Vesta Smith papers
Scope and Contents
Contains papers relating to American Mothers Inc., the Young Women program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Washington, D.C. Stake of the Church, the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, and other topics in which Smith took part. Includes an autobiography, journals, files, correspondence, photographs, financial papers, programs, newsletters, handbooks, and membership lists, genealogical papers, reports, scrapbooks, family histories, and ephemera. Materials date from between about 1941 and 1999.
Dates
- approximately 1941-1999
Creator
- Smith, Vesta, 1937- (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Privacy restricted until 2037; permission to use 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 the Vesta Smith papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.
Biographical / Historical
Vesta Smith (born 1937) is a Mormon author in the District of Columbia. She served as president of American Mothers, Inc.
Vesta was born on July 10, 1937, in Bluffdale, Utah, to Reynold Wilford Crump and Myrtle Almira Frost. She attended Utah State University for a short time and then decided to pack up and move with some girlfriends to California. Once there she worked as a stenographer for McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm. Then she spent a year in Hawaii with friends and in 1959 decided to attend Brigham Young University. After the death of her mother that same year, she stopped school to live with her father. She saved while she worked, took a trip to Europe and when she came home met Dr. Joseph Smith, a doctor at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. The two were married August 23, 1963, in the Logan Temple. Joe had six children from a previous marriage, most of whom would live with them in Salt Lake City. Additionally, they had two daughters together. The Smith family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1974, when Joe began law school. Vesta also went back to school at George Washington University. She began working for a mother's volunteer organization, the American Mothers, Inc.
Extent
1 oversize folder (0.2 linear ft.)
3 oversize boxes (1.25 linear ft.)
45 cartons (45 linear ft.)
3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)
Arrangement
Arranged into three series: I. Vesta Smith papers on American Mothers, Inc., circa 1971-1991. II. Vesta Smith papers on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, circa 1986-1987. III. Vesta Smith family papers, circa 1941-1991.
Other Finding Aids
A box-level inventory is available at the repository.
Custodial History
Donated by Vesta Smith in various installments from 1982 to 1999. Includes materials previously separated as MSS SC 2033.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated; Vesta Smith; 1982-1999.
Appraisal
LDS, Utah, and Western American women (20th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts collection development policy, 5.v, 2007).
Processing Information
Processed; Melissa Cowles, student processor and John Murphy, curator; 2008.
Arranged into series; Jeffrey Blodgett, student processor; 2011.
- American Mothers, Inc.
- Autobiographies
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Washington (D.C.)
- City and Town Life
- Civic Activism
- Clubs and Societies
- Diaries
- Genealogies
- Home and Family
- Latter Day Saint authors
- Latter Day Saint women -- Washington (D.C.) -- Correspondence
- Letters
- Media and Communication
- Newsletters
- Photographs
- Politics, Government, and Law
- Printed ephemera
- Relief Society
- Reports
- Scrapbooks
- Smith, Vesta, 1937- -- Archives
- Social Life and Customs
- United States Constitution Bicentennial, 1987-1991
- Washington (D.C.)
- Women authors, American -- Correspondence
- Young Women (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
- Youth Auxiliaries
- Title
- Register of the Vesta Smith papers
- Author
- Melissa Cowles
- Date
- 2008
- 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
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States