Deta P. Neeley Papers, 1915-1937

Coll MSS 277

Scope and Content note:

The Neeley Collection consists of one box with correspondence written to N. Glen and Deta P. Neeley between 1920 and 1934, as well as class notes and examination materials, an article written by Dr. Deta P. Neeley, the program for the Ph.D. Final Examination for Deta P. Neeley, and a photograph of Glen and Deta Neeley with the school children they taught.

Biographical Information:

Deta Ruth Petersen Neeley was born in 1898 in Bear River City, Utah. She attended Utah State University, known then as the Utah Agricultural College or UAC, from 1917-1918 and again from 1931-33, earning her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Education. From 1934 to 1937 she studied at the University of California at Berkeley and finished her Ph.D. requirements with a dissertation entitled "Rural Teachers' Problems and Supervisors' Procedures For Dealing With Them." Prior to completing her Ph.D., she wrote several articles on teaching , including "A Comparison of the Vocabularies of Thirty-Three Primers," which she co-wrote with John A. Hockett in 1936. Deta Neeley was the author of a number of LDS children's books, including a series of biographies written about the Presidents of the LDS church, as well as children's version of the Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price. In addition to her studies, she also worked as the Elementary Advisor and Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Millard County and taught school in both Utah and California. She married N. Glen Neeley in 1921 in Logan, Utah. In 1965, Deta P. Neeley died of Parkinson's Disease.

Nathan Glen Neeley was born in 1896 in Franklin, Idaho. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Education from Utah State University in 1933, and a Masters degree in Education from the University of California at Berkeley in 1936. He taught elementary school in California and Utah, and farmed in Box Elder County, Utah. Glen Neeley co-wrote several books with his wife Deta, including Jesus of Nazareth and Paul of Tarsus, as well as a series of children's biographical books on the Presidents of the LDS church. Due to his wife's debilitating disease, Glen Neeley also served as her scribe, taking dictation when she could no longer write. Shortly before his death in 1967, he wrote biography of his wife, entitled A Brief Biographical Account of the Life and Accomplishments of Deta Ruth Petersen Neeley, which is located in the Special Collections department of Utah State University under the call number 920 N292-N.

Provenance:

This collection, along with their 110 acre farm in Tremonton, was donated to Utah State University by N. Glen and Deta P. Neeley.

Researcher Note:

Additional letters written to N. Glen and Deta P. Neeley between 1937 and 1965, are available in a bound volume entitled The Letters of Dr. Deta Peterson Neeley and Nathan Glen Neeley, B.S., M.S., which is housed in the Special Collections department of Utah State University under the call number 920 N292.

Inventory:

Box 1.

Fd. 1. Correspondence, 1922 - 1934. (12 items.) Included are letters from N. Glen Neeley to his wife, Deta P. Neeley, 1924.

Fd. 2. School papers, 1915; Millard County Board of Education papers, late 1920's; a F. W. Woolworth Co. home shopping guide, 1929; "A Comparison of the Vocabularies of Thirty-Three Primers," article written by Deta P. Neeley, 1936; program for the Ph.D. Final Examination for Deta P. Neeley, 1937; and miscellaneous invoices. (14 items.)

Fd. 3. Postcard of the Holmgren Building in Tremonton, Utah, addressed to Mary S. Petersen from Millie, 1915; and photograph of Deta and Glen Neeley with 28 school children outside of their two-room school house in Delta, Utah, late 1920's. (2 items.)

For more information: 435/797-2663; Manuscript Librarian.
Special Collections & Archives, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University 84322-3000
URL: http://library.usu.edu/Specol/manuscript/collms277.html -- USUSC MS277: Deta P. Neeley Papers
Last modified on: Thursday, 1 November, 2001.