Franklin Stewart Harris photograph albums, 1929-1954

Series

Identifier: MSS P 340a Series 5

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

Contains photographs and lantern slides taken by Harris while on multiple trips around the world and in the western United States between 1910 and 1954.

Dates

1929-1954

Creator

Harris, Franklin Stewart, 1884-1960 (creator, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research. Items kept in cold storage; access requires 24 hours advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from the Franklin Stewart Harris photographs must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

From the Collection:

Franklin Stewart Harris (1884-1960) was President of Brigham Young University from 1921 to 1945. During that time he helped the university grow both physically, with adding new buildings and also intellectually by hiring more teachers and establishing international connections for the University.

Franklin Stewart Harris was born August 29, 1884 in Benjamin, Utah. He moved with his family to the state of Chihuahua, Mexico in the 1890s to the Mormon colonies there. He would study at Brigham Young University and go on to Cornell to receive his doctorate. Harris served as president of Brigham Young University from 1921 until 1945. His administration was characterized by improvement in academics and by growth of the University's physical facilities, such as the construction of the Heber J. Grant Library building. Even with the financial pressures of the Great Depression from the late 1920s to the 1930s, Harris was able to help increase Brigham Young University attendance, library and campus facilities.

In 1945 Harris left Brigham Young University to be the president of the Utah State Agricultural College (what is now Utah State University). He died April 18, 1960 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Extent

From the Collection: 27 boxes (14 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Other Finding Aids

Item-level inventory available online. http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/MSSP340.xml

General

(Photographic Archives numbers 3023-11036).

I. Description: The albums were originally in containers 38-49 of MSS 340.The first four albums are 13-1/4 x 9-1/4 inches (33-1/2 x 48-1/2 cm.). Covers are red and pages are grey. The prints are 35 mm. and are in strips. Identification and numbering is generally in blue ink. Harris's numbers are variously written on the strip, above the strip, or below the strip, and sometimes printed on the strip. Anything varying from this description is stated under each album. Lining papers were added between the pages.

In January 1998, Album 4 (photographs taken in Persia 1939-1940) had already had the photographs removed. Each page of photograph strips was wrapped in a separate white paper and these packets filled a box. It was decided to put the photographs back in the scrapbook with plastic photo corners due to the identification in Harris's handwriting that remained in the scrapbook. In addition, many of the scrapbooks had a few isolated corners coming loose. Album 2 (photographs taken from 1936-1941) had a significant number of completely loose strips, especially in the back of the album. These were also secured with plastic photo corners.

II. Numbering: Harris's system of numbering in the albums was to number the pages with letters of the alphabet and number each photograph on the page from 1 to the end of the page, usually around 30-36. When the alphabet was finished he would start over with AA, and even a third round with AAA. There are albums where the pages are lettered in pencil. It is assumed that these were done later and those pages are in brackets, although they may have been done under Harris's direction. Occasionally, the strips have been glued into the scrapbooks in the wrong order. In this case, the order of the identifications and the Photographic Archives number follows the order of the strips in the book and not the written numerical order.

Both numbers and unnumbered blanks and ruined images are included in the Photographic Archives numbers, whether or not Harris included them in his numbering. However, if Harris is missing a number and there is no photograph, these have not been included in the Photographic Archives numbers.