Stanley Buchholz Kimball photograph collection, 1920-1970

Stanley Buchholz Kimball (1926 –2003) was born on November 15, 1926 in Farmington, Utah, to Septimus Herman Buchholz and Vontella Hess Kimball. He was raised in Farmington before moving to Denver, Colorado, with his family as a teenager. Kimball served in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he served a mission in Czechoslovakia in 1948 that was interrupted in 1950 when the government expelled missionaries from the country; Kimball completed his mission in Preston, England.

Upon his return from Europe, Kimball studied at the University of Denver. In 1952, he moved to Winston Salem, North Carolina, where he met Violet M. Tew; the two married on June 25, 1953, in the Salt Lake Temple. In 1955, the Kimballs moved to New York City so that Kimball could pursue a doctorate in East Central European History from Columbia University; he graduated in 1959. After graduation, Kimball moved to St. Louis to teach at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois, a position that he held until his retirement in 2001.

Kimball authored many articles and books about Central European history, as well as the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He received many honors and recognitions for his historical work. Kimball's 1981 biography of his ancestor, Heber C. Kimball: Mormon Patriarch and Pioneer, won the Best Book Award from the Mormon History Association in 1981. In 1982, he received a Special Commendation from the National Park Service for his work on the Mormon Pioneer Historic Trail. In 1984, Kimball served as President of the Mormon History Association. In 1992, he received the Grace Fort Arrington Award for historical excellence from the Mormon History Association. Kimball died on May 15, 2003, in St. George, Utah.