OCR Text |
Show Collection given to SUSC A significant addition to the collection of Utah and Western history housed in the Southern Utah State College Library has been made by the family of the late Utah teacher-historian Gustive Olaf Larson. "Nearly 900 items are included in the Larson domation, including many books and pamphlets on Western history. Many of the books are first editions and are autographed by the author," indicates A. Thomas Challis, . library directorand college historian. "The bulk of the collection is housed in the Special Collections are of the SUSC Library," Challis said. "This is a very significant gift of utah, Mormon and Western Americana that has greatly enriched our holdings in these important areas." Mr. Larson received an honorary degree from SUSC in . 1974, when he was working as a Research Fellow in history at : the . Huntington Library, Pasadena, California. During his long career as a teacher and historian, Larson, his wife Virginia and their three children, lived in Cedar City for nearly 20 years while he served as the first institute director for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He left Cedar City in 1954 to become a professor of history and religion at Brigham Young University, retiring as professor emeritus of history in 1972. The Utah-born historian was affiliated with several professional and historical associations ' proior to his death in October, 1978, including in-cluding the Utah Academy ' of Arts, Letters and Sciences; the Utah State Historical Association. Some of his most notable publications are the books "Prelude to the Kingdom," ; "Outline History of Utah and Mormons," and "The Americanization of Utah for ; Statehood," The latter won the Mormon History Association Award in 1971. |