Merrill-Cazier Library

Tanner Memorial Reading Room
Room 035

Following Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University) President Joshua H. Paul’s resignation in April 1896, the college’s Board of Trustees selected Joseph M. Tanner to fill the vacancy.

President Tanner guided the college through four successful years (1896-1900). Under his administration, the college embarked on a comprehensive two- and three-year Manual Training Program. These programs offered young men practical instruction “in the use of hand and machine tools..., to fit them for industrial pursuits as proficient carpenters, smiths, machinists and founders.” Young women were also offered similar courses in domestic arts.

Many capable and very influential members were added to the faculty during Tanner’s administration. While principal of the Brigham Young College, Tanner had encouraged such scholars as John A. Widtsoe to go east for graduate study. Others, such as Lewis A. Merrill, followed Tanner’s advice and a number of these Harvard graduates joined the UAC faculty after returning. 

Tanner was the father of prominent Utah philanthropist O.C. Tanner.

Leonard Arrington (1917-1999) Room
Room 035A

Growing up on a chicken farm, Leonard Arrington first entertained thoughts of becoming a farmer himself. When the time for college came, Leonard chose the University of Idaho, where he had attended a Future Farmers of America convention, hoping to major in agriculture. The chemistry requirements soon led Arrington to change his mind and he concentrated instead on agricultural economics.

After graduating from the University of Idaho, Leonard continued his education at the University of North Carolina, where he began studies towards a doctorate in economics and began teaching classes. World War II interrupted his schooling. Following the war, Arrington began working as an economics professor at Utah State Agricultural College, returning in subsequent years to the University of North Carolina, where he received his doctorate in economics in March 1952. His dissertation was entitled “Mormon Economic Policies and Their Implementation on the Western Frontier, 1847-1900.” Arrington is perhaps best known for his seminal works, Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900 (1958) and Brigham Young: American Moses (1985).

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Leonard participated in several important professional endeavors, including the establishment of the Mormon History Association and the creation of the Western Historical Quarterly. In 1972, he became historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In March 1982, Grace, Leonard’s wife of nearly forty years, succumbed to heart disease. Both personally and professionally bereft, Leonard turned to his role as educator and found solace in his classes at Brigham Young University. Leonard later married Harriet Horne, who supported his research and writing by completing drafts of his books on her computer and collaborating with him on occasion.

Leonard left behind a legacy of scholarship and mentoring that rightly earned him the title “Dean of Mormon History.” Largely because of his leadership, Mormon historical studies in the second half of the twentieth century became a viable subject in the larger discipline of American history. Utah State University Special Collections and Archives is the home to his extensive collections of papers, comprised of more than 270 linear feet of archival boxes. The Libraries also annually host the Leonard J. Arrington Lecture in Mormon History and Culture in his honor.

Samuel George Ellsworth (1916-1998) Room
Room 035B

Samuel George Ellsworth was born on June 19, 1916 in Safford, Arizona. He graduated from high school in Kansas City, Missouri, then attended Kansas City Junior College in 1935 and 1936. After serving a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission to the North Central State Mission in Minnesota, he attended Utah State Agricultural College, where he graduated with bachelor’s degree in both history and mathematics in June 1941. During World War II, George served as a staff sergeant, clerk and administrative inspector at Hammer Field in Fresno, California. From January 1945 to June 1946, George served as a Chaplain in the Philippines. After leaving the U.S. Army, he continued his education at the University of California at Berkeley where he received master’s in history in 1947, and a doctorate in history and philosophy in 1951. He returned to the Utah State Agricultural College where he taught in the History Department until his retirement in 1983.

In addition to his long teaching career, George published extensively and was a member of many local, state and national historical associations. He received a number of prominent awards and wrote numerous articles, reviews and encyclopedia entries dealing with the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah history. George is perhaps best known for his seventh-grade textbook Utah’s Heritage. The textbook was published in 1972 and a second edition was published in 1985. George was the co-founder of the Western Historical Quarterly and was the managing editor from 1969-1979. He additionally published Dear Ellen: Two Mormon Women and Their Letters in 1974, The Journals of Addison Pratt in 1990, Seasons of Faith and Courage: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in French Polynesia, A Sesquicentennial History, 1843-1993 (a joint project with Kathleen C. Perrin) in 1994, and The History of Louisa Barnes Pratt came after his death in 1998.

Fife Room
Room 035C

The Fife Folklore Archives is named for folklorists Austin E. (1909-1986) and Alta S. (1912-1996) Fife, Utahns who helped shape the field of folklore. Using summer vacations and weekends, the Fifes traveled all over the west, most intensively in their native Utah, with a camping trailer, recording equipment, camera and stenographic materials to collect the folklife of the American West, including cowboy songs and Mormon folklore. Typically, one of them would interview someone while the other took notes or operated a recording device. They also visited libraries throughout the west, taking notes and making copies of songs and stories housed in regional archival collections.

In 1966, the Fifes deposited at Utah State University Library their extensive fieldwork collections. The collections included acetate discs and reel-to-reel field recordings, sixty-seven bound volumes of field notes/transcriptions, the extensive Fife Slide Collection of Western U.S. Vernacular Architecture and their extensive folklore book collection. In 1972, the library established the Fife Library of Western Folklore (later renamed the Fife Folklore Archives) under the administration of the Special Collections Department within the original Merrill Library. Along with the creation of a folklore repository, the Fife’s worked with folklorist Williams A. Wilson to create a folklore program at Utah State University.

Hatch Room
Room 035D

The Hatch Memorial Library Room and rare book collection have been important resources in teaching and research at Utah State University for more than 50 years. The Hatch Room, with its architectural elements, art works and furnishings, were all gifts to the university by L. Boyd and Anne McQuarrie Hatch in 1953. In addition to furnishing the room, Boyd and Anne had earlier developed a collection of rare printed materials for the library, including publications related to art history, interior design, architecture, landscape architecture, history, and religion.

The donors envisioned the Hatch Memorial Library as an inviting place where scholars could experience the arts and conduct humanities-based research.

The room was officially dedicated in 1953, and Henry Aldous Dixon, then president of what was the Utah State Agricultural College spoke. He said the room served two purposes — to preserve the best expressions of the western hemisphere’s cultural heritage and to give students of the day an opportunity to work in the intimacy of artistic beauty.

In 1952, the Hatches proposed creating a reading room that would house the Ella Gardener McQuarrie Hatch Book Collection and other rare materials. Antique furniture and decorative arts were, and are, important elements in the room’s design and in its educational purpose. The proposed gift included a 16th century English refectory table, English oak linen-fold panels, a Ming Dynasty vase, 15th century Italian faldistorium (folding chair), a 17th century Flemish tapestry and other fine antique objects.

Kathryn Caine Wanlass (1916-2011) Art Library
Room 042

The Kathryn Caine Wanlass Library of Art, Design and Beat Literature is named for one of Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library’s principal benefactors, Kathryn Caine Wanlass. Wanlass was reared in Logan in the Caine family home at the bottom of Old Main Hill and briefly attended Utah Agricultural College before graduating from Stanford with a degree in English in the late 1930s

Kathryn’s vision of a “community of the arts” facilitated the development of an exceptionally rich collection of design, art and American literature with her gifts of The Prestini Design Collection, the Marie Eccles Caine Beat Poetry and Little Magazine Collection, and her continued investment in and development of the Art Book Room Collection.

Gift of R. Kent (1934-2020) and Joyce M. Wood
Room 107

Always a proponent of education, Kent Wood earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah, a master’s degree from the University of Denver, doctoral degrees from both Western Michigan University and Brigham Young University and completed post-doctoral work at the University of Oregon.

Kent’s career began with a teaching position at Santa Monica High School and retired as a professor after 35 years teaching at Utah State University.

In loving memory of Mary Twelve Palmer (1969-1993) from her Family
Room 112

With the construction of the Utah State University’s Merrill-Cazier Library in 2005, Mary Gilbert Palmer and Thomas D. Wilkerson underwrote a study room named in memory of their daughter who had studied at USU following her service at a MASH Hospital in the first Gulf War.

Gift of Gail Bird Weinshenker and Ned M. Weinshenker in Memory of her Mother
Room 114

This room is dedicated to Joan Bird Johnson (1922-1993).

Joan had a radio program in St. Paul, Minnesota in the mid-1940s called Auntie Joan’s Children’s Hour. She played all the parts in the stories, and read all the commercials. Her radio programs were energetic and fun-loving.

Joan was an amateur actress who frequently had leading roles in local plays. Her jazz piano was very lively, and she was a wonderful artist and an accomplished athlete.

Joan’s second marriage was to William H. Johnson in 1973 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. He was originally from Morgan, Utah. Their time together was filled with an abundance of love and happiness.

Joan was loved by all and a joy to be around.

Gift of Robert, Philip, John Mark and Wendell Sorensen Honoring their Father, A.N. Sorensen (1879-1962)
Room 145

Professor Alma N. Sorensen, inspirational teacher and mentor, was a professor of English literature and composition at Utah State Agricultural College from 1926-1947. Professor Sorensen attended graduate school at Harvard University under Professor George Lyman Kittridge, a renowned Shakespeare scholar.

Professor Sorensen served as chairman of the Mountain States Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for many years and was a devoted Aggie until his death in 1962.

In honor of Mary M. Brierly
Room 146

Gift of Phil Brierly, 1970 graduate of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, in honor of his mother, Mary M. Brierly.

In Memory of Joe Edward Whitesides (1913-1998) Gift from his Wife, Elma C. Whitesides (1913-2005)
Room 147

Joseph Edward Whitesides attended Davis High School and graduated from the Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) in 1936, where he was named All Conference End in football. He coached at Bear River High School, then began a coaching career at Utah State Agricultural College from 1937 to 1953 that included positions of assistant coach, head basketball coach, director of athletics and dean of students.

Joe served on the Alumni Council at USU as member, president (1961-1963) and past president. He was inducted into the Old Main Society in 1998. He represented District 12 in the Utah State Legislature from 1974 to 1982, as a member of the Public Education, Appropriation and Rules Committees and was chairman of the Rules Committee.

Gift of Dan C. (1930-2017) and Manon Caine (1931-2017) Russell
Room 149

After graduation from Logan High School, Manon Caine entered college at the Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University), graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1953. While at USAC, she enjoyed singing in choir, theater, dance, Sponsor Corps and Chi Omega Sorority. She went on to earn a master’s degree in education from Stanford University, where she also sang in choir and participated in theater.

Manon met Dan Russell when he transferred to USAC from the University of Arizona. After he fulfilled his commitment to the U.S. Army and Manon finished graduate school, they were married in 1956. During the next two years they lived in New York City, where Dan attended school for an MBA degree and Manon worked for the American Field Service. Manon and Dan were devoted supporters of the performing arts in northern Utah.

In honor of John Nicholas Malko and Helen Pise Malko
Room 150

John Nicholas and Helen Pise Malko were lifelong residents of Baltimore, Maryland, and were active in supporting Ukrainian-American organizations. John was a tool and die maker at the Western Electric facility located in Baltimore. Helen was active in community arts and music activities.

This study room is a gift from the couple’s son, J. Robert Malko, Ph.D., and his spouse, Sandra Kirsch Malko, R.Ph. Professor Malko began as professor of corporate finance in the Jon M. Huntsman College of Business at Utah State University beginning in January of 1987 and is an emeritus professor. He is known as a leading national expert in finance and economic issues relating to energy utilities. Heather St. John Malko, daughter of J. Robert and Sandra Malko, graduated with a bachelor’s, cum laude, in electrical and computer engineering from Utah State University in December of 2003.

In honor of Max P. Peterson (1938-2018) Director of USU Libraries, 1983-2000. Gift of his wife, Karen
Room 151

Max P. Peterson, born in Montpelier, Idaho, completed a bachelor’s degree in history and later a master’s degree in political science from Utah State University. He was affiliated with Phi Alpha Theta and Pi Sigma Alpha and received a University Research Fellowship (1964-1965). He later attended the University of Arizona to complete a doctoral work.

Max began his career at USU Libraries in 1965 and retired as director of libraries in June, 2000. A significant highlight of his career at Utah State University includes expanding information availability to scholars and students beyond the library collections by advocating cooperative efforts with statewide, regional and national library associations. Later, Max encouraged the increasing use of technology to modernize the library technical processes and patron access to the most up to date information systems, while also championing the expansion of collections and services in USU’s Special Collections and Archives.

Josey Barnes Wayman (1929-2012) News Lounge

Josey Barnes Wayman graduated from the Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) in 1951 with a composite degree in speech and English. While a student at USAC, she was active in student affairs, performed in eleven theater productions and was crowned queen of the 1950 Junior Prom. Immediately after graduation, Josey became a pioneer in a new industry called “television” at KDYL-KTVT Channel 4, NBC, in Salt Lake City, the first television station west of the Mississippi.

In a nine-year career in television, Josey rose from model, to hostess of a daily program, to women’s program director. Before the age of thirty, she had won three consecutive Lifeline of America broadcast awards, was elected Western States vice president of American Women in Radio and Television, hosted both the first weekly network program and colored television program in the Intermountain West and had her biography appear in both Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in the West.

Mehdi Heravi Seminar Room
Room 208

Mehdi Heravi was born in Tehran, Iran. He moved to Logan, Utah, for high school and remained in Logan for his undergraduate degree at Utah State University.

He received his doctorate from the American University School of International Service and later served as vice president and provost at the National University of Tehran in Iran.

After retirement, Mehdi began work in philanthropy, giving support to academic programs and charities, including an orphanage in Iran. He is passionate about ensuring student access to international opportunities and has also endowed fellowship opportunities for students working in the Special Collections and Archives Unit of the library.

Richard Schockmel (1949-2003) USU Collections Room
Room 240

Richard Brian Schockmel was born August 2, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. He moved to Utah in 1967 to attend Utah State University. He was an associate director of collection development for Utah State University Libraries for 30 years. Richard was a talented musician, a skilled carpenter, a knowledgeable collector and an avid reader.

In Honor of J. Robert Malko and His Students
Room 242B

J. Robert Malko is an emeritus professor of finance in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, where he served on the faculty since 1987.

Professor Malko received his bachelor’s degree with honors in mathematics and economics from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, and both a master’s and doctoral degree in economics from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University.

Gift of Linda and Ed Wolcott
Room 245

Linda L. Wolcott graduated with honors from the University of Georgia, Athens, where she earned a doctorate of education and instructional technology. Other degrees she has earned include an educational specialist in instructional technology from USU and a master of library science and a bachelor of science in education from the University of Maine. Linda joined the faculty at Utah State in 1991 as an assistant professor in the department of Instructional Technology. She later served as interim department head and then assistant dean for Information and Learning Resources before coming to the Library. Linda was appointed the first vice provost for libraries and instructional support at Utah State University in 2002.

Edward Wolcott’s education took place at University of Kansas and Utah State University. He was employed as Chief Engineer in the space shuttle solid rocket motor division of Northrup Grumman Innovative Systems (formerly Thiokol Corporation) in Utah.

Gift of Phil (The Bear) Brierly (1947-2016)
Room 335

Phil Brierly graduated from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University in 1970 with a bachelor’s in political science.

In honor of a great band, the Phish Bowl
Room 338

Named by an anonymous donor in honor of the American rock band Phish.

Joyce Kinkead Honors Corner
Room 334H

Gift in honor of Joyce Kinkead for the substantial contributions she has made to the Honors program and to the University over the years.

May Swenson (1913-1989) Study Lounge
Room 418B

May Swenson was born in Logan, Utah, on May 28, 1913, and graduated from Utah State University (then the Utah State Agricultural College) in 1934. In 1936, May departed for New York City to make a life for herself as a poet. May’s honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim, Ford, Rockefeller and MacArthur Foundations, as well as a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She received the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, the Bollingen Prize from Yale University and an award in literature from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Utah State University awarded May an honorary doctorate in 1987, the same year she received a prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. At the time of her death in 1989, May had published eleven books of poetry and served for nine years as chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

New Books Reading Lounge

In recognition and appreciation for the generous support of the following members of the Friends of the Merrill-Cazier Library:

• C. Blythe and Anne T. Ahlstrom
• Stan and Joyce Albrecht
• Gary N. and Sheryl D. Anderson
• J. LaMar and Jeri Anderson
• Jan Bakker
• Robert and Kathy Bayn
• Vicki and Joseph Blanch
• Vosco Call
• William and Phyllis Campbell
• Mary E. Carigan
• Ruth P. Carter
• Stanford Cazier
• Even J. Christensen
• Jennie L. and David R. Clawson
• Ruth V. Clayton
• Kim Corbin-Lewis
• Lula C. DeValve
• Keith and Martha Dixon
• Donald and Janet Fiesinger
• Elsie Dee A. Florence
• Carolyn C. Fredin
• Patricia Gardner
• Kenneth and Audrey Godfrey
• Barbara and H. Lee Hales
• Kermit L. and Phyllis Hall
• Jay Dee Harris
• Ruth B. Helm
• Joshua P. and Ann C. Herron
• Charles W. Holmgren
• Clyde F. & Margene Hurst
• George Jensen
• Maren Jeppsen
• John H. Johnson
• Mahlon L. and Norma R. Lantz
• R. Paul and Lorna Larsen
• David Lewis
• William F. and Velda C. Lye
• Robert and Sandra Malko
• Raymond and Ausdrig Malouf
• Dwayne E. Manful
• Brent and Kevon Miller
• Peter Miner
• D. Scott and Sherry Lee Nickle
• Bonnie F. Nielsen
• Virginia C. Parker
• Robert E. Parson
• Joan C. Peterson
• Relf L. Price
• Doyle Rees
• Madeline Rossetti
• Ronald J. Ryel
• Norman R. Savoie
• Michael Seawright
• Robert W. Sidwell
• BrandE Faupell and Derrick Thom
• Sid and Paula Titensor
• Paul and Diane Wheeler
• Sandra Wilkins
• R. Patrick Williams

Furniture in the Merrill-Cazier Library

• Gift of Eric and Kimberly Hinton
• Gift of Heinz Walz GmbH and Ryel Family
• Gift of Lucy Ellis
• Gift of Paul and Rebecca Parkinson
• Gift of Donna Quayle Huber
• Gift of Harold Y.S. Loo ‘50
• Gift of Joseph S. Bergeson M.A. In honor of Philip E. and Faye L. Bergeson
• Gift of Josey Barnes Wayman
• Gift of Virginia C. Parker in honor of John W. Carlson and “Aunt Vera” Carlson
• Gift of Robert and Francine Davis
• Gift of Jan and Tony Shipps
• Gift of Carol and William Strong
• Gift of Phillip V. and Connie S. Olsen
• Gift of Keith and Myrtle Munk
• Gift of Gil and Phyllis Moore Dedicated to USU’s Get Away Special Program
• In honor of George and Nadia Schaible in memory of Michael and Catherine Malko
• In memory of Malko Family
• In memory of Kmyta Family
• In memory of Phoebe Nebeker Peterson
• In memory of George and Catherine Evanowicz
• In memory of Anton and Barbara Pise
• In memory of Pise Family
• In honor of Utah’s kindness to a boy from NJ
• In memory of The Kirsch Family
• In memory of The Aufdemhaus Family
• In memory of Soisson Family
• In memory of Lambour Family
• In memory of T. Joseph and Louise Steed Gift of Allan and Kaye Steed
• In memory of Reece D. Nielsen
• In honor of Richard J. & Marion A. Shaw
• In honor of Ruth E. Klevjord, USU Graduate 1960
• In honor of Janet Wallace
• In memory of Paul B. Huenemann
• In memory of Gerald Mauch
• In Memory of Florence Henderson White (1926-2005) USU Class of 1948, assistant to Milton R. Merrill during the 1940s and 1950s
• Gift of Josey Barnes Wayman
• In Honor of Thelme Layton & Sonja Wettstein
• In Memory of Ray Kermit Peterson ’36 – From his Loving Family
• Gift of Brent & Kevon Miller
• Gift of John & Anne Elsweiler
• Gift of Gillies Stransky Brems Smith – Architects of the Merrill-Cazier Library
• Gift of David Rich Lewis & Kim Corbin-Lewis