Masaryk Collection (BOOK COLL 45)
Utah State University Special Collections and Archives is renowned for archival materials relating to Utah, Mormonism and the Western United States. However, they also house a collection which significantly adds to the historical literature of modern Czech and Slovak history.
Entitled the Tomáš G. Masaryk Collection, it was donated by Spencer L. Taggart, a former Utah State student and employee of the Czech Embassy in Prague. The Masaryk Collection contains well over a thousand books, manuscripts, newspapers, and periodicals, providing research materials for the four main periods of Czech history from about 1850. This web display provides both the historical background of the time periods covered and a representative sampling of a few of the sources found in the collection.
Sun Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery (P0019)
Collection consists of the book Sun Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery, with a Description of the Geographical and Geological Features, and some Account of the Resources of the Great West; Containing Thirty Photographic Views Along the Line of the Pacific Rail Road, from Omaha to Sacramento, which was published in 1870 by F.V. Hayden. Hayden was in charge of the United States Geographical and Geological Survey and he wanted to capitalize on interest in visual images of the West and to promote the study of geology. Hayden explains in the book: "The pictures have been arranged so as to commence with the first range of mountains west of Cheyenne, and to continue thence to the Salt Lake Valley with the view that the book may be used as a guide by those who will avail themselves of the grand opportunities for geological study..." This book comes with thirty albumen photographs taken by photographer Andrew Joseph Russell that illustrate not only geological, but also built structures in Wyoming, Utah, and California.
Nibley Family Photograph Collection
(P0315)
The Nibley Family photograph collection consists of images of C.W. Nibley and his family during the late 1800s
and early 1900s. There are also some photos of the Hatch family (from the Joseph Hatch and Florence Nibley
line), and two VHS tapes showing the Nibley family while on vacations in Southern Utah and at family gatherings
that was transferred from the original 16mm film. Charles Wilson Nibley (1849-1931) was born in Scotland, but moved to the United States
in 1855. He lived with his family on a farm in Rhode Island before moving to Cache Valley in
1860. Charles became a prominent business man and entrepreneur of Cache Valley. Donations to the collection were made by Eastman Hatch, Nan Johnson, Jean Cannon
Stringham, Barbara Richards, and other members of the Nibley Family.
E.B. Olesen Photograph Collection (P0318)
This collection is comprised of nitrate and glass plate negatives taken by W.H. Hopkins. The photos are
categorized according to the location in which they were taken. Photograph locations include Alta Ski
Resort, American Fork Canyon, Bingham Copper Mine, Brighton Ski Resort, Boulder Dam, Provo, Salt
Lake City, Southern Utah sites, Timpanogos, University of Utah, and photos from an outing of the
Wasatch Mountain Club. W.H. Hopkins was a Salt Lake City dentist and an avid amateur photographer.
The collection was purchased from book dealer Orrin Schwab in 1998.
Agricultural College of Utah Cyanotypes (P0014)
These Cyanotypes represent the oldest comprehensive collection of images that document the history of Utah State University. The 364 images in this exhibit were taken from Agricultural Extension Service scrapbooks. Many of the images were published in bulletins of the Experiment Station and other USU publications. Professor George H. Turpin took some of the images between 1907 and 1912, but just who took the remainder of the images remains a mystery. The subject of the photos are USU buildings and grounds, events, athletics, experimental farms, and Logan, Utah from the 1890s to the 1910s. Because they were relatively cheap to process, Cyanotypes were popular with amateur photographers from the late 1880s to the late 1910s.
Compton Photograph Collection (P0313)
The Compton Studio collection in the Utah State University Special Collections and Archives division of Merrill Library houses over 100,000 glass-plate, nitrate and acetate negatives. Alma Compton started the Compton Studio in 1884 in Brigham City, Utah and it was in continuous operation for the next 110 years. Over the years the Comptons created an impressive photographic record of Box Elder and Cache Counties. The 580 digitized photos available on the Special Collections and Archives website represent some of the most interesting images dating from the 1890s to the 1920s.
Reynolds Photograph Studio Archive (P0004)
Reuben Reynolds was a longtime Utah State University art professor as well as photographer and editor of the yearbook, the Buzzer. He took thousands of photographs of the campus between the 1920s and the1960s. His stylish and eye-catching photographs became well known throughout Cache Valley. The Special Collections and Archives division of Merrill Library has digitized some of the more popular images (197 in all) and made them available for viewing on its website.
Jack London Book Collection (Coll. V Gr. 2)
One of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth century, Jack London (1876-1916) was perhaps as well known for his rugged, active lifestyle and socialist politics as for his writing. The author of such classics as Call of the Wild and White Fang, London led a life that was even more adventuresome than the characters he created. Utah State University has one of the nation's largest research collections of Jack London materials. Included in that collection is a complete set of first editions of Jack London's books, each of which he inscribed to his wife, Charmian, and includes a personal photograph glued inside the cover. This exhibit features an image of the cover and title page of each book as well as London's inscription and photograph. The pictures range from vacation snapshots to family portraits to pin-up photos of London himself.
For more information: 435/797-2663; scweb@ngw.lib.usu.edu
Special Collections & Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University, Logan Utah 84322-3000
