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L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library
The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special collections contained over 300,000 books, 11,000 manuscript collections, and over 2.5 million photographs, among many other rare and unique research materials. Since its inception, the special collections have been housed in numerous places including the crawl space of a university building and a wholesale grocery warehouse. Since 2016, the special collections have been located on the first floor of the Harold B. Lee Library and is considered to hold "the finest collection of rare books in the Intermountain West and the second finest Mormon collection in existence".
Recording and preserving history had been an important part of the mission of BYU even before an official archive was established. Documentation of BYU began in 1875 and has grown since then. Early efforts to collect included a Brigham Young Academy expedition to South America in 1900–1901. The purpose of the expedition was to look for evidences to support The Book of Mormon; collectors gathered field notes, photos, botany samples, and correspondences.
Before the official inception of the university's archives and special collections, BYU had already collected rare and expensive books and manuscripts that were housed in various places. One collection was the "Locked Case" collection, housed in a locked bookcase in the head librarian's office. By 1925, what would eventually become the university's special collections stacks were relocated to a small manuscript room in the Grant Library. In the 1930s, BYU professor Wilford Poulson began to collect copies of various Mormon diaries, and staff librarian Newburn I. Butt transcribed and indexed hundreds of others.
S. Lyman Tyler was appointed library director in 1954 and from the beginning of his term he was particularly interested in establishing a university archival program. Tyler was a member of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), and looked to the organization for guidance on how to establish a university archive. As early as the year he was appointed library director, Tyler was having informal conversations with university administrators about the importance of establishing a university archival system.
On 26 March 1956, BYU president Ernest L. Wilkinson sent out a university directive that stated, "The director of libraries is also designated historian and archivist for the Unified Church School System." Effectively, this directive authorized the library director as an archivist as well, putting Tyler in an administrative position to create an archival system at BYU. In August 1956, Tyler appointed Ralph Hansen to establish an archive at BYU. He began his efforts in September, housing the first documents in the attic of the Karl G. Maeser Building. This established the first archives at a Utah institution of higher learning.
Tyler and Hansen evaluated university records to determine which ones would have long-term value. These documents were stored in acid-free folders or placed in Fiberdex cases. The two especially worked to preserve records from BYU presidents, gathering documents BYU presidents like Benjamin Cluff, George H. Brimhall, Franklin S. Harris, and Howard S. McDonald. Hansen also reached out to university professors to begin collecting more current records from the faculty and staff. These records included syllabi, meeting minutes, and correspondence papers.
In January 1957, the Department of Special Collections was officially established as a separate department of the library. Its responsibilities would include managing all unique, rare books and manuscripts along with the archives that had previously been stored. Chad Flake was appointed as the department head. The collection started with 1,000 books, 50 manuscript collections, and 1 curator. The creation of a new collections department inevitably led to administrative changes concerning what items would be included. Some of the archives that had been stored were retained by Special Collections like the Burns collection and the Hafen collection, while others were incorporated into other collections like the Mormon Americana Collection, which contained books related to Mormonism and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and sought to acquire all publications about the church and all periodicals published by the church. Books that were included in Special Collections had to be printed in Europe before 1800 or printed in America before 1850; however, materials from a later date were accepted if they were considered rare due to high cost, were limited edition, or had pertinent content. Many BYU materials were left to the archivists as well.
In 1957, Hansen was put in charge of manuscript collecting, and by 1958, he emphasized the manuscript collecting department in Special Collections. The next year the archives were forced off-campus due to space limitations; Special Collections was housed in the storage area of the Utah Wholesale Grocery Warehouse where it stayed from 1959 to 1960. During that time period, Hansen took a sabbatical to complete his Ph.D. and Donald T. Schmidt was assigned as acting University Archivist.
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L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library
The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special collections contained over 300,000 books, 11,000 manuscript collections, and over 2.5 million photographs, among many other rare and unique research materials. Since its inception, the special collections have been housed in numerous places including the crawl space of a university building and a wholesale grocery warehouse. Since 2016, the special collections have been located on the first floor of the Harold B. Lee Library and is considered to hold "the finest collection of rare books in the Intermountain West and the second finest Mormon collection in existence".
Recording and preserving history had been an important part of the mission of BYU even before an official archive was established. Documentation of BYU began in 1875 and has grown since then. Early efforts to collect included a Brigham Young Academy expedition to South America in 1900–1901. The purpose of the expedition was to look for evidences to support The Book of Mormon; collectors gathered field notes, photos, botany samples, and correspondences.
Before the official inception of the university's archives and special collections, BYU had already collected rare and expensive books and manuscripts that were housed in various places. One collection was the "Locked Case" collection, housed in a locked bookcase in the head librarian's office. By 1925, what would eventually become the university's special collections stacks were relocated to a small manuscript room in the Grant Library. In the 1930s, BYU professor Wilford Poulson began to collect copies of various Mormon diaries, and staff librarian Newburn I. Butt transcribed and indexed hundreds of others.
S. Lyman Tyler was appointed library director in 1954 and from the beginning of his term he was particularly interested in establishing a university archival program. Tyler was a member of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), and looked to the organization for guidance on how to establish a university archive. As early as the year he was appointed library director, Tyler was having informal conversations with university administrators about the importance of establishing a university archival system.
On 26 March 1956, BYU president Ernest L. Wilkinson sent out a university directive that stated, "The director of libraries is also designated historian and archivist for the Unified Church School System." Effectively, this directive authorized the library director as an archivist as well, putting Tyler in an administrative position to create an archival system at BYU. In August 1956, Tyler appointed Ralph Hansen to establish an archive at BYU. He began his efforts in September, housing the first documents in the attic of the Karl G. Maeser Building. This established the first archives at a Utah institution of higher learning.
Tyler and Hansen evaluated university records to determine which ones would have long-term value. These documents were stored in acid-free folders or placed in Fiberdex cases. The two especially worked to preserve records from BYU presidents, gathering documents BYU presidents like Benjamin Cluff, George H. Brimhall, Franklin S. Harris, and Howard S. McDonald. Hansen also reached out to university professors to begin collecting more current records from the faculty and staff. These records included syllabi, meeting minutes, and correspondence papers.
In January 1957, the Department of Special Collections was officially established as a separate department of the library. Its responsibilities would include managing all unique, rare books and manuscripts along with the archives that had previously been stored. Chad Flake was appointed as the department head. The collection started with 1,000 books, 50 manuscript collections, and 1 curator. The creation of a new collections department inevitably led to administrative changes concerning what items would be included. Some of the archives that had been stored were retained by Special Collections like the Burns collection and the Hafen collection, while others were incorporated into other collections like the Mormon Americana Collection, which contained books related to Mormonism and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and sought to acquire all publications about the church and all periodicals published by the church. Books that were included in Special Collections had to be printed in Europe before 1800 or printed in America before 1850; however, materials from a later date were accepted if they were considered rare due to high cost, were limited edition, or had pertinent content. Many BYU materials were left to the archivists as well.
In 1957, Hansen was put in charge of manuscript collecting, and by 1958, he emphasized the manuscript collecting department in Special Collections. The next year the archives were forced off-campus due to space limitations; Special Collections was housed in the storage area of the Utah Wholesale Grocery Warehouse where it stayed from 1959 to 1960. During that time period, Hansen took a sabbatical to complete his Ph.D. and Donald T. Schmidt was assigned as acting University Archivist.
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