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Levi Savage Peterson was born in 1933 in Snowflake, Arizona. He attended Brigham Young University and the University of California at Berkeley, and received his Ph.D. in English from University of Utah. Peterson later joined the faculty of Weber State College in Ogden, Utah, as a professor of English. Several short stories by Peterson appeared in various magazines, and in 1982, he published a book of stories,
In 1985, Peterson conducted a series of oral history interviews with several friends, family members, and colleagues of Mormon historian Juanita Brooks. These interviews were a follow- up to Peterson's years of research on Brooks, her life, and her works. The culmination of this research was the publication in 1988 of Peterson's biography of Brooks:
In 1990, Peterson published a second collection of short stories,
Peterson has served as director of the honors program at Weber State College, editor of
In the forward to the award-winning
To this biography of Juanita Brooks, Peterson brings a directness almost equal to her own. He is a professor of English with an affinity for history and social issues and with abiding connections to Mormon Country. He is an accomplished author having published short stories, historical and biographical essays, collections of short stories, and a well-received novel set in southern Utah. By many he is considered to be one of the West's most promising regionalists. (x-xi)
This collection is divided into nine series. The first eight series contain materials previously in ownership of Juanita Brooks. The last series, Levi Peterson, contains Peterson's own notes and personal materials gathered for his book
The first series contains address books of Juanita Brooks from various dates. This series also includes an alphabetical card file of addresses and phone numbers. The second series contains Brooks's incoming and outgoing correspondence, arranged chronologically from 1928 to the 1980s. These letters are of both a business and personal nature. Diaries of Juanita and William Brooks comprise the third series; these records date from the 1960s and early 1970s.
The fourth series, comprised of boxes 5-7, include drafts and galleys of Juanita Brooks's works. Most of this series is galleys of Brooks's biography of a central figure in the Mountain Meadows Massacre,
The fifth series is comprised of guest books, dating from 1966 to the 1970s. Series 9 includes legal and financial records of both William and Juanita Brooks. This series contains a large amount of Juanita Brooks's tax materials from the 1970s.
The seventh series is comprised of miscellaneous materials, including congratulatory letters written to Juanita Brooks on the occasion of receiving an honorary doctorate from Utah State University in 1964. Series 8 contains various published materials, including copies of several articles written by Brooks as well as reviews of Brooks's works.
The final series, Series 9, is comprised of Levi S. Peterson's own original files and notes on Juanita Brooks, materials which he used in his writing of Brooks's biography:
Levi S. Peterson's Collection of Juanita Brooks Papers, 1827-1987, Utah State Historical Society.
Gift of Levi S. Peterson
The Levi S. Peterson's Collection of Juanita Brooks Papers is the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.
Juanita Leone Leavitt Pulsipher Brooks Papers,
Photographs have been removed and filed as Mss C 1221.