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Merry May Booth Talmage papers

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 1607

Scope and Contents

Collection of documents related to May Booth Talmage, wife of James E. Talmage. Includes the original personal diary she kept from 1887 to 1892. Also includes a photocopy of the diary. The majority of the collection is photocopies of personal and family correspondence from 1890 to 1934 exchanged between May and James Talmage and their children. Also includes correspondence with other family members, friends, colleagues, and Mormon Church members. Most of these items were written while May Talmage was on trips and serving in various assignments for the Mormon Church. Dated 1887-1934.

Dates

  • 1887-1934

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Merry May Booth Talmage papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.

Biographical / Historical

Merry May Booth Talmage (1868-1944) was an educator, suffragate, writer, editor in Utah and wife of Mormon apostle James E. Talmage.

Merry May Booth Talmage was born on September 29, 1868 in Alpine, Utah to Richard Thornton and Elise Edge Booth. At the age of sixteen, she attended Brigham Young Academy. Soon after graduating, she began a brief teaching career in Kaysville, Utah, before being engaged to marry her former professor at BYA, James E. Talmage. The couple married on June 14, 1888 in Manti, Utah, and they had eight children together.

May was a teacher in Kaysville, Utah and part of several educational organizations, including serving as vice president of the first Free Kindergarten Association in Utah. She was involved in the suffrage movement, serving on the executive board for the Utah Territorial Woman's Suffrage Association. In 1893 she went to Chicago and delivered a paper to the World's Congress of Women, and in 1906 she attended the Trennial of the National Council of Women in Toledo, Ohio.

In 1892, May was called as aid to the general board of the Young Woman Mutual Improvement Association. She was active in committees within this organization and served as editor of the "Young Woman's Journal." In 1925, May accompanied her husband and two children to England where Elder Talmage served as president of the European Mission until 1928. While in Europe, May helped in organizing and assisting the women of the Church of the various countries there, as well as the missionaries throughout Europe.

Merry May Booth Talmage died on April 6, 1944 in Ogden, Utah.

Extent

1 box (0.5 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Other Finding Aids

Finding aid available in repository.

Other Finding Aids

File-level inventory available online. http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/MSS1607.xml

Custodial History

Original diary, color copy, and transcription donated by Shannon Howells, great granddaughter of May Booth Talmage, in 2016.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Original diary, color copy, and transcription donated; Shannon Howells; 2016.

Appraisal

Utah and Western American and LDS cultural, family, social, intellectual, and religious history (19th Century Mormon and Western Manuscripts collection development policy IV.a.i.1 and 4, November 2013)

Related Materials

Originals of many of the letters in this collection, and others, can be found in the James and Merry May Booth Talmage letters (MSS 8324).

Processing Information

Revised and updated for DACS compliance, and color copy and transcription of diary added; Ryan K. Lee; 2016.

Title
Register of Merry May Booth Talmage papers
Status
Completed
Author
Jennifer Kim
Date
2011 September 13
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States