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Ellsworth family photograph collection, 1860-1999

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Ellsworth family.
Title
Ellsworth family photograph collection
Dates
1860-1999 (inclusive)
1880-1990 (bulk)
Quantity
19 boxes, (9 linear ft. )
Collection Number
UUS_P0142
Summary
3,900 prints and negatives (some in color) that document the family of S. George and Maria Smith Ellsworth from their ancestors in the 1860s to their immediate family in the 1990s. Included are images of LDS Church missions and activities, World War II, research and professional work, family portraits, vacations, and activities. Taken together it is perhaps the most complete visual documentation of a single family in Utah. The photos were taken at a variety of locations in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, Missouri, Australia, Lebanon, and the Philippines. Photograph formats include silver gelatin, albumen, realphoto postcards, and tintype. Negative formats include 35 mm and larger silver gelatin negatives, nitrate negatives (in cold storage), and glass negatives.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions
Restrictions

Open to public research. Nitrate negatives have been removed from this collection and placed in Cold Storage Boxes 8-11. Patrons must request to view these negatives 3 hours in advance.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008
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Historical Note

Samuel George Ellsworth

Samuel George Ellsworth was born on June 19, 1916 in Safford, Arizona to James Clarence and Julia Claridge Ellsworth. As a child Ellsworth grew up living in a number of places including Arizona, Utah, California, and Missouri. He graduated from high school in Kansas City, Missouri in 1934 and attended Kansas City Junior College between 1934 and 1936 where he studied pre-architecture. Ellsworth then served an LDS mission to the North Central States Mission (headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota) between 1936 and 1938. As a missionary he was the Mission Supervisor of Sunday Schools and Mutual as well as the Mission Secretary. During this time, Ellsworth's interests in history replaced his previous ambitions in architecture and after returning home to his family in Logan, Utah he attended the Utah State Agricultural College. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in History and Mathematics in June 1941 he moved to Bunkerville, Nevada, to become principal of the Virgin Valley LDS Seminary and a teacher at Virgin Valley High School from September 1941 to November 1942.

On July 4, 1942, he met Maria Smith, daughter of Asahel Henry Smith and Pauline Udall Smith of Snowflake, Arizona. George and Maria were married in the Mesa, Arizona, LDS Temple on October 24, 1942. Shortly after he married, Ellsworth enlisted in the United States Army Air Force. During the Second World War Ellsworth served as a staff sergeant, clerk, and administrative inspector at Hammer Field in Fresno, California. From January 1945 to June 1946, Ellsworth served as a Chaplain in the Philippines.

After leaving the Army Ellsworth continued his education. Between 1946 and 1951 he attended the University of California at Berkley. He received his Master of Arts degree in History in 1947 after finishing his thesis and four years later he received a Ph.D. in History and Philosophy. His completed dissertation was entitled, "A History of Mormon Missions in the United States and Canada, 1830-1860." During his time in graduate school Ellsworth was a teaching assistant for the University of California at Davis as well as at Berkley. During the summer session of 1949 Ellsworth worked as a visiting instructor in History at the Utah State Agricultural College in Logan, Utah.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1951, Ellsworth returned to Logan where he would teach history for the next thirty-one years. In 1954 he was promoted to associate professor and in 1963 to full professor. From 1966 to 1969 Ellsworth served as the head of the Department. His teaching included classes in Western Civilization, Greek History, Roman History, History of Utah, Social History of the United States, American Philosophy, Recent United States History, Hispanic American History, Colonial Latin America, Sources and Literature, Historical Method and Research, and Ancient World Civilization. During his career Ellsworth served as a visiting professor at West Virginia University in 1954, and Brigham Young University in 1956. In 1983 Dr. Ellsworth retired becoming an emeritus professor.

In addition to his long teaching career Ellsworth was also a member of many local, state, and national historical associations including the American Historical Association, the Western History Association, the Mormon History Association, the Oral History Association, the Utah State Historical Society, the Cache Valley Historical Society, the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, the Heritage Committee of the Utah American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, and the Utah Endowment for the Humanities. Ellsworth served two terms as president of the Cache Valley Historical Society between 1954 and 1956. He was the president of the Faculty Association at Utah State University during the 1962-1963 school year and was the co-founder (along with Leonard Arrington) of the Western Historical Quarterly and became the managing editor of the journal from 1969 to 1979. Ellsworth also served as a member of the board of directors for the American Issues Forum and a member of the executive committee for the Utah Endowment for the Humanities.

George Ellsworth received a number of prominent awards during his career in History. In 1959 he was the Faculty Honor Lecturer of the Utah State University Faculty Association. In 1965 Ellsworth received the Robins Award from Utah State University. He was awarded the Mormon History Association book of the year for Utah's Heritage in April 1973. He became a Fellow in the Utah State Historical Society of September 1973, and one year later was given the Award of Merit by the American Association for State and Local History. In 1984 he became an Honorary Life Member in the Western History Association, and in 1990 he received the Distinguished Service Award from Utah State University.

During his career, Ellsworth wrote numerous articles, reviews, and encyclopedia entries dealing with LDS and Utah history. In addition to Utah's Heritage he also published Dear Ellen: Two Mormon Women and Their Letters (1974), Samuel Claridge: Pioneering the Outposts of Zion (1987), The Journals of Addison Pratt (1990), Seasons of Faith and Courage: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in French Polynesia, A Sesquicentennial History, 1843-1993 (1994 with Kathleen C. Perrin), and The History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, which came out after Ellsworth's death in 1997.

Dr. Ellsworth also played an active role in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and with his own family. George and Maria Ellsworth had two sons: Stephen George and Mark Addison and four grandchildren. Samuel George Ellsworth passed away in his home in Logan, Utah on December 22, 1997.

Maria Smith Ellsworth

Maria S. Ellsworth was born in 1918 in Hunt, Arizona. Later she moved to Snowflake where she grew up in a family of eleven, including her twin brother Marion. She graduated from Arizona State Teaching College at Flagstaff on May 29, 1940, and taught Kindergarten and First grade.

A couple years later Maria was visiting Salt Lake City and met and became engaged to George Ellsworth. They were married on the 24th of October in 1942. They had two boys, Stephen and Mark, and four grandchildren: Guinevere Julia, Margaret Ellen, Andrew Mark, and Joseph Henry.

Throughout Maria's life she was active in her community. She taught school in Arizona, California, and Utah and served in local PTA's. She also served two terms on the Logan City School Board where she was the only female member, and later became a member of the State Accreditation Committee. Maria was the President of the Old Main Society and President of the Faculty Women's League at Utah State University. She served in various positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1993 Maria Ellsworth was awarded the prize for the best biography of the year by the Mormon History Association. Her book was titled Mormon Odyssey: The Story of Ida Hunt Udall, Plural Wife, which was published by the University of Illinois. She also published seven book reviews. She died on December 1, 1999, in Logan, Utah.

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Content Description

The Ellsworth Family Photograph Collection consists of roughly 3,900 prints and negatives (some in color) that document the family of Samuel George and Maria Smith Ellsworth from their ancestors in the 1860s to their immediate family in the 1990s. Included in the collection are images of LDS Church missions and activities, World War II, research and professional work, and family portraits, vacations, and activities. Taken together it is perhaps the most complete visual documentation of a single family in Utah. The photos were taken at a variety of locations in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, Missouri, Australia, Lebanon, and the Philippines.

The S. George Ellsworth (SGE) photograph albums are located in boxes 5-7. The James Clarence Ellsworth (JCE) photograph album is located in Box 8. More photographs and information on the Ellsworth family can be found in Box 12 of the S. George Ellsworth Photograph Collection P0025. Negatives from boxes 1-14 are housed in boxes 15-19.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Utah State University Libraries, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Permission to publish material from the Ellsworth family photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Photograph Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Preferred Citation

Ellsworth family photograph collection, 1860-1999. (P0142). Utah State University. Special Collections & Archives Department.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Photographs arranged by Dr. Ellsworth and an assistant.

Acquisition Information

The photographs in boxes 1-3 were transferred to the division by S. George Ellsworth in 1997. They appear in the order that Dr. Ellsworth and an assistant originally gave them. Boxes 4-19 were added to the collection later by Mark Ellsworth, the son of George and Maria.

Processing Note

Guide completed by Peter F. Schmid, February 1998, and revised by Liz Woolcott, July 2004.

Separated Materials

Photographs removed from S. George Ellsworth papers (Coll Mss 228) and Maria Ellsworth papers, 1880-1999 (Coll Mss 229).

Related Materials

S. George Ellsworth Photograph Collection (P0025)

George Ellsworth Papers COLL MSS 228

Maria S. Ellsworth Papers (COLL MSS 229)

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Mormon Church--Missions--Australia--Photographs.
  • Mormon Church--Missions--Middle West--Photographs.
  • World War, 1939-1945--Phillipines--Photographs.

Personal Names

  • Claridge, Samuel, 1828-1919.
  • Ellsworth, Elmo Hughes, 1911-1971.
  • Ellsworth, James Clarence, 1885-1970.
  • Ellsworth, James Claridge, 1908-1998.
  • Ellsworth, James Henry, 1832-1911.
  • Ellsworth, Julia Claridge, d. 1953.
  • Ellsworth, Maria S. (Maria Smith), 1918-
  • Ellsworth, S. George (Samuel George), 1916-
  • Ellsworth, Stephen George, b. 1949.
  • Ellsworth, Theron Charles Claridge.
  • Ellsworth, Mark Addison, b. 1956.
  • Smith, Asahel Henry, 1880-1947.
  • Smith, Pauline Udall, 1885-1968.

Corporate Names

  • Northern Arizona University--History--Photographs.
  • Utah State University--History--Photographs.

Family Names

  • Claridge family--Portraits.
  • Ellsworth family--Portraits.
  • Smith family--Portraits.

Geographical Names

  • Fort Peck (Mont.)--Photographs.
  • Kansas City (Mo.)--Photographs.
  • Logan (Utah)--Photographs.
  • Long Beach (Calif.)--Photographs.
  • Morenci (Ariz.)--Photographs.
  • Payson (Utah)--Photographs.
  • Safford (Ariz.)--Photographs.
  • Salt Lake City (Utah)--Photographs.
  • Sequoia National Forest (Calif.)--Photographs.
  • Yellowstone National Park--Photographs.
  • Yosemite National Park (Calif.)--Photographs.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Albumen prints.
  • Cartes-de-visite.
  • Tintypes.

Finding aid created by Peter F. Schmid, February 1998, and revised by Liz Woolcott, July 2004.
2008

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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