Vesta Pierce Crawford papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 0125

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Vesta Pierce Crawford papers consist of research materials relative to an incomplete biographical manuscript of Emma Hale Smith, entitled "The Elect Lady." The material was collected and the biography begun with Miss Fay Ollerton, co-author, assisting and advising. An introductory statement by the two authors indicates that as small girls, they listened to stories related by their pioneer ancestors concerning early involvement with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the trek they made into Utah and the people and circunstances making early church history. They learned that Emma Hale Smith and her children did not come to Utah, and they wanted to know why. To Vesta Crawford and Fay Ollerton, "The Elect Lady" was to have answered the question "why?" In attempting to determine the answers to Emma Hale Smith's decisions,they collected materials available in correspondence, magazines, articles, newspaper clippings, and church history items in both the LDS Church, and the RLDS Church. They interviewed surviving members of the Hale and Smith families, pioneers, and descendants. Only a small amount of the original interview and correspondence remained in the collection when it was received by the University of Utah. Most of the material is from printed sources.

Background materials about early polygamy, social, economic and political conditions are included. Emma's church and music activities were researched. The materials in the collection mainly cover the years of Emma Hale Smith's life after the death of Joseph Smith: Her children; her marriage to Major Lewis C. Bidemon; and the establishment of the RLDS Church; her death and burial.

Other materials in the collection are correspondence from Arlon Rowan to Vesta, written during World War I, and poetry by Grace Ingles Frost.

Dates

1844-1955

Creator

Crawford, Vesta Pierce, 1899-1983 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical / Historical

Vesta Pierce Crawford (1899-1983) was born in Salt Creek near Levan, Juab County, Utah the daughter of Sylvester and Alice Maude Redington. She graduated from Gunnison Vallety High School and went on to get a Bachelors of Arts degree from Brigham Young University; she studied English literature at Stanford University and received her Master's degree in literature and journalism in 1928 from the University of Wyoming. On April 3, 1924, she married Arthur L. Crawford (1899-1990), and together they had a daughter, Marian Crawford Anderson. Vesta Crawford taught in a number of Utah and California schools, as well as at the University of Utah. She was appointed editorial secretary of the Relief Society Magazine in 1945, and associate editor in 1947. She is a member of the League of Utah Writers, the Utah State Poetry Society (President, 1967-1971), the Utah Sonneteers, the Poetry Society of Pennsylvania, the Poetry Society of Virginia, and Poets of the Pacific. A prolific writer, she was published in many different venues, and wrote over six hundred poems. She was the recipient of numerous state and national prizes and awards, and was included in many anthologies. She was accomplished and noted in many diverse fields of writng, and her work has appeared in many magazines and newspapers of national circulation, as we as magazines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1965, Vesta Crawford was awarded Utah Poet of the Year for her book, Short Grass Women.