L. Tom Perry Special Collections

L. Tom Perry Special Collections
Eustress · Public domain · source
Name	L. Tom Perry Special Collections
Established	1961
Location	Provo, Utah
Type	Special collections and archives
Director	Harold Lee (example)

L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the rare books and manuscripts repository of the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University. It houses primary source materials supporting research on Mormon studies, Western American history, literature, performing arts, and manuscript collections related to international figures and movements.

History

Founded in the 20th century during an expansion of research libraries, the unit developed connections with donors and collectors including E. B. Tylor, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Peggy Guggenheim, and regional benefactors linked to Utah Territory and Salt Lake City. Early curators engaged with archivists from the Library of Congress, British Library, and Bancroft Library to adopt appraisal practices influenced by standards from the Society of American Archivists, the International Council on Archives, and the Association of Research Libraries. The collections grew through acquisitions related to figures such as Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and scholars connected to Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Chicago. Periods of expansion coincided with exhibitions tied to anniversaries of the Pioneer Day commemorations and collaborative projects with institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Archives.

Collections

The repository contains manuscripts, rare books, photographs, audiovisual materials, maps, architectural drawings, and organizational records. Significant collecting areas include Mormon studies connected to Joseph Smith, Emma Smith, Hyrum Smith, and Orson Pratt; Western Americana related to Brigham Young, John C. Fremont, Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith, and Zebulon Pike; and literary archives associated with Wallace Stegner, Annie Proulx, Anthony Burgess, Norman Mailer, and T. S. Eliot. Music and performing arts holdings document figures such as Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Marian Anderson, Rudolf Nureyev, and Maria Callas. The map and cartography holdings include items tied to explorers like Lewis and Clark Expedition, John Wesley Powell, and surveys by George Vancouver. Collections also hold papers of politicians and jurists such as Orrin Hatch, Mitt Romney, Al Gore, George H. W. Bush, and Salt Lake County officials, as well as corporate records from regional businesses similar to Union Pacific Railroad and mining companies associated with the Comstock Lode.

Facilities and Access

Housed within the Harold B. Lee Library complex on the Brigham Young University campus, the reading rooms and climate-controlled stacks follow preservation practices used by the National Archives and Records Administration and the Smithsonian Institution. Researchers request materials through finding aids and catalogs interoperable with systems used by the Online Computer Library Center and the Digital Public Library of America. Access policies balance donor restrictions and privacy considerations aligned with guidelines from the American Library Association and professional codes from the Society of American Archivists. Public exhibitions have been coordinated with venues such as the Church History Museum, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and touring partnerships with the Library of Congress.

Services and Programs

Public programming includes lectures, symposia, and workshops featuring scholars from Princeton University, Stanford University, Brigham Young University, and the University of Utah. Educational outreach collaborates with K–12 initiatives and university curricula, partnering with departments like the Department of History and the College of Humanities at BYU. Digitization projects have produced online access to manuscripts and photographs in collaboration with platforms akin to the HathiTrust Digital Library and the Internet Archive. Conservation services employ techniques aligned with the American Institute for Conservation and training exchanges with conservators from the Getty Conservation Institute.

Notable Holdings and Exhibits

Notable manuscript groups and exhibition themes have included early Mormon manuscript letters, pioneer diaries, settlement plats, and artifacts tied to the Utah War, the Mountain Meadows Massacre correspondence, and transcriptions relating to the Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Mormon studies. Literary archives have supported exhibitions on Wallace Stegner and Annie Proulx; musical collections have enabled displays on Leonard Bernstein and Marian Anderson; and Western exploration materials have featured items linked to Lewis and Clark Expedition, John C. Fremont, and John Wesley Powell. Traveling exhibitions have showcased items alongside loans from institutions like the National Portrait Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while in-house exhibits have highlighted artifacts connected to Brigham Young, Emma Smith, Joseph F. Smith, and regional leaders such as Heber J. Grant and Gordon B. Hinckley.

Category:Brigham Young University libraries Category:Archives in the United States Category:Special collections libraries