Charles H. Monson papers

Charles H. Monson papers, 1924-1981

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Monson, Charles H.
Title: Charles H. Monson papers
Dates: 1924-1981 (inclusive)
19241981
Quantity: 12 linear feet
Collection Number: MS 0609
Summary: The Charles H. Monson papers (1924-1981) reflect the academic and teaching career of Charles H. Monson Jr. (1924-1974), a well-known authority on the subject of philosophy. Included are correspondence, day books, resumes, news articles, lecture notes and outlines, essays, reports, pamphlets, programs, and manuscripts for published writings, among other papers.
Repository: University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions: 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.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Charles H. Monson Jr. was born in Salt Lake City to Charles Horald and Ortencia Merrill Monson on 13 May 1924. He married Vivian Turley in October 1947 and received his bachelor's degree the following year from the University of Utah. His master's degree was obtained a year after that, also from the University of Utah. His doctoral work, however, took him to New York and Cornell University. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1952.

It took Monson several years and a couple of teaching positions before returning with his family to Utah. He was an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Nevada from 1952 to 1956 and then held the same title at Chico State College in California from 1956 to 1958. He was awarded an associate professor of philosophy position from the University of Utah in 1958, which he accepted. Monson held that position for two years until he was made an administrative intern for the American Council of Education. This took him away from Utah for a year and back to Cornell University. He returned to the University of Utah in 1966 as the deputy academic vice president. Monson remained at the university from that point on.

Throughout the time Monson held administrative positions at the University of Utah, which lasted from 1966 until his death in 1974, he remained cognizant of the student body's needs by serving as a professor on top of his administrative duties. Most of the classes he taught were in philosophy and he received wide recognition for his dedication to teaching and higher education in general. He was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1970 for his outstanding teaching abilities. The numerous articles and papers he wrote were also widely distributed and his knowledge of teaching and education was often called upon, as seen by his involvement with various groups and committees. Monson was involved with the Association of California State College Instructors, the Mountain-Plains Philosophical Conference, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the United States Office of Education, and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

As an administrator, Monson was able to initiate many major programs at the University of Utah. Some of these included programs for improving the status and effectiveness of teaching assistants, programs for disadvantaged students (including minority groups), and programs for women. He also established departmental advisory committees, departmental chairman leadership programs, and helped maintain the Repertory Dance Theatre, a modern dance company on campus.

Charles H. Monson Jr. died on 23 October 1974 in Salt Lake City as a result of a massive pulmonary embolism.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Charles H. Monson papers (1924-1981) reflect the academic and teaching career of Charles H. Monson Jr. (1924-1974), a well-known authority on the subject of philosophy. Included are correspondence, day books, resumes, news articles, lecture notes and outlines, essays, reports, pamphlets, programs, and manuscripts for published writings, among other papers. The collection has been divided into three sections.

The first section, Correspondence and Personal Materials, comprises boxes 1-8 and dates from 1924 to 1981. The correspondence fills boxes 1-7 and is mostly professional in nature, although some personal letters are also present. These boxes are arranged chronologically and include letters to Monson's wife, Vivian, after his death. The personal materials in box 8 include those documents that, for the most part, do not relate to Monson's academic or teaching career. Biographical information, certificates and diplomas, documents relating to his death, financial items, news articles, and some miscellaneous papers are included in this box.

The second section, Teaching and University of Utah Materials, dates from 1949 to 1977 and spans boxes 9-17. These materials were put together into one section because a great deal of Monson's teaching career was at the University of Utah. He continued to teach there while also holding various administrative positions. His teaching files are in boxes 9-14 and are listed alphabetically by class and/or subject. Boxes 13-14 contain reference cards, also listed alphabetically by subject, that Monson seemed to have used for his classes but were probably also used as reference points for his books, essays, and articles. The cards have remained in the same groupings kept by Monson and have also retained their original subject titles. papers concerning the University of Utah in general are in boxes 15-17. These files relate to the various committees, positions, groups, and programs of which Monson was affiliated. General university or education subjects he was interested in are also included. These files are also alphabetized.

The third section, Writings, dates from 1944 to the 1970s and comprises boxes 18-25. The bulk of this section focuses on writings by Monson, published and unpublished. Manuscript drafts, typescript drafts, as well as notes, can be found in these boxes. Boxes 18-21 contain Monson's writings that were published and/or were well-known. Box 22 holds his short essays on various subjects. Miscellaneous drafts and notes for his other writings, many of them unidentified, are in boxes 23-24. The last box contains writings by others collected by Monson.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on 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.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Vivian T. Monson in 1989.

Processing Note

Processed by Lisa DeMille in 2003.

Separated Materials

Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0546).

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Correspondence and Personal MaterialsReturn to Top

The correspondence represented in this section is mostly professional, although some of it has been labeled as personal by Monson. Besides general topics of academic conversation, the correspondence also includes student recommendations given by Monson. These letters show Monson's attention to each student, their abilities, and talents. Also included are book orders to many publishers. Many times, Monson followed up these orders with an evaluation of the book(s) he ordered and his thoughts on their classroom and research usage. The personal materials in box 8 not only include personal documents, but also an array of papers unrelated to the other sections.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box
1		Correspondence	1946-1961
2		Correspondence	1961-1963
3		Correspondence	1964-1966
4		Correspondence	1967-1969
5		Correspondence	1969-1970
6		Correspondence	1971-1972
7		Correspondence	1973-1979
	Folder
8	1	Biographical Information
8	2	Personal Documents Birth, marriage, and death certificates.	1924-1974
8	3	Death and Trust Correspondence, a program, and speeches.	1972-1981
8	4	Invoices and Expenses	1963-1974
8	5	Certificates	1952-1971
8	6	Resumes	1966-1974
8	7	Doctorate of Philosophy, Commencement Program	1953
8	8-9	Day Books	1969-1974
8	10	Quips, Quotes, and Poetry
8	11	News Clippings Includes obituaries.	1961-1974
8	12	Miscellaneous

Teaching and University of Utah MaterialsReturn to Top

The teaching files include course notes, outlines, syllabi, tests, assignments, news articles, essays, and other papers. These items are not listed under each folder individually due to the common content of each folder.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Teaching Files
Box	Folder
9	1	American Philosophy	1962
9	2	Business Ethics
9	3	Contemporary Philosophy
9	4	Educational Innovations	1969
9	5	English-Philosophy 139	1960
9	6	Epistemology
9	7	Freshman Seminar, The University and Society	1971
9	8	History of Christian Thought	1960
9	9	History of Early Modern Philosophy
9	10	Honors 411W	1971
9	11	Humanism	1964; 1974
9	12	Humanities Honors Reading Course	1964
9	13-14	Intellectual Traditions of the West	1974
9	15	Introduction to the History of Philosophy	1961
9	16-17	Introduction to Philosophy Includes television course.	1963-1971
10	1	Introduction to Philosophy	1965-1974
10	2	Medieval Philosophy	1965
10	3	Metaphysics
10	4	Philosophy 107
10	5	Philosophy 145	1974
10	6-8	Philosophy of Education	1963-1974
10	9	Philosophy of Eric Fromm	1949-1971
10	10-11	Philosophy of Marxism	1963-1974
11	1	Philosophy of Marxism	1974
11	2	Philosophy of Religion
11	3-4	Political Philosophy	1972
11	5	Political Theory	1962
11	6	Seminars	1959-1965
11	7	Social Ethics
11	8	Types of Christian Philosophy	1967
11	9	Types of Religious Philosophy
12	1	Book and Name Lists
12	2	Book Permissions, Requests, and Tallies	1960s-1970
12	3	Class Schedules and Information	1963-1971
12	4	Future Instruction Suggestions
12	5	Oral Evaluations	1972-1975
12	6-8	Philosophy Subjects Notebook
12	9	Recommendations	1970-1971
12	10	Strategies for College Teaching
12	11	Textbook Selections	1974
12	12	Miscellaneous
		Teaching Files, Reference Cards, Br-Na
Box	Folder
13	1	British Economists and Karl Marx
13	2	China
13	3	Eduard Bernstein and Revisionism
13	4	England and United States
13	5	First International and Karl Marx
13	6	French Socialists and Karl Marx
13	7	Friedrich Engels
13	8	German Origins and Karl Marx
13	9	German Social Democracy
13	10	Humanism
13	11	Karl Kautsky and Economic Determinism
13	12	Karl Marx
13	13	Lenin
13	14	Marxism
13	15	National Liberation
14	1	New Left
14	2	Other Countries
14	3	Russia and Yugoslavia
14	4	Russian Second Generation
14	5	Stalin and Trotsky
14	6-8	Miscellaneous
		University of Utah Materials
Box	Folder
15	1	American Council on Education Correspondence, reports, and notes.	1965-1966
15	2	American Education Research Foundation Reports and correspondence.	1969-1970
15	3	Budget and Statistics	1960s-1970s
15	4	Career Development Committee Schedules, correspondence, reports, notes, and statistics.	1974
15	5-6	Committees and Programs Includes reports and minutes.	1963-1974
15	7	Disadvantaged Students, Report	1971
15	8	Employment Status of Women, Report	1972
15	9	Event Programs and Schedules	1964-1972
15	10	Graduate Education Questionnaire, policies, procedures, and statistics.	1964-1972
16	1	Grants and Proposals	1971-1974
16	2	Great Books Discussion Group Notes, lists, and outlines.	1961
16	3	Hiram Scott College Correspondence, articles, notes, and writing drafts.	1968
16	4-5	Liberal Education Questionnaire/survey, correspondence, essays, articles, and notes.	1961-1970
16	6	Iva Dean McCleary Reports and proposals for her Ph.D. work.	1974
16	7	Minority Programs Correspondence, reports, and enrollment lists.	1971-1972
16	8	News Articles	1960s-1970s
17	1	Orientation Materials	1960s
17	2	Request Forms and Vouchers	1949-1973
17	3	Research Project Correspondence and request forms for Monson's project entitled "Marx and His Interpreters."	1969-1970
17	4	Teaching Assistants Articles, notes, and reports.	1960s-1971
17	5	Television Classes Notes, a pamphlet, and discussion questions.	1964-1977
17	6	Tenure and Academic Freedom	1960s-1970s
17	7	University and Education, Policies and Reports	ca. 1970s
17	8	Utah Conference on Higher Education Correspondence, meeting materials, and reports.	1970-1971
17	9-10	Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Montana and Utah conference materials.	1969-1970
17	11	Women=s Education, Report and Notes	1970
17	12	Miscellaneous

Writings by MonsonReturn to Top

Outlines, drafts, and notes for the same writings were put together as much as possible. However, those drafts and other materials in boxes 23-24 do not provide substantial information as to what writing they belong with. Folders 1-2 in box 23 containing the philosophy of Marxism and religion books have retained their original titles and may be drafts for writings listed in earlier boxes. Because the writings in box 22 are mainly short essays and articles, they are not listed individually.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
18	1	A Comparative Study of Locke and Spinoza on the Moral Legitimacy of Government	1949
18	2-3	Education for What? Readings in the Ends and Means of Education	1960s
18	4-5	"Inside Academia: An Essay in Academic Administration"
19		Writings by Charles H. Monson, "Inside Academia: An Essay in Academic Administration"	1973
	Folder
20	1	"The Life and Philosophy of Ephraim Edward Ericksen: The Tensions of a Mormon Liberal"	circa 1971
20	2	"Marx and His Interpreters"	1970s
20	3	"Philosophy of Teaching"	1960s
20	4-5	"What Do You Think You Are Teaching?"
21		Writings by Charles H. Monson, "Why Teachers Fail"	1970s
22		Writings by Charles H. Monson, Ac-Wh	1944-1978
	Folder
23	1	Philosophy of Marxism Book	1960s
23	2	Philosophy of Religion Book	1950s-1960s
23	3	Untitled Writings
23	4-6	Outlines, Drafts, and Notes
24		Writings by Charles H. Monson Outlines, drafts, and notes for unspecified writings.	1960s-1970s
		Writings by Others
Box	Folder
25	1-4	Effie Thomas Autobiography	1974
25	5	Various Writings	1959-1970s

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Philosophy--Study and teaching--Utah

Personal Names

Monson, Charles H.--Archives

Corporate Names

University of Utah--Faculty

Form or Genre Terms

Correspondence
Drafts (documents)
Lecture notes

Archives West Finding Aid

Table of Contents