Descriptive SummaryMSS 2645Virginia Sorensen (1912-1991), Correspondence
with Wanda Snow Peterson,
ca. 1930-1937
Sorensen, VirginiaL. Tom Perry Special Collections2 boxes (38 letters each)Virginia Sorensen was
born Virginia Eggertsen in Provo, Utah, in 1912. She graduated from Brigham
Young University in 1934, and she also studied at the University of Missouri
School of Journalism and at Stanford University. She married Frederick
Sorensen, but the marriage ended in divorce. She later married the English
writer Alec Waugh and lived with him in Morocco from 1967 to 1980, when she
returned to the United States. Sorensen is best know for her works of
historical fiction that centered on individuals in small-town Mormon society,
including her most recognizable work, A Little Lower than the Angels (1942).
She was also renowned as a children’s author. Sorensen was twice awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship to support her literary research, and received other
literary awards. Virginia Sorensen died on 24 December 1991. Contains 38 pieces of correspondence
written to Wanda Snow Peterson. ProvenanceDonated to the L. Tom Perry Special Collections by Lisa Tait, LaRene
Despain, and Susan Howe in June, 2003
AccessOpen to public without restriction
Conditions of UseIt is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary
copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from Virginia
Sorensen (1912-1991), Correspondence with Wanda Snow Peterson must be
obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry
Special Collections Board of Curators.
Preferred CitationInitial Citation: MSS 2645; Virginia
Sorensen (1912-1991), Correspondence with Wanda Snow Peterson, ca. 1930-1937;
20th and 21st Century Western and Mormon Americana; L. Tom Perry Special
Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
Following Citations:MSS 2645, LTPSC.
Subject TracingsPeoplePeterson, Wanda SnowGenre/FormLettersContainer ListCorrespondence with Wanda Snow Peterson SeriesLetters,
1930-1937BoxFolderContents
11January 27, 1930, 1 page, holograph12December 27, 1930, 1 page, holograph13June 12, 1931, 2 pages, typescript14June 25, 1931, 1 page, typescript15July 14, 1931, 1 page, typescript16July 26, 1931, 1 page, typescript17August 11, 1931, 2 pages, typescript18August 22, 1931, 1 page, typescript19August 31, 1931, 1 page, typescript110October 7, 1931, 2 pages, typescript111October 30, 1931, 2 pages, typescript112November 20, 1931, 1 page, typescript113January 25, 1932, 1 page, typescript114February 12, 1932, 2 pages, typescript115February 26 and March 3, 1932, 1 page,
typescript116April 25, 1932, 1 page, typescript117July 12, 1932, 1 page, typescript118August 6, 1932, 1 page, holograph119November 12, 1932, 2 pages, typescript120No date, 2 notecards, holograph121December 26, 1932, 1 page, typescript122January 21, 1933, 1 page, typescript123February 27, 1933, 1 page, typescript124April 9, 1933, 1 page, holograph125June 16, 1933, 1 page, typescript126July 30, 1933, 1 page, holograph127no date, 2 pages, includes a copy of a printed version
of Virginia’s poem “A Sonnet,” holograph (and the poem is
typescript)128September 19, 1933, 1 page, typescript129January 2, 1934, 1 page, holograph130February 26, 1934, 1 page, holograph131June 4, 1934, 1 card, holograph and
typescript132June 17, 1934, 4 pages, holograph133August 5, 1934, 1 page, typescript134January 4, 1935, 3 pages, holograph135Virginia Sorensen and Beth to Wanda Snow Peterson,
September 25, 1935, 1 page, typescript136February 14, 1937, 1 page, typescript137Wanda Snow Peterson to Virginia Sorensen, April 1933, 2
pages, holograph138Photograph of Sorensen and family, obituary, July 15,
1983 letter to Sorensen's children, small book of poetry