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Lynn Romney Keenan collection of George W. and Lenore Romney family papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 8486

Scope and Contents

Contains photographs (prints and negatives), letters, magazines, articles, and speeches relating to professional and political activity of the Romney family in Michigan and Utah. Collection concerns the George W. Romney family, their lives in Utah and Michigan, and their travels to Europe. Also contains family papers from Lenore Romney and church-related materials from callings that George Romney held throughout his life. Materials dated 1926-1998.

Dates

  • 1926-1998

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Donor restricted until 2034; permission to access materials must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Lynn Romney Keenan collection of George W. and Lenore Romney family papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

George W. Romney (1907-1995) was a prominent politician, businessman, and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

George Wilcken Romney was born July 8, 1907 to Gaskell Romney and Anna Amelia Pratt in Mexico. In 1913, the family moved to Idaho. In 1926, Romney served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the British Isles. George married LeNore LaFount on July 2, 1931. They had 4 children: Margo Lynn, Jane LaFount, George Scott, and Willard Mitt.

Romney was the president and chairman of the American Motors Corporation. He became Governor of Michigan in 1962. He also ran for United States president in 1968, but dropped out of the race. He served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Richard Nixon.

He died July 26, 1995 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Biographical History

Lenore Romney (1908-1998) was a politician in Michigan, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the wife of George W. Romney.

Lenore Lafount Romney was born in Logan, Utah on November 9, 1908 to Alma Luella and Harold Lafount. She was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she attended LDS High School. There she met George W. Romney. She graduated in 1926, and attended the University of Utah for two years. After her father was appointed on the new Federal Radio Commission, they moved to Washington, D.C. and she transferred to George Washington University. She graduated with a degree in English in 1929. She then enrolled in the American Laboratory Theatre to pursue acting, even getting a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but turned down her acting career to marry George. They were married July 2, 1931. They had their first child four years later, and had three more children. They moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1939, where George worked as a business executive and later Governor of Michigan. Lenore ran for the Senate in 1970 against Philip Hart, but lost and withdrew from politics after that. She died on July 7, 1998, and was buried in the Fairview Cemetery in Brighton, Michigan.

Biographical History

Lynn Romney Keenan (born 1935) is the daughter of George W. Romney.

Lynn Romney Keenan was born as Margo Lynn Romney on June 6, 1935, in Washington, D.C., to parents George Wilcken and Lenore LaFount Romney. She married federal prosecutor Loren Grover Keenan and together they had eight children.

As of 2014, Keenan lived in Michigan.

Extent

54 boxes (27 linear ft.)

25 oversize boxes ((28.75 linear ft.) )

2 film boxes (0.4 linear ft.)

18 folders (0.9 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Custodial History

Lynn Romney Keenan, the daughter of George W. Romney, donated the materials to the repository in 2014.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; Lynn Romney Keenan; 2014.

Appraisal

Utah and the American West and LDS cultural, social, and religious history (20th and 21st Century Western and Mormon Americana Manuscripts collection development policy, 5.VII, 2007).

Processing Information

Processed; Clarissa McIntire, student manuscript processor, and John M. Murphy, curator; 2014.

Revised; Emma Gutierrez, student manuscript processor, and John M. Murphy, curator; 2019.

Processed; Meghan Hoesch, student manuscript processor, and John M. Murphy, curator; 2019.

Title
Register of Lynn Romney Keenan collection of George W. and Lenore Romney family papers
Status
Completed
Author
Clarissa McIntire
Date
2014 October 29
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States