Donna Hill was born in 1921 in Salt Lake City, Utah and moved to Washington, D.C. where she attended high school and studied at the Phillips Gallery Art School from 1940 through 1943. Graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors from George Washington University in 1948, Donna continued her art studies in Paris where the U.S. Embassy employed her as a code clerk during 1949-1951. Recognition of her artistic talents was manifest when her paintings appeared in several venues in Washington, D.C., France, Germany, Finland, North Africa and Japan. She was the sole recipient of a presitigious scholarship which enabled her to study art at the Museum of Art in Segovia, Spain during the summer of 1953. Subsequent to earning a master's degree in Library Science from Columbia University, Ms. Hill commenced her professional career as a librarian in 1952 where she worked at the New York Public Library for several years. The bulk of her library career occurred at Hunter College (CUNY) where she was employed for twenty years retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1984. In addition to her painting and library activities, Donna was quite active in the publishing world from 1957 to 1992 writing, editing and illustrating twelve books, including a biography of Joseph Smith.
The Donna Hill papers (1803-2002) are comprised of her art work, book reviews, and assorted materials pertaining to her biography of Joseph Smith. Boxes 1 through 3 contain the initial and final drafts of her book on Joseph Smith while box 4 possesses the Smith galley and page proofs. Pre- and post-publication correspondence concerning the Smith biography and reviews of it can be found in box 5. Box 6 includes Hill's biographical materials, correspondence with publishers, art work, and numerous reviews of several of her books written for a children's audience. Articles featuring Donna's artistic and literary achievements are located in box 7. Box 8 stores files relating to Ms. Hill's pre-publication work on a novel, her donations to children's literature Collections, and issues of a musical journal which Donna edited. Information linked with the publication of the Joseph Smith study can be accessed in box 9. Boxes 10 through 14 house Hill's research notes taken from a vast array of archival and published sources used in the writing of the Smith monograph. Reproductions of genealogical charts and maps are available in box 15. Boxes 16 through 20 are filled with 3X5 cards citing bibliographies, books, articles, newspapers, public documents, diaries, memoirs, letters, papers, theses and dissertations connected with Hill's research on the Joseph Smith biography.
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.
Donated by Julie Myers in 2009.
Processed by Sabrina Baksh-Riches, Kate Kimball and Roger V. Paxton from 2004-2009.
Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division (PO600).
The final two chapters were misnumbered. There is no missing material.
Files pertain to Donna Hill's biography of Joseph Smith.
Hill's correspondence with Doubleday's editorial staff re her Joseph Smith manuscript.
Hill's correspondence with Doubleday's editorial staff and publicity department re the publication of her book on Joseph Smith.
Hil's correspondence with numerous individuals and institutions re her biography of Joseph Smith. Includes communications between Hill and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' Historical Department, viz., Leonard Arrington, Maureen Ursenbach Beecher and Dean Jessee. There are also letters between the author and Brigham Young University personnel, e.g., President Dallin Oaks and Professor Marvin Hill.
Reproductions taken from Hill's biography of Joseph Smith and from the archives of the Utah State Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Society.
Article entitled "American Artists in Paris" appearing on pages 72-77 includes photos of Donna Hill in her studio and one of her two paintings which was accepted for the U. S. Embassy's art show.
February 25 issue. First installment of a Donna Hill serial story entitled "A Goldfinch for Anna" appears on pages 42-44. Printed in Dutch.
March 4 issue. Second installment appears on page 20.
March 11 issue. Third installment appears on pages 33-35.
March 18 issue. Fourth installment appears on pages 48-52.
March 25 issue. Fifth installment appears on pages 36-39.
April 1 issue. Sixth installment appears on pages 36-39.
April 8 issue. Seventh installment appears on pages 8-11.
April 15 issue. Eighth installment appears on pages 26-28.
April 22 issue. Ninth installment appears on pages 20-23.
April 29 issue. Tent installment appears on pages 40-41 and 44-45.
May 6 issue. Eleventh installment appears on pages 28-31.
May 13 issue. Final installment appears on pages 40-45.
Vol. III, Nos. 1-4. A quarterly publication of the American Recorder Society. Donna Hill was Editor-in-Chief from February 1962 through August 1963.
Vol. IV, Nos. 1-4.
Vol. V, No. 4.
Vol. XIV, No. 4.
Includes a Hill article entitled "Writing for Children" which appeared in the Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, vol. 59, issue 4, pp. 31-38.
Excerpts from the "Historical Record".
Includes articles on the history of Topsfield, Massachusetts, Palmyra, New York, and Hancock County, Illinois as well as a copy of a historical atlas of Caldwell County, Missouri.
Sixteen articles related to the Joseph Smith biography.
Includes letters, journals and memoirs of such figures as De Witt Clinton, Thomas Wilson, Orson Hyde and James Strang.
Includes Joseph Smith's correspondence with James Bennett, John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay, a copy of the revised laws of the Nauvoo Legion and the discourses of President Smith and President Young on the relations of the Mormons with the U.S. Government.
L.D.S. Church Historical Department's materials.
L.D.S. Church Historical Department's materials.
L.D.S. Church Historical Departmment's materials. Willard Richards maintained this journal.
Includes numerous and varied materials housed in the L.D.S. Church Historical Department's archives. Among those sources are the letters and memoirs of Don Carlos Smith, Emma Smith, George A. Smith, Hyrum Smith, John Smith, Joseph Smith Sr., Lucy Mack Smith and William Smith.
Notes from articles published in Vermont, New York, Pennysylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Utah.
Notes from articles published in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and England.
Includes notes from sources housed in the R.L.D.S. Church (now known as The Community of Christ) archives and articles taken from "The Saints' Herald" publication.
Includes notes from John Zahnd's "Manuscript on the Mormons".
Notes from the Kirtland, Far West and Nauvoo High Council meetings. Also includes notes of revelations appearing in the Kirtland Record Book and other sources.
Contains notes from diaries, letters and papers pertaining to the issue of plural marriage. Among those documents used is a letter from the Heber Bennion family file located in the Huntington Library's Collection. This letter discusses the views of Anthony Ivins and Reed Smoot on Joseph Smith's role in the practice of polygamy.
Contains copies of published articles related to the topic of polygamy, including several publications of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Materials pertaining to the writings of Joseph Smith's contemporaries, from George Adams to Eliza Lyman.
Materials pertaining to the writings of Joseph Smith's contemporaries, from William McIntyre to Colonel J. Woods.
A-G.
H-W.
Includes S.H. Goodwin's "Mormonism and Masonry" and "The Presidential Election Campaign of 1844 and the Role of Joseph Smith as Candidate".
Includes chart of Joseph Smith's family tree, map of "Joseph Smith Country" and map of the town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
A-J.
K-P.
R-S.
T-Z.
Includes lists of bibliographies, books, articles, public documents, newspapers, diaries, memoirs, theses, dissertations,and Collections of letters and papers pertaining to Hill's research on the Smith biography.