Born September 28, 1881, in Salt Lake City, Feramorz Young Fox was a son of Jesse W. and Ruth May Fox. His mother, at 104, was still alive at the time of her son's death. Fox married Anna Wilcken in 1906; they later became parents of three children. Graduated from the University of Utah the year of his marriage, Fox devoted his career to a series of teaching and administrative positions at the L.D.S. University in Salt Lake City, becoming its president in 1926. At the University of Utah he had been a gifted and versatile student with interests in chemistry, geology, and English literature. In 1920 he was awarded a Willard D. Thompson scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed a master's degree in economics in 1912 with a thesis on "Cooperation in the Raisin Industry of California." He was offered a temporary instructorship at Berkeley and was urged to complete his doctorate with additional research on the economics of cooperation, but illness in his family compelled his return to Salt Lake City. In the 1920s his research interests shifted to land economics, and he completed his doctorate at Northwestern University in 1932 with a dissertation on "The Mormon Land System."
Thus, Fox brought a unique set of qualifications to the study of experiments in cooperation among the Mormons, which he began in 1932 at the depths of the Great Depression. He was well versed in the economics and history of cooperatives in England and the United States and was also thoroughly familiar with the economic problems of Utah agriculture and the rural communities based upon it. His grandfather had surveyed the streets of Salt Lake City; President Fox, like his father before him, had grown up in the Salt Lake City milieu. Finally, President Fox combined the skills of a trained economist with a mature understanding of the behavior of people in organizations.
When he become its president in 1926, the school then known as the L.D.S. University consisted of a high school, junior college, and business college. The junior college was discontinued in the late 1920s and the high school in 1931; President Fox guided the L.D.S. Business College successfully through the depression, war, and postwar years until his retirement in 1948. He was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving as a high counselor in the Emigration Stake and member of the Sunday School board of the Ensign Stake. He was past president of the Salt Lake Kiwanis Club, the Executive Club, and the Emeritus Club of the University of Utah. He died on November 29, 1957, at the age of seventy-six.
The Feramorz Young Fox papers (1830s-1966) consist of the personal, business, and research materials of Feramorz Y. Fox (1881-1957), a Utah historian, economist, and educator. Included are correspondence, family histories, yearbooks, manuscripts, articles, notes, speeches, and other materials.
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.
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
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Gift of Karl Fox.
Processed by Allesen Peck in 1989.
Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0344).
Transcripts and other miscellaneous materials.
Feramorz Fox and friend, E. W. Reese, held their first Leap Year Reception on New Year's Day, 1904. They repeated the event in 1924 and 1936. The folder contains invitations and lists of guests.
Congratulatory letters Fox received from friends and family on the occasion of his retirement.
Typed transcript of the funeral services of Feramorz Fox.
Correspondence with friends and family, poetry submitted to
The
Personal and business correspondence.
Biography written by Feramorz Fox and other miscellaneous items.
Information compiled by Feramorz Fox on the life of his maternal grandfather.
Information compiled by Feramorz Fox on the life of his father-in-law.
Transcript of the funeral services of Feramorz Fox's half brother.
Constitution and by-laws and annual meeting and reunion notices.
In 1932, the Fox family began a Christmas tradition of composing short poems to accompany their gifts to each other. The poems in these folders were composed by Anna and Feramorz Fox and their sons and daughter-in-laws.
Correspondence, programs, and certificates of recognition.
By-laws, lists of club members, and meeting schedules.
Achievement report and membership directory.
The Redwood Orchards company was begun by Jesse W. Fox as a real estate corporation. Feramorz Fox assumed his father's interest in the business in 1917. Materials consist of articles of incorporation, correspondence, and legal documents.
Correspondence regarding the Fox's property in Lamb's Canyon, and Feramorz's activities as secretary of the company.
Materials concerning use and maintenance of the Fox's cabin in Lamb's Canyon.
Fox was instrumental in the development of the Drill-O-Type, a machine used in typing classes for rhythm drills. The folders contain correspondence, advertising materials, and other miscellaneous items.
Tax forms and receipts.
Account books and index cards on which Fox recorded his daily expenditures.
Karl Fox Family to Anna and Feramorz Fox.
Correspondence Between Ausdrig Piranian Malouf and Anna and Feramorz Fox. Ausdrig was a friend of the Fox family and lived with them for a period of time.
George was a friend of the Fox family and may have lived with them at one time.
Leonard and Feramorz were half brothers. The majority of the correspondence is regarding family business matters.
Correspondence between Feramorz Fox and his friends and associates concerning business and personal matters.
Boxes 10-17 contain Fox's alphabetical research files on Mormon land use and economic idealism. While the original order and folder headings have been maintained, the researcher should be aware that Fox often made notes on a variety of different topics on a single page. Consequently, folder headings may not always accurately reflect the contents of the folder.
Boxes 19-20 consist of an assortment of articles, notes, and quotes Fox gathered to use in speeches. The materials are arranged alphabetically by topic.
Miscellaneous insurance materials.
Agent's statements and commission statements.
Notes Fox kept on the insurance needs of his clients. Materials are arranged alphabetically.
News articles concerning the activities of Feramorz Fox, his family and friends, and the L.D.S. Business College.
Poetry and prose written by Musser.
Three booklets containing poetry and prose compiled by Grant and distributed to his family and friends at Christmas.