The Fern Perkins Hyde photograph collection documents three generations of the Perkins and Hyde family's participation in outdoor Utah recreation and sports, particularly skiing and bobsledding, throughout the twentieth century. Fern Perkins was born in Montpelier, Idaho in 1921, the middle child of Joseph and Mary Ann Perkins. In the 1930s, the family moved to Ogden, Utah, where Fern lived until her death in 2004. Along with her younger brother, Dean Perkins, Fern was an avid participant in Utah's early ski community. Fern was married three times: first, to Kenneth Hyde, a marriage that ended in divorce; to Bob Grabar until his death in 1974; and to Dr. Louis Peery, also divorced. Fern had four children: Ronnie and Mary Jo Hyde, who both preceded her in death; and Gary and Jeff Perkins Hyde, who survived her. Fern was an avid participant in Utah's ski culture, teaching her children to ski at young ages. The family were frequent visitors to ski resorts at Snowbasin, Park City, and Nordic Valley. (ref: "Fern Perkins Hyde Peery," obituary, The Ogden Standard-Examiner, July 11, 2004.)
Fern passed down her love of skiing and winter sports to her son, Jeff Perkins Hyde, who in turn passed it to his children. As a youth, Jeff worked at ski shops in Utah, pursued freestyle skiing. In the 1980s, he was filmed by skiing from hot air balloons. His son Dakota Chase Hyde was an Olympic athlete in his chosen sport of skeleton. Jeff and his wife Bonnie opened their own ski shop, Bonnie and Hyde, in 1985, a family business that their children joined in their adulthood.
The Fern Perkins Hyde collection contains material relating to three generations of the Perkins and Hyde families participation in Utah skiing, winter sports, and other outdoor recreation. It contains 67 negatives and photographs of Fern Perkins Hyde and her family, including her parents, siblings, and other family members in the 1920s, with many images depicting them hiking, camping, and fishing; there are also prints of Fern Perkins Hyde skiing with her young children in the 1950s and 1960s. The collection also contains 64 photographs and slides of Fern's son, Jeff Perkins Hyde, working at ski shops and skiing in the 1970s and 1980s. Finally, the collection contains 47 prints of Fern's grandson and Jeff's son, Dakota Chase Hyde, skiing as a child in the 1990s and participating in winter Olympic skeleton racing as a young adult in the 2000s.
Arranged by subject.
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.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Fern Perkins Hyde photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Donated by Jeff Perkins Hyde and Dakota Hyde in 2012.
Processed by Special Collections staff in 2021.
See also the Fern Perkins Hyde home movies (A1119) in the Audiovisual Division of Special Collections.
See also the Dakota Chase Hyde papers (ACCN 2776) in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.
Forms part of the
Forms part of the Ski and Snow Sports Archives (S.J. Quinney Outdoor Recreation Archives).