Agnes Just Reid papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 0365

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection is divided into two sections. The first contains Agnes Just Reid's personal materials, and the second holds correspondence pertinent to her book, Letters of Long Ago.

I. PERSONAL MATERIALS

These papers are divided into two main groups. The first part is Agnes' life. This includes biographical sketches, an oral history, some of her writings, and personal correspondence with her mother. This includes biographical sketches and personal correspondence with her son, her father, and her cousin Lucy in England. These letters with her cousin are paticularly interesting because they tell a brief history of her life during this time. There are also letters from her father, George Thompson, to his grandsons, and the legal papers declaring her divorce from George Bennett final. George also writes a couple of letters to Emma, begging her forgiveness and asking her to please take him back.

II. LETTERS OF LONG AGO MATERIALS

This section is basically correspondence. It contains letters to Caxton Publishers concerning the coyright of Letters of Long Ago, since they published the first edition. There is also correspondence with Dr. Everett L. Cooley concerning another edition (the third), through the Tanner Trust Fund, and miscellaneous correpondence about getting reviews written and some that have already appeared in print. Much of this correspondence is not with Agnes, rather with Dr. Cooley and her son Douglas Reid and others.

Dates

1850-2004

Creator

Reid, Agnes Just, 1886-1976 (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 Sketch

After having four sisters die as babies, Agnes came into the world very much wanted by her mother, father and five brothers. When she was one year old, her family moved into a yellow brick house in Blackfoot, Idaho, where she spent the rest of her life. She grew up in true ranch style, riding horses and driving cattle.

Agnes schooling went as far as the eighth grade, but after skipping High School, she went on to Albion Normal School in Albion, Idaho, and then on to Pocatello Academy to get her teaching certificate. She taught school at Cedar Creek for three years. It was here that she met her husband, Robert E. Reid, whom she married in 1906. They had five sons.

Even as a child, Agnes interest in writing had always been strong. By the time she was old enough to write, she was already writing short stories and poems. As she advanced in school, her talent became more noticeable. At sixteen years old, she sent her first verse to the Idaho Falls Times, but since poetry was not the popular thing at the time, she signed it "Sally." However, the poem was printed, and her career as a writer began.

Not only has she written many short stories and poems, she wrote a column in the Blackfoot newspaper, The Register, for quite a number of years. Many of her poems have been published in The Improvement Era, The relief Society Magazine, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Deseret News, Utah Magazine, and the New West. Her best known writing is her book Letters of Long Ago, a biography of her mother, Emma Thompson Bennett Just, first published in 1923, and again in 1936 by Caxton Publishers of Caldwell, Idaho.

Agnes was a great companion to all those who knew her. She was genuinely interested in people and her grandchildren found their grandmother easy to confide in. She made everyone feel at ease and was a comfort to be around.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Agnes Just Reid papers (1850-2004) consist of a biographical sketch, an oral history transcript (1972), personal correspondence, and biographical sketches and correspondence relating to her mother, Emma Thompson Bennett Just. Included are correspondence and other materials related to the publication of her book Letters of Long Ago.