Archives West Finding Aid

The Manuscript Collection of the Brigham Young College contains yearbooks, publications by students and the college, artifacts, and records from the BYC and from the Brigham Young College Alumni Association. It covers the history of the College from its beginnings in 1877 to its final memorial service in 1926 and even to class reunions in the 1960s. Most of the collection consists of publications, such as the student-edited Crimson and Crimson Annual, and the official College Bulletins and Catalogues.

The collection has been divided in three series: Brigham Young College Publications and Papers, Student Publications and Organizations, and Artifacts. Series I contains the official publications which began in 1884 with the Prospectus. The following year the publication was changed to the Circular and remained so until 1894 when it was renamed The Catalogue of the Brigham Young College. Starting in 1902, the College began publishing a quarterly Bulletin which remained essentially the same until the College closed in 1926. In each year, Number 1 was generally the Catalogue. Numbers 2, 3, and 4 were usually a "President's Report," an "Alumni Edition," and a "Student Directory," respectively, though the order occasionally switched and there was the occasional special edition. The collection of Bulletins is divided between individual bulletins and bound bulletins. Generally the bound bulletins were bound by type, as in Series I, box 7 where the Catalogues are bound, or in box 8 where the Student directories from 1910 to 1919 are bound together. Others, such as Series I, box 6, contain the chronological run. Special Collections received these volumes already bound and in some cases the binding was done rather haphazardly. Thus some of the bound volumes of Bulletins are out of order, but the Index below contains the volume, numbers, and dates for all bound volumes. Also included in Series I are Council and Trustee meeting records and Registers for the administration of the College. box 11 contains manuscript items such as histories, correspondence, and commencement programs. Also included in box 11 is a recorded speech by Professor William O. Robinson given at a reunion in 1969 about his years teaching at the BYC.

Series II primarily contains The Crimson in its monthly and yearly form. The Crimson was published from 1904 to 1926 and contains essays, short stories, poetry, and other items produced by the students. Beginning in 1913, the students published The Crimson Annual, a yearbook for the college. The issues of The Crimson are also separated in bound and unbound copies. The bound copies are generally in order. Also included with these bound volumes is a bound copy of Volume I of The College Record, a student publication that lasted for only a year in 1892. This volume was bound with the 1884 Prospectus, and the Circulars for 1884, 1885, 1890, and 1891, as well as copies of several state and federal laws and LDS Church policies that pertain to the school. In the manuscripts are the minutes and constitutions for five student organizations, the Beacon Light Society, the Webster Literary and Debating Society, the Philomatic Literary Society, the Phae Pollo Lyceum, and the BYC Athletic Association. boxes 5 and 6 pertain to the Brigham Young College Alumni Association and includes its constitution, its treasury records, invitations, and correspondence. Following that is the run of Crimson Annuals from 1913 to 1926 excepting 1922 and 1923 (a number of surplus copies have been transferred to Book Collection #57 which contains yearbooks from around Cache Valley). From 1924 to 1925, The Crimson was published in newspaper format. Those are stored separately along with diplomas and certificates. Finally, two boxes contain a card file kept by the Alumni Association. The first is a record of those who have donated to the BYC Endowment Fund, and the second contains a partial list of graduates, from A to G, and a list of past faculty.

Series III contains artifacts, including such items as banners and flags, as well as a robe, two mugs, and some stationary. One box contains original blueprints and surveys for the college lands and its buildings.

All the photographs that were originally part of this collection have been put into their own collection as the Brigham Young College Photograph Collection, USUSC P0008. Special Collections also has three BYC trophies: an Inter-class Debating trophy, a trophy for Track and athletics, and an Inter-class basketball trophy. These are stored in transfer boxes at the end of the collection. In additions to these two collections, items with relevant information are contained in other collections at USU. There is a Miscellany Book in USU Spec Coll, Mss 238, no 106 which was written by a student at the BYC and contains sports scores and classroom notes. Also, there is an interview with Joseph Meyrick (USUSC PAM C235) who graduated from the BYC in 1920, and relates some stories about life and school in Logan in the early twentieth century.