Sandra Tanner oral history interviews

Collection

Identifier: MS 0413

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Sandra Tanner oral history interviews (No Photocopying) were begun in l979 by Scott Faulring to fulfill the requirements for a historical research and writing course at Brigham Young University. At the completion of the project in l983, the tape-recorded interviews, preliminary transcripts, edited transcripts, and the completed project were donated to the Archives and Manuscripts Department of the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University. Later that year, through the efforts of Dr. Everett Cooley, a copy of the project was placed with the Manuscripts Division at the Marriott Library.

The major part of this project is comprised of ten oral interviews conducted with Sandra Tanner by Faulring from l981-l983. The discussions are chronologically arranged and deal with the history and publications of the Tanner's Modern Microfilm Company.

Additional material accompanying the interviews includes an annotated bibliography of the publications of the Modern Microfilm Company; photocopies of a series of photographs taken at the Tanner home and printing establishment; a selective bibliography of articles on the Tanners and the Modern Microfilm Company; and a number of miscellaneous documents written by Sandra Tanner which detail several episodes in their early history such as their excommunication from the LDS church.

Also included in the collection are several brief interviews including an interview with Sandra Tanner conducted by James Vincent D'Arc; a Sandra Tanner interview conducted by Roger Flick; a Steven Mayfield interview with Scott Faulring; and an interview with Robert Brown conducted by Bill Forrest and Brent Metcalfe.

Dates

1972-1983

Creator

Tanner, Sandra, 1941- (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

Sandra McGee Tanner was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 14 January 1941. Two years later her parents, Ivan and Georgia Young McGee, moved their family to the San Fernando Valley of California, where Sandra was raised. In her youth, Sandra was very active in activities of the LDS Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). She participated in the seminary and institute programs, but in her late teens she began questioning the doctrine and history of the LDS church. In the spring of 1959, while Sandra was in Salt Lake City, she and her grandmother attended one of Jerald Tanner's religious meetings. Jerald (1938-2006), a church member who had became associated with the Church of Christ-Lukites, a splinter group of the RLDS Church (now the Community of Christ) led by Pauline Hancock, held religious meetings in the evenings during which tape recordings of Pauline Hancock's sermons were played. Two months later, on 14 June 1959, Sandra and Jerald were married by a Protestant minister in California. Following her marriage, Sandra requested that her name be removed from the LDS Church membership rolls, and formally left the LDS Church. Sandra and Jerald Tanner founded Modern Microfilm Company in order to disseminate information acquired in their research. The name of the company waas later changed to the Utah Lighthouse Ministry.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (1 Box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Sandra Tanner oral history interviews (1972-1983) is a set of transcripts of interviews with Sandra Tanner conducted by Scott H. Faulring and James V. D'Arc. Tanner, along with her husband, Jerald Tanner, founded the Modern Microfilm Co. in Salt Lake City. Topics discussed in the interviews include Latter-day Saint Church history and doctrine, Jerald Tanner, the Tanner family, Sandra Tanner's writing and other activities, and history of the Modern Microfilm Company. Also included are photocopies of correspondence, photographs, transcripts of converstions discussing Sandra Tanner, and bibliographies of publications. No Photocopying.