Edward Earl Bennett Papers, 1900-1970

This series contains Bennett's personal financial, school, and legal records, which document primarily his school and teaching career. There are materials from both his time teaching high school and that at Montana State University (The University of Montana).

This series contains diaries that Bennett kept quite regularly throughout his life, beginning when he was fifteen years old and ending two days before his death. The earliest diary contains mostly quotations and notes relating to school work. Later diaries contain brief notes on daily events, expenses, and addresses of friends and family. Beginning with the 1954 volume, the entries become daily and offer considerable detail of his daily life, including bills, travels, medical appointments, and visitors.

This series contains Bennett's personal and professional correspondence. The earliest letters are to his wife-to-be, Linda McCoy; they carried on a consistent correspondence both before and during their marriage. There are also numerous exchanges concerning his employment as a high school teacher. Later exchanges focus on his service at Montana State University (The University of Montana), publications, and various aspects of his community service.

This series contains Bennett's research and writings, beginning with his 1923 M.A. thesis, his 1925 Ph.D thesis, his 1928 Draper fellowship work, and continuing with his book reviews and work for the World Book Encyclopedia. It also contains materials that were apparently used for his research on the early history of Montana and the West, and materials for his work for Historical Abstracts.

This series contains the bulk of Bennett's papers that relate to his service to Montana State University (The University of Montana). It is divided into three subseries: Committees, Teaching, and Theta Chi, Beta Epsilon Chapter.

The Committees subseries contains materials on Bennett's involvement campus and associated committees. The most substantial materals relate to the Montana School of Religion and efforts to establish a department of religious studies on campus in the 1950s. A series of reports on grades across the university contains warnings from administrators on grade inflation in the 1920s through 1940s.

The Teaching subseries contains mostly student papers and lecture notes from courses that Bennett taught in Montana history and government, Candian history, and U.S. history. There are also sustantial mateirals from the correspondence courses in U.S. history that Bennett taught through the university's correspondence courses after his retirement.

The Theta Chi, Beta Epsilon Chapter subseries contains materials that relate to Bennett's long involvement with this Montana State University (University of Montana) social fraternity. He served on the fraternity's board of directors, and there are many materials relating to the group's efforts to secure a house in Missoula's University District neighborhood. Bennett's Masonic ties were in play here as well. There are also materials from Theta Chi's predecessor, Delta Sigma Lamda, Theta chapter.

This series contains newspaper clippings that Bennett collected. There is one file that relates to the McCoy-Bennett wedding, but the others focus mostly on events at Montana State University (The University of Montana), especially the turbulent events of the 1930s and 1940s.

This series contains materials related to Bennett's community and other non-University activities. It is divided into two subseries.

Subseries 1, General, contains a wide range of materials, including the Missoula County Republican Club, Kiwanis, and the Missoula Rose Society. There are a number of papers from a community group interested in early Monatana history.

Subseries 2, Missoula Masonic Lodge No. 13, documents Bennett's long involvement with the Masons. It includes a considerable number of files relating to his 100-year history of the Masons, as well as other materials related to Lodge activities in which he was involved.

This series contains mateirals relating to Linda M. Bennett that document her education and activitiy in Missoula organizations.

This series contains one photograph that includes Bennett, and a group of portraits of prominent early Missoulians.

This series contains a diary by Florence M. Johnson. Her connection to the Bennett family is not documented.