J. Bracken Lee photograph collection

Collection

Identifier: P0037

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The J. Bracken Lee collection contains photographs of Lee during his tenure as Mayor of Salt Lake City from 1962 to 1974. Included is the collection are portraits, photographs of Lee with other people (largely unidentified), at a parade of troops at Fort Douglas, and at the Dedication Ceremonies for the opening of Parley's Canyon I-15 and I-80 freeways. There are also a few 19th century photographs, possibly Lee's ancestors.

Dates

1890-1975

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

A native of Price, Utah, J. Bracken Lee was born 7 January 1899, a son of Arthur James and Ida May (Leiter) Lee. He received his elementary school training in Fruita, Colorado, and later graduated from Carbon High School in Price, Utah, in 1917. On graduation day he enlisted in the United States Army and served throughout World War I. He was honorably discharged in March 1919, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, but retained his commission in the reserve officers corps. After serving in the military, he returned to civilian life in Price where he became involved in the insurance and real estate business.

In 1920, J. Bracken Lee married Nellie Pace and two years later on January 29, 1922 they became parents of a daughter, Helen Virginia. Illness brought death to Nellie on January 1, 1926 leaving him a widower with a four-year old daughter. He married Margaret Draper on February 23, 1928 at Price, Utah. They are the parents of the following children: James Bracken, Margaret Jon, and Richard Lewis.

Beginning in the early 1930's Lee became very interested in public affairs. He was elected mayor of Price, Utah, in the fall of 1935 and served six successive terms before declining nomination for a seventh.

Defeat as a candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives and his first try for governorship of Utah did not discourage Lee. In 1948 he was elected to the office of governor by an overwhelming majority. In 1952 he was re-elected by an even greater margin.

After failing in his bid for the U. S. Senate on the Independent ticket in 1958, he ran for mayor of Salt Lake City in 1959. He received more votes than all five of his opponents combined in the primary contest, and in the general election he defeated his opponent with the largest number of votes received by a mayoralty candidate. He campaigned for re-election in November 1963 and again when the votes were counted it was another Lee landslide. In a third consecutive campaign in 1967 he received another vote of confidence and was re-elected for his third term as mayor.

J. Bracken Lee retired in 1972 after serving in public office for 32 years.

Extent

1.2 Linear Feet (2 archives boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The J. Bracken Lee photograph collection consists mostly of images documenting J. Bracken Lee's activities as mayor of Salt Lake City (1962-1974). The collection also includes a small number of Lee family photographs dating from the late 19th century.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged topically.

Separated Materials

Audio-visual materials were transferred to the J. Bracken Lee audio-visual collection, (A0037).

Manuscript materials were transferred to the J. Bracken Lee papers (MS 0037).