Mosiah Hall papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 0248

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Mosiah Hall papers (1880-1952) mostly deal with education and Hall's time as an educator. The most interesting items in this collection are the two memoranda books Hall kept as institute teacher, lecturer, visitor, and inspector of high schools for the state of Utah. In these, he records details of his visits to various cities and high schools of the state between 1907 and 1912. The rest of the papers include a small amount of correspondence of a very general nature, two notebooks, some articles he wrote on education, a few poems Hall wrote, and several certificates relating to his teaching assignments. One other item worthy of note is a copy of the "Course of Study of the High Schools of Utah Territory" dated 6 October 1894.

Dates

1880-1952

Creator

Hall, Mosiah, 1862-1949 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical / Historical

Mosiah Hall (1862-1949) was an educator who devoted fifty-seven years of his life to the field of education. He was born on 12 March 1862 in Kaysville, Utah, to William and Susanne Felstone Hall. Mosiah Hall began his long career in education in 1889 when he completed the Normal Course at the University of Utah and started teaching school at the age of 18. He later taught high school in Ogden from 1884 to 1888. From 1893 to 1898 he served as the superintendent of Weber County Schools. In 1898 he was appointed professor and head of the Department of Education at Brigham Young College in Logan where he remained until 1905. While there he received his B.S. degree in 1898.

Hall continued his education and in 1902 he graduated from the University of Chicago with a Masters in philosophy and education. From 1905 to 1907 he taught at the LDS University in Salt Lake City. In 1907 he was appointed professor of education at the University of Utah. His duties included lectures at the University as well as lectures throughout the state as institute instructor. In 1908 he was appointed Inspector of High Schools for the state of Utah, a position he held until 1921 when the position was done away with. During his tenure in this position the number of high schools in Utah increased from five to forty-five and the number of pupils increased from two thousand to twenty-four thousand. In 1921 Hall was appointed Director of Vocational Rehabilitation by State Superintendent George Thomas, where he remained until his retirement in 1937. Hall also helped organize the State Teachers Organization.

Hall wrote two books. The first book, entitled Child Study and Training, was the third volume of a three volume set under the series title Parent and Child that was put out by the Deseret Sunday School Union; it was published in 1916. His other book, Practical Sociology, was published in 1918. He also did the Utah supplement for Alex Everett Frye's Complete Geography published in 1896. He was the author of many other pamphlets and articles on education. He also wrote poetry, some of which were published.

Hall married Rose Ann Walton in 1884; they had eleven children, five sons and six daughters. Mosiah Hall died at age eighty-six, on 11 February 1949 in Los Angeles, California, while visiting his son Ernest M. Hall.

Extent

5.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Mosiah Hall papers (1880-1952) deal with education and Hall's time as an educator. The collection contains two memoranda books Hall kept as institute teacher, lecturer, visitor, and inspector of high schools for the state of Utah. The rest of the papers include a small amount of correspondence of a very general nature, two notebooks, some articles he wrote on education, a few poems Hall wrote, several certificates relating to his teaching assignments, and a copy of the Course of Study of the High Schools of Utah Territory.