical and archeological proof that the Book of Mormon was actually the history of the people of ancient America. Cloward also conducted vigorous letter writing campaigns for socialized medicine, civil rights for the people of American Samoa, and other subjects he found of interest. He wrote many articles on these subjects although few were published. Having earlier been divorced from Virginia, Cloward married Elizabeth (Betty) Connoly in Honolulu, on 4 July 1939. In 1960, he and Betty, took a trip around the world. They visited many of the countries behind the Iron Curtain and wrote letters, to their family, filled with their impressions of people, their social, economic, and political systems, and the places they visited. Upon returning they settled in Honolulu. Cloward died in Honolulu on 7 May 1964, at the age of eighty-one.

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Content Description

The Ralph Elijah Cloward papers (1911-1967) consists of correspondence and articles on subjects of interest to Cloward. The collection contains personal materials, as well as correspondence, articles and other information regarding China, Communism, education, India, the LDS Church, medicine, military philosophy, politics, religion, Samoa, the United Nations, and other topics of interest to Cloward and his colleagues. There are several correspondence regarding the topics mentioned above, with Sterling McMurrin, a former US Commissioner of Education, Israel A. Smith, the former president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), James A. Pike, a controversial Catholic Bishop of California, and others.

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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.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Donated by Mrs. W.M. Clinger in 1968.

Processing Note

Processed by Marlene Lewis in 1980.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Personal Materials, Correspondence, Articles, and Education

  • Education, India, and Medicine

    • Description: University of Hawai'i

      This folder contains correspondence with Cloward and various staff members, about education.

      Dates: 1961-1962
      Container: Box 2, Folder 1
    • Description: University of Hawai'i East-West Culture Center

      These folders contain correspondence, reports, information, and newspaper clippings about the center and its funcitons.

      Dates: 1961-1962
      Container: Box 2, Folder 2-4
    • Description: Philosopher's Conferences

      These folders contain texts of papers read at the Philosophers' Conferences sponsored by the University of Hawai'i East-West Culture Center. Also included are notes, programs, and newspaper clippings.

      Dates: 1959-1964
      Container: Box 2, Folder 5-6
    • Description: India Correspondence, Articles, and Information

      These folders contain correspondence from Shri Kuldip Singh Aneja, about India, and include three hand painted greeting cards. Also included are correspondence about a possible visit to India, about Indian and Hindu philosophy, some lists of books about India, and other information.

      Dates: 1959-1964
      Container: Box 2, Folder 7-9
    • Description: Medicine Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence, with various doctors and medical groups, about medical problems and statistics.

      Dates: 1927-1963
      Container: Box 2, Folder 10
    • Description: Published Medicine Articles

      This folder contains Cloward's articles on medical and diagnostic problems, which were published in the "Proceedings of the Staff Meetings of The Clinic."

      Dates: 1925-1937
      Container: Box 2, Folder 11
    • Description: Unpublished Medicine Articles

      These folders contain unpublished Cloward articles, about medical cases, medicine and society, and the use of tobacco.

      Container: Box 2, Folder 12-14
    • Description: Ralph Bingham Cloward Medicine Articles

      This folder contains published articles written by Cloward's son.

      Dates: 1952-1957
      Container: Box 2, Folder 15
    • Description: Medicine Articles
      Dates: 1962-1965
      Container: Box 2, Folder 16
    • Description: Medicine Newspaper Clippings
      Container: Box 2, Folder 17
    • Description: Americn Physicians Art Association

      These folders contain materials from American Physicians Art Association, of which Cloward was a member. Included are correspondence about the yearly exhibits and prizes won by Cloward, newsletters, and catalogues of the annual exhibits.

      Dates: 1944-1949
      Container: Box 2, Folder 18-20
    • Description: American Physicians Literary Guild

      This folder contains correspondence about publishing "The White Rose of England," a book written by Dr. and Mrs. Cloward. A summary of the book is included.

      Dates: 1947-1949
      Container: Box 2, Folder 21
    • Description: Cloward's Hawai'i Medical Practice Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence concerning Cloward's medical practice at "The Clinic" in Hawai'i as well as his assignments to work in certain hospitals by the territorial board of health.

      Dates: 1932-1939
      Container: Box 2, Folder 22
    • Description: Midwinter Clinical Course

      This folder contains rosters for a course in ophthalmology and otolaryngology.

      Dates: 1934-1938
      Container: Box 2, Folder 23
    • Description: Phi Beta Pi Medical Fraternity Correspondence and Newsletters
      Container: Box 2, Folder 24
  • Medicine and Military Philosophy

    • Description: Socialized Medicine Correspondence
      Dates: 1949-1963
      Container: Box 3, Folder 1
    • Description: Cloward Socialized Medicine Articles

      These folders also Cloward's "The Confessions of a Doctor," and "Should the State Control the Practice of Medicine?"

      Container: Box 3, Folder 2-4
    • Description: Socialized Medicine and Great Britain Medical System Articles
      Dates: 1959-1962
      Container: Box 3, Folder 5-8
    • Description: University of Maryland Alumni Association Correspondence

      This folder also contains Cloward's summary of his life since graduation.

      Dates: 1963
      Container: Box 3, Folder 9
    • Description: Cloward's University of Minnesota Anatomy Drawings
      Container: Box 3, Folder 10
    • Description: Utah State Legislature Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence between Cloward and members of the Utah State Legislature, to provide funding to establish hospitals in each county in the state. A copy of the proposed bill is included.

      Dates: 1916-1917
      Container: Box 3, Folder 11
    • Description: Military Order of the World Wars Correspondence

      These folders also contain a series of correspondence between Cloward and military authorities at Fort Shafter, Hawai'i, concerning his access to the post for meetings of the group. Also included are some rosters, and pamphlets issued by the organization.

      Dates: 1961-1966
      Container: Box 3, Folder 12-16
    • Description: National Fourth Infantry (IVY) Division Association

      This folder contains Clwoard's dues card and a letter acknowledging payment.

      Dates: 1964
      Container: Box 3, Folder 17
    • Description: Cloward WWI Military Records

      These folders contain Clowards special orders, reports, and other information about his military career in the medical corps.

      Dates: 1917-1926
      Container: Box 3, Folder 18-19
    • Description: Tripler Hospital Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence about the excellent medical treatment Cloward received there, and about care of Samoans living in Hawai'i.

      Dates: 1957-1961
      Container: Box 3, Folder 20
    • Description: Veterans Administration and Disability Pension Correspondence
      Dates: 1941-1962
      Container: Box 3, Folder 21-22
    • Description: Cloward Philosophy Articles

      These folder contain Cloward's aritcles on various types of philosophy, charts on branches of philosophy, and newspaper clippings.

      Container: Box 3, Folder 23-24
  • Politics

    • Description: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Foreign Policy Correspondence
      Dates: 1958
      Container: Box 4, Folder 1
    • Description: Hiram L. Fong, Socialized Medicine and Medicare Correspondence
      Dates: 1962
      Container: Box 4, Folder 2
    • Description: J. William Fullbright, Communism and Soman Scholarship Correspondence
      Dates: 1961
      Container: Box 4, Folder 3
    • Description: Thomas P. Gill, Campaign Articles and Correspondence
      Dates: 1962-1963
      Container: Box 4, Folder 4-6
    • Description: Daniel K. Inouye, Somoa, National Debt, and Political Issues Correspondence
      Dates: 1962-1964
      Container: Box 4, Folder 7
    • Description: John F. Kennedy, Somoa and Socialized Medicine Correspondence
      Dates: 1961-1962
      Container: Box 4, Folder 8
    • Description: Oren E. Long, Somoa, Socialized Medicine, Aging, and Education Correspondences
      Dates: 1961-1962
      Container: Box 4, Folder 9
    • Description: Wayne Morse, Samoa Correspondence
      Dates: 1960-1961
      Container: Box 4, Folder 10
    • Description: Richard M. Nixon Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence about Cloward's paper, entitled, "The Church and the State." One original letter has been removed and placed in Reserve. A photocopied version is available in the collection for access purposes. Access to the original must be given by the Manuscripts Curator and by appointment. An archivist must remain with the item if being used.

      Dates: 1959
      Container: Box 4, Folder 11
    • Description: James Roosevelt, Israel, Education, Civil Rights, Samoa, and Socialized Medicine Correspondence
      Dates: 1955-1963
      Container: Box 4, Folder 12-16
    • Description: Various Political Figures Correspondence
      Dates: 1940-1963
      Container: Box 4, Folder 17
    • Description: China Articles
      Dates: 1961-1967
      Container: Box 4, Folder 18
    • Description: Communism Correspondence and Artilces

      These folders contains correspondence and magazine articles about the Alger Hiss case. There are also some of Cloward's communism articles.

      Dates: 1956-1967
      Container: Box 4, Folder 19-21
    • Description: Cloward, Freedom of the Press Articles
      Dates: 1962-1964
      Container: Box 4, Folder 22-23
    • Description: Israel Correspondence

      These folders contain correspondence and statements about Arab-Jewish relations and the state of Israel with Henry A. Wallace and various Jewish leaders. Also included are articles written by Cloward.

      Dates: 1948-1962
      Container: Box 4, Folder 24-25
    • Description: Cloward, Segregation Articles

      This folder contains articles about Cloward's opposition to racial segregation, from a scientific standpoint.

      Container: Box 4, Folder 26
    • Description: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Articles
      Container: Box 4, Folder 27-30
    • Description: Cloward, United Nations Articles

      These folders includ Cloward's "Red China and the United Nations," "United Nations and International Communism," and "United Nations in World Affairs," as well as other information and articles.

      Container: Box 4, Folder 31-34
    • Description: United States Government and Legislation Articles
      Dates: 1961-1962
      Container: Box 4, Folder 35
  • Religion

    • Description: Charles S. Casassa Correspondence

      Casassa was the president of Loyola University of Los Angeles. These correspondence are about the controversy between public secular education and private religious education.

      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box 5, Folder 1
    • Description: Robert R. Mackey Correspondence

      Mackey was president of the Catholic Chaminade College of Honolulu. These correspondence are about public secular eduation and private religious educaiton.

      Dates: 1961-1963
      Container: Box 5, Folder 2
    • Description: James A. Pike Correspondence

      Pike was the Catholic Bishop of California and a controversial figure in the Catholic Church. These correspondence are about religious subjects, and include newspaper clippings about Pike.

      Dates: 1957-1960
      Container: Box 5, Folder 3
    • Description: Cloward and Clergymen Correspondence
      Dates: 1949-1963
      Container: Box 5, Folder 4
    • Description: Cloward Religion Articles

      Among the articles in these folders are, "The Evolution of Religion and Architecture," "Prologominia to the Religions of India," and "The State and the Church."

      Container: Box 5, Folder 5-9
    • Description: Religion Statements Articles
      Container: Box 5, Folder 10-11
    • Description: John T. Bernhard Correspondence

      These correspondence concern religious philosophy and the theology of the LDS Church.

      Dates: 1947-1952
      Container: Box 5, Folder 12
    • Description: Adam S. Bennion Correspondence

      This folder contains a letter to Bennion criticizing his conduct as a speaker in an LDS Church meeting.

      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box 5, Folder 13
    • Description: Hugh B. Brown Correspondence

      These correspondence concern policies and practices of the LDS Church, and proof that the Book of Mormon was actually translated by Joseph Smith in the manner in which the chruch claims.

      Dates: 1952-1963
      Container: Box 5, Folder 14
    • Description: Richard Evans Correspondence

      This series of letters concerns the program "The Spoken Word" in which Cloward takes Evans to task for his editorials and offers his own opinions on various religious subjects, especially concerning the LDS Church.

      Dates: 1941-1959
      Container: Box 5, Folder 15
    • Description: Wells M. Jakeman Correspondence

      Jakeman was a professor of archaeology at Brigham Young University. These correspondence concern archaeological proofs of the Book of Mormon.

      Dates: 1955-1958
      Container: Box 5, Folder 16
    • Description: David O. McKay Correspondence

      These correspondence concern church service conduct, and the Book of Mormon. One original letter has been removed and placed in Reserve. A photocopied version is available in the collection for access purposes. Access to the original must be given by the Manuscripts Curator and by appointment. An archivist must remain with the item if being used.

      Dates: 1952-1955
      Container: Box 5, Folder 17
    • Description: Sterling McMurrin Correspondence

      McMurrin was a member of the Department of Philosopy at the University of Utah, and he was the United States commissioner of Education. These correspondence discuss religious philosophy, the Book of Mormon, the LDS Church, and religious influence in public educaiton, as well as other subjects of interest to both McMurrin and Cloward.

      Dates: 1947-1963
      Container: Box 5, Folder 18-19
    • Description: Hugh Nibley Correspondence

      These correspondence concern anthropological proofs of the Book of Mormon.

      Dates: 1950-1956
      Container: Box 5, Folder 20
    • Description: LeGrande Richards Correspondence

      These correspondence are about the Book of Mormon and the LDS religion.

      Dates: 1958-1962
      Container: Box 5, Folder 21
    • Description: Israel A. Smith Correspondence

      Smith was the president of the Reorganized Churdch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ). These correspondence concern the Book of Mormon. The correspondence open amicably but degenerates into controlled hostility on both sides.

      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box 5, Folder 22
    • Description: John L. Sorenson Correspondence

      These correspondence are concerned with the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and include a paper on Central American archaeology, written by Sorenson.

      Dates: 1956
      Container: Box 5, Folder 23
    • Description: Kimball Young Correspondence

      Young was a professor of sociology at Northwestern University. These correspondence are concerned with historical or archaeological evidence to support the Book of Mormon.

      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box 5, Folder 24
    • Description: Levi Edgar Young Correspondence

      These correspondence are concerned with religious philosophy and the dietary rules of the "Word of Wisdom."

      Dates: 1950-1956
      Container: Box 5, Folder 25
    • Description: Book of Mormon Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence between Cloward and various scholars seeking information about historical or archaeological evidence which would prove or disprove the story offered by the Book of Mormon.

      Dates: 1950-1964
      Container: Box 5, Folder 26
    • Description: Improvement Era Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence and a "letter to the editor" about an article on the "Word of Wisdom" which was submitted by Cloward and rejected for publication.

      Dates: 1962-1963
      Container: Box 5, Folder 27
    • Description: Los Angles Stake Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence between Cloward and his local church leaders about tithing, the conduct of the church meetings, and other religious concerns. Also included are two of Cloward's temple recommends.

      Dates: 1948-1958
      Container: Box 5, Folder 28
    • Description: Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence about the membership and financial status of the LDS Church in Hawai'i, and the resignation of Ernest L. Wilkinson as president of Brigham Young University to seek the Republican Party nomination to stand for the United States Senate for Utah.

      Dates: 1958-1964
      Container: Box 5, Folder 29
    • Description: Cloward LDS Articles

      This folder contains Cloward's articles about the LDS Church, including "More Mormon 'Gobble Dy Gook'," written in response to an article in magazine titled "Memo from a Mormon," about the Mormon Church policy toward Blacks.

      Container: Box 5, Folder 30-31
    • Description: Cloward Religious Speech

      This folder contains remarks and short addresses, made by Cloward, on religious subjects at various LDS Church functions.

      Container: Box 5, Folder 32
    • Description: Sterling McMurrin Speech Notes and Information

      These are notes and copies of McMurrin's addresses "The Patterns of Our Religious Faiths," and "Higher Education and Human Values" as well as some newspaper clippings.

      Container: Box 5, Folder 33
    • Description: Humanist World Digest Correspondence

      These folders contain letters to the editor about articles submitted by Cloward, and includes copies of articles and publications.

      Dates: 1951-1963
      Container: Box 5, Folder 34-35
    • Description: Masonic Order Correspondence

      This folder contains correspondence about Masonic and Mormon Temple ceremonies, and an Easter speech written by Cloward for a Mormon friend.

      Container: Box 5, Folder 36
  • Samoa

    • Description: John Fox, Punahou School, and Education Correspondence
      Dates: 1961-1963
      Container: Box 6, Folder 1
    • Description: H. Rex Lee Correspondence

      These correspondence, between Cloward and the governor of American Samoa, are about public improvements, economics, and education.

      Dates: 1961-1963
      Container: Box 6, Folder 2
    • Description: Albert Lolotai Correspondence

      These correspondence are about the social, economic, and political future of Samoa, and Lolotai's political aspirations in Samoa.

      Dates: 1947-1963
      Container: Box 6, Folder 3
    • Description: The Church College of Hawai'i Correspondence

      These correspondence are about the Samoans attending this LDS sponsored, private school.

      Dates: 1961
      Container: Box 6, Folder 4
    • Description: United States Department of Interior Correspondence

      These correspondence are about the situation in Samoa and United States laws as applied to American Samoa.

      Dates: 1961-1964
      Container: Box 6, Folder 5
    • Description: Samoa Economics, Politics, and Education Correspondence
      Dates: 1961-1963
      Container: Box 6, Folder 6
    • Description: Cloward, Samoa Articles
      Container: Box 6, Folder 7
    • Description: Samoa Articles
      Container: Box 6, Folder 8-9

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Education

Personal Names

  • Cloward, Ralph Elijah, 1883-1964--Archives

Form or Genre Terms

  • Correspondence
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