Lucille Jameson Armsby was born in Butte, Montana, on August 21, 1900. She enrolled at the University of Montana in 1917 and earned straight A-pluses in her first year of college. She graduated in 1922 with a B.A. in history with highest honors. From 1922-1930, she served as Assistant Registrar of the University of Montana. She left the university in 1930 for California but returned to Montana in 1932 to become Secretary to the Director of Public Service at the University.
From 1933 to her retirement in 1965, Armsby was Secretary to the President. She assisted seven presidents: Charles H. Clapp, George Finlay Simmons, Ernest O. Melby, James A. McCain, Carl McFarland, Harry Newburn, and Robert Johns. In addition to her duties in the President's Office, Armsby was for twenty-six years secretary of the University Commencement Committee. She advised several student organizations on campus, including the Senior Women's Honorary, Mortar Board, and Alpha Phi social sorority.
She died August 5, 1993.
The collection consists of materials that Armsby appears to have produced and collected in the course of her work in the President's Office, with some additional notes, clippings, and other materials that she added some years later and in retirement. There are files on University history, with materials extracted from the president's papers, university publications, and newspapers. Several files detail the struggle over consolidation of the universities in Montana. There are files for every president she served, with documentation of particularly notable or difficult events of each administration, along with one file of clippings on the administration of Robert Pantzer. Some of the notes appear to be her own comments on individuals and events small and large in the office; other are internal memoranda that detail other aspects of university events. One file contains materials related to the 1959 Neils Report, a report critiquing the university system in Montana, and names Armsby as one of the people who control the University of Montana. There is also one file on Armsby's attempt to establish a Phi Beta Kappa chapter at the University.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University.
[Name of document or photograph number], Lucille Jameson Armsby Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
Date and source of acquisition unknown.
The original processor arranged the collection and produced a finding aid. The collection was originally numbered UM 15. In 2004, that finding aid was revised and encoded and the collection was renumbered Mss 490.
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