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J Malan Heslop additional materials, 1858-2009

 Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS P 661 Series 15

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

Collection primarily includes the photographic work of J. Malan Heslop, which comprises 60,601 photographs. This includes work from his early years in Weber County, Utah, through his educational years at Weber College, Ogden, Utah, and his short-lived stay in Los Angeles at Los Angeles City College, prior to becoming a private in the army as a photographer with the 167th Signal Photographic Company in World War II. He photographically documented not only these early years but also his educational years at Utah State Agricultural College in Logan, Utah, after the war, and his 40-year career with the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah. Throughout his journalistic career and his retirement years he took many photographs of interest to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including presidents of the Church, General Authorities, Church history sites, and temples. His four trips to Israel and the Middle East are often exceptional photographically. He and his wife continued to travel after his retirement in 1989 and they took thousands of photographs which are a part of this collection. In addition to his photographs, there are photographs taken by his father, Jesse Heslop, and other early photographs taken by either members of the Heslop family or unknown photographers. The span of the photographic work in the collection covers the period from 1912 to 2002.

Heslop, as the organizer and creator of this collection, also created indexes for many of his photographs, which have been included in the descriptions of these images. He also created an important timeline for his life, which is also included in the collection. There are a small number of manuscripts, including incoming correspondence; a sampling of photographic assignment sheets; typescripts of forthcoming newspaper articles, especially on Mormon people and topics; and various partial manuscripts and typescripts of information on various books, including some Osmond family material; and a reel-to-reel tape of President Richard Nixon in Salt Lake City in 1970. There is an extensive collection of newspaper articles he wrote over many years, including some written and photographed in his retirement years. In addition there is some Heslop family material which primarily includes various books that his father, Jesse, and J and his wife, Fae, wrote and printed. Also included are a small number of World War II artifacts, which Heslop collected during his nine months in Europe.

Dates

  • 1858-2009

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from J Malan Heslop photographs and other material must be obtained from the Supervisor of References Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

From the Collection:

J. Malan Heslop (1923-2011) was an American photojournalist, newspaper editor, and missionary from Utah.

J. Malan Heslop was born June 18, 1923, in Taylor, Weber County, Utah, to Jesse and Zella Malan Heslop. His birth certificate confirms that his name is J without the period. As Heslop would say, "It's a name and not an initial." When he was three years old the family moved to a farm in West Weber, Utah, where he grew up as the oldest of three children. Heslop's love of photography was inspired and encouraged by his father, Jesse, who acquired a glass plate camera around 1906. By the time Heslop was born, Jesse had the popular Kodak roll film folding camera. Heslop describes photography as an "abiding factor" in his life. In 1939 he began attending Weber High School, where one of his favorite school activities was taking photos for the yearbook. He graduated from high school on May 17, 1941, and enrolled at Weber College in Ogden, Utah, in the fall of 1941. He decided to study photography at Los Angeles City College and registered in September 1942. In October 1942 he enlisted in the Army Reserve Corps and by early November he was studying at Paramount Studios as a part of the Signal Corps Photographers School. By April 1943 he was called to active duty.

Before departing for Europe, Heslop married Fae Stokes on May 1, 1944, in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His photographs provide a moving and memorable visual witness to the final nine months of the war's European Theater, from September 1944 to the end of the war in May 1945.

Upon his return Heslop reunited with his wife, Fae, and enrolled at Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University). He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Agriculture in the spring of 1948 and almost immediately he was hired by the Deseret News as a photographer. During his busy professional years, J. and Fae Heslop also raised a family of five children—Paul, daughter Lyn, Scott, Ann, and Don—and became the grandparents of nineteen.

J. Malan Heslop was foremost a photojournalist, with a career which spanned forty-five years. He was a photographer in World War II for the 167 Army Signal Photographic Company in the European Theater, and spent forty years with the Deseret News newspaper. During his distinguished forty-year career, he served twenty years as the chief photographer, eight years as Church News editor, and ten years as managing editor of the Deseret News, with three years as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Heslop covered local, national, and international events while at the Deseret News, from the inauguration of Utah's governors to those of presidents of the United States. Professional honors included being ranked by Life magazine as sixth among 1720 entrants for its young photographers contest in 1951. In 1972 the Deseret News rewarded Heslop its first-ever "Outstanding Performance Award." Upon retirement in 1988 J and Fae continued to travel, spend time with family, and be involved in their church. J. took photographs wherever he went. Fae passed away in Salt Lake City on November 29, 2009. J. Malan Heslop died on July 29, 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Extent

24 cartons

2 oversize boxes

1 oversize folder

Language of Materials

English

General

OS folder 136 contains: Newspaper from the liberation of France during WWII, 1944 November 11. Object 137 is a panoramic photo.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

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