Ivy Williams Stone papers
Scope and Contents
The Ivy Williams Stone papers document the life and literary work of Ivy Williams Stone (1885–1980), an early Utah woman writer born in Peterson, Morgan County, Utah. The collection includes journals, manuscripts, scrapbooks, and biographical materials reflecting Stone’s family history, personal life, and writing career. Stone was a published author of stories and poetry, with works appearing in periodicals including the Improvement Era and Relief Society Magazine. The materials also provide context on her family’s Latter-day Saint heritage and migration from South Africa and England to Utah, as well as her marriage to Moroni Spencer Stone and their five children. The collection offers insight into women’s literary activities, family life, and Latter-day Saint culture in Utah during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Of note is the extensive correspondence while traveling to South American ports in 1950, including during the time of the death of her husband, Spencer.
Dates
- Creation: 1900-2002
Creator
- Stone, Ivy Williams, 1885-1980 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Ivy Williams Stone papers must be obtained from the Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections Section Head.
Biographical / Historical
Ivy Williams Stone was born October 28, 1885 in Peterson, Morgan County, Utah to Joshua Williams and Hannah Martha Green. Ivy's mother Hannah had been born in Jury's Hook, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and her grandmother, Margaret Kirkham Green was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England in 1817. Margaret and husband John had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in South Africa. Margaret and most of her children had made the trek across the ocean and the plains to come to Utah where they settled in Morgan, Utah.
Ivy married Moroni Spencer Stone in 1913 in Ogden, Utah where they lived for many years. She loved to write and published many stories and poems in magazines such as the Improvement Era and the Relief Society Magazine. She had five children: Emerson (who died at age 16 of typhoid), Roland, Josephine, Ralph, and Carol. She died in 1980 in Los Angeles and is buried in the Ogden, Utah cemetery.
Full Extent
2.5 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Papers of Ivy Williams Stone, early Utah woman writer. Includes journals, manuscripts, scrapbooks, and some biographical information.
Arrangement
These materials are arranged into series by type. Writings are in alphabetical order by title; correspondence is in chronological order.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials were donated to USU Special Collections and Archives in 2026 by Bobbie Coray, wife of Ivy's grandson, Dr. Chris Coray.
- Title
- Guide to the Ivy Williams Stone papers
- Author
- Finding aid created by Heather Housley
- Date
- 2026
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Materials in English
Repository Details
Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)
scweb@usu.edu