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By Kent Larsen
LDS Church, USU Resolve Dispute over Arrington Papers
LOGAN, UTAH -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah
State University Saturday resolved their dispute over the ownership of
papers donated to the University by the late LDS Church historian Leonard
Arrington. Saturday Arrington family attorney George Daines claimed that a
few documents transferred last week to the LDS Church were among the
Arrington papers in error. "We concluded that these documents were never
part of Dr. Arrington's collection, nor did he know these were part of the
collection," Daines said. The agreement leaves the vast bulk of the
collection, which might be called the 'Archives of Camelot,' at USU and open
to researchers.
The agreement, reached Wednesday and announced on Saturday, resolves a
dispute that arose in mid October after the USU Library opened the Arrington
papers to the general public on October 11th. The papers, which include
thousands of documents in 658 boxes, were examined by a team of employees
within the week, and by the end of the week lawyer Berne S. Broadbent, of
law firm Kirton and McConkie which often represents the LDS Church, had
sent a letter to the University claiming ownership of documents in 148 of
the boxes, and asking that they be sequestered. Eventually, the lawyers
provided the university with a six-page long list of documents they believed
belonged to the Church, which was later published in Utah newspapers as a
list of 92 items.
USU's response to the letter was cautious, "We are taking a cautious,
deliberate approach, analyzing each individual document that the LDS Church
has asked us to sequester," said F. Ross Peterson, professor emeritus of
American history at USU. "In order to do that with competence and
thoroughness, it will take quite a bit of time." The university claimed that
it had an obligation to Arrington's estate and heirs to follow his wishes.
Hoping to avoid legal conflict, the university sought to negotiate with the
Church.
The question of ownership and access to historical documents was a difficult
one in this case, both because it isn't always clear where and when
Arrington obtained his documents and because of the history of access to
documents at the LDS Church's archives. In addition, the Church and USU had
opposing moral reasons for their positions. Richard Turley, managing
director of the Church's Department of Family and Church History said, "We
consider [the documents] are of a sacred, private and confessional nature.
We have a moral obligation to keep them private." USU, on the other hand,
said it had a moral obligation to Arrington's wishes and to historians, who
want the documents accessible for research.
Behind USU's position and the support of academics is their experience with
getting access to the LDS Church's archives before, during and after
Arrington's tenure as LDS Church historian. Named Church Historian in 1972,
the first and only time a professional historian had been named to the post,
Arrington's tenure was marked by a new open policy and accelerated
publication of Church history. Researchers got access to documents
previously closed and Arrington and his staff launched an ambitious
publishing program meant to publish a multiple volumes on aspects of the
history of the Church. But this era, still known among Mormon historians as
"Camelot," lasted just ten years, ending when the Church released and
transferred Arrington and much of his staff to the newly formed Joseph
Fielding Smith Institute at BYU. Historians claim that following Arrington's
transfer, access to some of the Church's archives was restricted.
During his tenure, Arrington apparently had an agreement with the Church
allowing him to make copies of documents, borrow other documents from the
archives, and to transcribe others. At least some of this activity was
covered by a June 8th, 1980 agreement, a copy of which the Church provided
to USU during the dispute, under which Arrington agreed to return any
documents he borrowed and to not make copies of those documents. But USU
points out that this document doesn't make clear which documents are
covered, and the Church was apparently not able to come up with an original
copy of the agreement. Historians claim that the arrangement is somewhat
unusual, because institutions generally permit them to copy documents at
will, and the copies then belong to the researchers.
At least some historians and even church members were bothered by the
Church's claim on part of the collection. John Hatch, a "lifelong believing
and faithful Mormon" who was a supervisor at Church-owned Deseret Book, even
went so far as to write a letter to The Salt Lake Tribune saying he was
"appalled" at the Church's claim and adding "The Church should be ashamed of
itself," he wrote. According to a later report in that newspaper, Hatch was
fired by Deseret Book after the letter was printed, although the company
won't say why.
With newspaper stories on the dispute, starting October 25th, discussing the
possibility of lawsuits, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley sought
compromise, calling USU President Kermit L. Hall to ask for some way to
resolve the issue. On November 9th the Church and USU jointly announced that
a committee had been formed to review the documents and recommend a
resolution. The committee was headed jointly by President Hinckley and USU
President Hall and included, for the LDS Church, General Authorities W.
Rolfe Kerr and Quentin L. Cooke, Richard E. Turley and Berne S. Broadbent.
USU's representatives included USU provost and LDS academic Stan Albrecht,
USU attorney Craig Simper and Arrington family lawyer, N. George Daines.
After the committee met three times in person, and once by phone, it was
Daines, in the end, who proposed the resolution to the dispute. He noticed
that the disputed documents included temple-related materials and minutes of
the meetings of LDS Church leaders, and concluded that since Dr. Arrington
was a faithful, temple-recommend-carrying LDS Church member, he wouldn't
have included in his papers documents on aspects of the temple that members
are asked not to disclose outside the temple. He also concluded that the
minutes of the meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve had been collected in
response to a specific research assignment from the Church, and were
therefore clearly in the collection in error, "Members of these quorums are
assured that their recorded comments and deliberations will forever be
regarded as confidential," Daines wrote in a letter to both the Church and
USU. He said that Arrington was "intimately familiar with the policy and
reasons for it. There is no record that Dr. Arrington ever disputed this
church policy, or, in any manner, encouraged or participated in its
violation."
Using this logic, Daines asked USU to return three documents to the
Arrington family: a copy of the Book of Anointings, which describe temple
rituals, portions of the diaries of LDS Apostle Heber C. Kimball covering
1845 and 1846, which discuss temple rituals, and partial copies of minutes
from meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve including selected meetings from
1877 through 1950. Of the list of 92 items published by Utah newspapers,
these make up portions of three items. After receiving the documents back
from USU, the family then returned them to the LDS Church.
Both Daines and USU President Hall appeared in a news conference Saturday to
answer questions about the agreement. The university announced that the
collection would be open to the public on Monday.
Sources:
USU Gives LDS Church Some of Historian's Papers
Salt Lake Tribune 25Nov01 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kirsten Stewart: Salt Lake Tribune
LDS and USU end tiff over papers
Deseret News 25Nov01 N1
By Linda Thomson: Deseret News staff writer
Church to reclaim papers
Logan UT Herald Journal 25Nov01 N1
By Arrin Brunson
USU, family agree small part of donation 'a mistake'
LDS Faith Protective Of Its Past
Salt Lake Tribune 11Nov01 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kirsten Stewart: Salt Lake Tribune
Board Seeks Truce in Document Fight
Salt Lake Tribune 10Nov01 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kirsten Stewart: Salt Lake Tribune
A step forward for USU, church
Deseret News 10Nov01 N1
By Lynn Arave: Deseret News staff writer
Board to help decide how to handle papers
USU-LDS board to review collection
Logan UT Herald Journal 10Nov01 N1
By Arrin Brunson
Rolly &Wells: Ags Demand 'Ransom' for Documents
Salt Lake Tribune 9Nov01 N1
By Paul Rolly and JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells: Tribune Columnists
Documents Debate May Go to Court
Salt Lake Tribune 2Nov01 N1
By Kirsten Stewart: Salt Lake Tribune
Control of LDS History at Heart of USU Flap
Salt Lake Tribune 28Oct01 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kirsten Stewart: Salt Lake Tribune
BAGLEY: LDS Historian Was Faithful, Mentor to Many
Salt Lake Tribune -28Oct01 P2
By Will Bagley
USU Caught in Paper Chase
Salt Lake Tribune 27Oct01 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kirsten Stewart: Salt Lake Tribune
Church Calls Its Claim to Papers Of Late USU Professor 'Ironclad'
Salt Lake Tribune 26Oct01 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kirsten Stewart: Salt Lake Tribune
Church gives 'proof' to USU
Deseret News 26Oct01 N1
By Carrie A. Moore: Deseret News religion editor
Arrington Documents Under Dispute
Salt Lake Tribune 26Oct01 N1
List of documents: Quorum of the Twelve Apostles minutes
Deseret News 26Oct01 N1
LDS Church, USU Bicker Over Papers
Salt Lake Tribune 25Oct01 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kirsten Stewart: Salt Lake Tribune
USU and church are at odds over historical papers
Deseret News 25Oct01 N1
By Carrie A. Moore: Deseret News religion editor
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