A dispute over a collection of historical papers possessed by the late historian Leonard J. Arrington has been resolved with a few documents going to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the rest of the 600- to 700-box collection going to Utah State University, where it will be made public on Monday.
Arrington, who died in 1999, taught economics at USU, then worked as historian for the LDS Church and later taught history at Brigham Young University. His family donated his collection to USU with the understanding that the documents would be made public, which was in keeping with Arrington's philosophy.
But questions of ownership and copyright arose between the LDS Church and USU officials when the papers were opened in October, and the university "temporarily sequestered" some of the papers until the situation was worked out.
LDS Church officials presented USU with copies of agreements they said showed that Arrington "clearly agreed" to return and/or surrender certain sensitive documents that he either copied or borrowed while he was employed by the church.
The church and the university then appointed a committee to make recommendations on how to settle the dispute.
At a press conference Saturday, Arrington family attorney N. George Daines said the family had requested this week that USU return certain documents that were mistakenly given to USU. The family then gave those papers back to the LDS Church.
The papers in question include "two small documents concerning matters the LDS Church considers sacred" that detail rites that occur in LDS temples, Daines said. They are part of Heber C. Kimball's dairy and a volume titled the "Book of Anointing."
The other returned documents consist of a "smattering" of minutes of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles regarding a particular topic that Arrington was commissioned to research for a private church study. Daines declined to identify the topic.
"We concluded that these documents were never part of Dr. Arrington's collection, nor did he know these were part of the collection," Daines said. He added that Arrington — whom he described as a "fervent, participating church member" — never intended to donate these particular papers.
Daines said the issue regarding the minutes was not one of content, but of ownership, and that details of how these papers ended up in Arrington's collection are unclear.
Daines said the Arrington family "regrets this error" of giving the minutes to USU but said none of the heirs knew these documents were in the collection.
USU President Kermit L. Hall said the university was concerned about maintaining its academic integrity and independence as well as preserving the integrity of its relationship with the Arrington family. He also praised LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley for his assistance. "The hand of moderation he extended was welcome indeed," Hall said.
The Arrington collection will be a boon to historians and researchers, not only regarding the history of the LDS Church, but also the American West and its settlement, Hall said.
Arrington originally intended to leave his historical collection to Brigham Young University but changed his mind and chose USU as the place for his extensive papers.
"The church is satisfied that the principle issues have been resolved fairly and amicably," said LDS Church spokesman Mike Otterson.
Two of Arrington's heirs, sons James and Carl, were not at the press conference, but daughter Susan Madsen said later, "We're very, very pleased. It's a great day for the Arrington collection and the Arrington family. This is what my father wanted — to have his collection intact."
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com