Descriptive Summary
MSS 2807
Mark Anderson, Sr. (1889-1962) Papers,
ca.
1931-2003
Anderson, Mark, 1889-1962
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
12 boxes, 9 ln. ft.
Anderson was born in
Idaho and married Arlene Stevens in 1918. She passed away in 1925, and he later
married Lillian Gardner in 1926. He was the owner and manager of the Hotel
Roberts, in Provo, Utah, and served as the chair of the Municipal Power
Committee in Provo, Utah. He later served as mayor in the same town from
1935-1941, and from 1946-1947. In between mayoral terms, he accepted a position
as the Utah State Fish and Game Director. He was an active member of the United
States Forest Service and represented forest and conservation groups in various
capacities. He served as the president of the Utah Municipal League in
1940.
Includes Anderson’s personal and
professional papers relating to wildlife, conservation, municipal utilities,
mayoral terms, and politics in Utah from the 1930s to 1950s. Collection
includes newspaper clippings, annual reports, statistical studies of public
power, magazines, speeches, correspondence, and official government documents.
Also contains a biography, written in 2003, entitled Mark, Arlene &
Lillian: A History, by Roberta Ord Anderson, a family and professional history
of Mark Anderson, Sr.
Provenance
Donated by Mark & Roberta Anderson to the L. Tom Perry Special
Collections in 1986 and in 2003.
Access
Unprocessed Collection, restricted without permission from supervisor
of reference services.
Conditions of Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary
copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from Mark Anderson, Sr. (1889-1962)
Papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L.
Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.
Preferred Citation
Initial Citation: MSS 2807; Mark
Anderson, Sr. (1889-1962) Papers, ca. 1931-2003; 21st and 20th Century Western
and Mormon Americana; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young University.
Following Citations: MSS 2807, LTPSC.
Subject Tracings
People
Stevens, Arlene, 1894-1925
Gardner, Lillian, 1906-1982
Anderson, Roberta Ord, 1922-
Places
Provo (Utah)
Genre/Form
Letters
Pamphlets
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Speeches, addresses, etc.
Subject
Electric power--Utah--Provo
Electric power--Conservation
Wildlife conservation
Provo (Utah)--Politics and government
Container List
Personal and Professional Papers
Personal and Professional Papers,
ca.
1931-2003
Box
Contents
1
Separate, tied files, all containing correspondence,
newspapers articles, and other professional documents. File labels include:
“Flood Control, Forest Watersheds,” “Public Lands: Republican Platform Pledge,”
“Public Lands: Legislation proposed by Stockmen,” “Public Lands: Newspaper
Editorials,” “Public Lands: Revenues,” “Public Lands: Bernard De Voto,” “Public
Lands: Personal Notes,” “Public Lands: Provo Kiwanis,” “Public Lands: National
Wildlife Federation Reports,” “State Lands,” “Public Lands: U.S. Chamber of
Commerce,” and “Public Lands.”
Also includes separate manila folders, each including
newspaper articles, pamphlets, correspondence, speeches labeled: “Reclamation,
TVA, Hoover/California, Grand Coulee, Bonneville [deals mainly with water &
power issues],” “Power file #2 [dealing with the move to build a Provo
Municipal Power Plant,” “Utah Foundation/Taxes,” “Taxes and City Power,” “City
Water,” “1936 Power Fight Clippings,” “Utility Board,” “Granger Act—1939,
Revenue Bonds, Private Power Monopoly Opposed to Revenue Bonds Financing By
Cities and Towns,” “Power File #2 Legislation,” and “Revenue Bonds, Granger
Act.”
(1935-1960)
2
Contains an unmarked file with papers, speeches,
newspapers, and correspondence related to the Granger Act, Municipal Power, the
debate on differing Governmental systems for Provo, UT, Anderson’s mayoral
campaigns, and the Forest Service. Includes a collection of poetry, written by
W. M. Wilson, entitled Star of Hope and Flights of Fancy. Contains the
following files: “Mark Anderson, Mayor, Convention Programs/Municipal League,”
a copy of the 1961 petition to revamp the Provo government, “Speeches and
Statements,” newspapers from the 1961 election period, fish and game materials,
a 10 November 1961 issue of Time, flyers for Provo governmental change,
TVA/Dixon Yates materials, political journals, and Columbia Basin (OR & WA)
water projects.
(1933-1961)
3
Contains files on: “Hell’s Canyon and general Water and
Power,” “Snake River,” “Pacific California, Shasta,” “Indian Lands,” “City
Manager,” “World War 1 & 2,” “Weber & Bear River,” “Transmission,”
“Kennedy,” “Primary,” “First Council Election—1955, Primary—Tue Oct 25,
Final—Tue Nov 8,” “Court Action on Charter Repeal,” the charter of Provo’s
“Council-Manager” municipal government, and conservation and forestry papers.
Bulk consists of Provo municipal papers (taxes, governmental structure changes
(including the 1961 referendum), municipal utilities, Provo historical
records). Papers include handwritten notes, correspondence, speeches, and
political items (local, national, and international).
(1937-1972)
4
Contains files labeled: “Radio on Deer Problem,”
“Republican Party and Democratic Party Conventions and Campaigns, 1952,” “Deer
Creek,” “National Forests,” “Charter Repeal,” “Charter Repeal—1961,”
“Manuscripts: Handwritten,” “Newspaper Clippings,” “City Budget and Electric
Department Operating Records (1961),” “Epperson,” “Possible Copy for Fourth
Issue of Charter Repeal,” “Carbons of Third Issue [charter repeal],” “Orval,”
“Charter Repeal, 3rd Issue,” “Charter Repeal, 2nd Issue,” and “Kiwanis.” Also
includes Provo City Corporation and municipal utility reports, handwritten
editorials, federal legislative papers, texts of speeches, and numerous copies
of The Charter Repeal.
(1938-1970)
5
Contains files labeled: “Centennial Booklet,” “Sewage
Disposal,” “Taxation Rates,” “ Also includes numerous newspaper clippings
regarding the building of Provo’s power plant, handwritten notes and
editorials, a copy of the 1955 Provo City Charter, 22 copies of Provo’s annual
report of city affairs (1936-1946), four copies of Provo City Power’s annual
report (1942-1955)
Also contains the following books:
Footnotes on Nature, by
John Kieran
The Logan City Light Plant,
by Leon Fonnesbeck
Wildlife of Idaho, by
William M. Rush
Elk Below!, by Orange A.
Olsen
Trees: Yearbook of Agriculture,
1949, by the United States Department of Agriculture
Wildlife Management Handbook For
Forest Officers, Region 5, 1947
(1936-1961)
6
Seven copies of The American City (1952-1953), Four
folders of Utah newspaper clippings, mostly referring to Provo politics, Provo
City Annual Report (1962), Municipal profit/loss reports (1960), speech texts,
and old newspaper articles on municipal utilities. Files labeled: “1936 News
Clippings,” “Power Fight: Letters to and from Rankin and Borak,” “Power 1936,”
“Power Survey 1933-1936,” “Power Fight, 1935,” “Utah Power Clippings,”
“Whitehead,” “1946-1947, Fourth and Last Term as Mayor,” “Proposed Amendments
to [Provo] Charter,” and “1947 Primary Including Vote on Fourth Unit Bonds,
October 21, 1947”
(1933-1962)
7
Include files labeled: “Fish and wildlife,” “National
and State Election Returns,” “Reclamation,” “Water and Power general
information,” “Reclamation: Politics and Policy,” “Envelope #1: Correspondence
between Anderson and the John Nuveen Company,” “Envelope #2: Correspondence
between Engineer Jacob and John Nuveen Company,” “Envelope #3: Correspondence
between Anderson and Ulen Contracting Corporation,” “Envelope #4:
Correspondence between City Engineer Jacob and Ulen Contracting Corp,” “Private
Power Case,” “Aluminum Shortage,” “Boulder Dam,” and “Deer Creek.” Also
contains conservation, reclamation, and CVA literature, and Provo City
Corporation revenue reports.
(1931-1957)
8
Contains information on the Colorado River, central
Utah, the Hoover Dam, local politics (speeches, correspondence), Utah water
news, Utah natural resources and utilities (including the steel plant),
wildlife and big game policies, conservation, Deer Creek, statistical studies
on municipal utilities, the 1945 Provo election, and the TVA.
(1936-1960)
9
Includes files entitled: “1947 Election,”
“Elections—special,” “1939 Election,” “1937 Mayor Election,” “1937 Election,”
“Water and Power Developments in Foreign Countries,” “Public Power Districts,”
“Power Fight,” “St. George Electric Company,” “1940 City Plant,” “Power Study,”
“Power Study,” “Good Will,” “City Manager,” “City Election 1959,” “Conservation
Lecture,” “Other Cities,” “1935 and 1936 Elections,” and “Coleman, Power
Study.” Contains municipal power documents, municipal politics papers, and two
copies of In the Supreme Court of the State of Utah (considering the case
between Utah Power and Light Company and Provo City re: a municipal power
plant).
(1935-1959)
10
Contains folders labeled: “Envelope #1: Correspondence
between Anderson and the John Nuveen Company,” “Envelope #2: Correspondence
between Engineer Jacob and John Nuveen Company,” “Envelope #3: Correspondence
between Anderson and Ulen Contracting Corporation,” “Envelope #4:
Correspondence between City Engineer Jacob and Ulen Contracting Corp,”
“Consumer Power,” “Municipal League,” “1940—Plant Starts Operating,” “Civil
Service, Federal,” “Draft Board Assignment—1940,” “Municipal League,
1939-1940,” “City Finances,” “Stassen,” “Dewey,” “Taft,” and “WPA.” Also
includes federal papers on reclamation and conservation, a dozen copies of
Public Power, and papers on international and federal politics.
(1935-1958)
11
Contains various reference, tax, and organization books,
as well as a plate of a political cartoon. Includes fourteen copies of Provo’s
annual report of city affairs (1936-1948), a few annual reports of Provo
Electric Power, and various other political and conservational pamphlets. Also
includes One (1) copy of Mark, Arlene & Lillian: A
History, by Roberta Ord Anderson [family history of Mark Anderson, Sr.,
his family, and his professional life]. Also includes seven black and white
photographs, circa 1938-1947. Three photographs are of the City Council
inspecting a golf course, while three illustrate the development of Provo,
including the airport and boat harbor.
(1936-2003)
12
(Oversized) Two scrapbooks of newspaper articles related
to Anderson’s personal life and political career.