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UC Riverside UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title A History of the Founding of the Institutes of Religion, 1926-1936: A Case Study of a Religious Education Movement in American Higher Education Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9n01r7n7 Author Tomlinson, Terry Lyn Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE A History of the Founding of the Institutes of Religion, 1926-1936: A Case Study of a Religious Education Movement in American Higher Education A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education by Terry Lyn Tomlinson December 2011 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Margaret Nash, Chairperson Dr. Begoña Echeverria Dr. John Wills Copyright by Terry Lyn Tomlinson 2011 The Dissertation of Terry Lyn Tomlinson is approved: _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Anyone who has written a dissertation learns that although at times it is a lonely path that one must tread there are many contributors who make the final product possible. The completion of this degree is the fulfillment of a dream that I have had for many years. I had planned to do this decades ago, but choices and responsibilities did not allow me that opportunity. I want to first acknowledge the loving support of my wife, Sally, and her willingness to allow me the time and space to attend graduate school while working full- time. She has had to endure many sacrifices beyond what should be expected of a spouse; there have been many events and occasions that she has had to experience alone because her graduate student husband had to stay home and study or do research. She helped me in numerous ways, but mainly her emotional support and confidence in me have been immeasurable. I thank my seven children: Diane, Cheryl, Robert, Michael, Gary, John, and Brian for their support. Each child has given me the inspiration to complete this major project. As a father and grandfather, I recognize how important example can be in teaching; I hope that my example in pursuing graduate studies will serve as a model for my posterity. Although my parents, Joseph and Marie Sorensen Tomlinson, loved learning and were teachers all their lives in a church setting, they did not have the opportunity or the means to attend college. Nevertheless, they instilled in their three children the love of learning and the desire to attend college to acquire degrees in higher education. I want to ensure that education and learning are a legacy that I leave to my grandchildren. iv Dr. Margaret Nash, my dissertation advisor, has been a true mentor; it was in her class on “History of American Education” that I realized that a dissertation related to some aspect of the history of education was what I would eventually pursue. Her passion and knowledge of history were models to me, and she continues to be a role model as a scholar and professor. I discovered that she really cares about her graduate students and wants them to reach their potential. Her reassuring words of “You can do this” have enabled me to persevere in moments when I felt I was in a valley of doubt and despair. Her ability to ask the thought-provoking questions has caused me to ponder and rethink my conclusions on more than one occasion. Her comments and suggestions have caused me to write a better study and have helped me to sharpen my focus on what should be the significant issues of my work. I am grateful to the other two members of my committee: Dr. Begoña Echeverria for her passion for clarity as well as Dr. John Wills for his critical comments and suggestions. Both of them are models of careful scholarship and are excellent professors, whose classes have been stimulating and enlightening. In addition to the members of my dissertation committee, I want to acknowledge the other professors in the Graduate School of Education who have guided my studies while at the University of California Riverside. While too numerous to mention each professor individually, the professors who have influenced me the most through their thought-provoking classes are: Dr. James T. Dillon, Dr. Reba Page, Dr. Judith Sandholtz, and Dr. Melanie Sperling. The creation of the History Writing Group (HWG) at UCR was Dr. Nash’s brainchild. She gathered graduate students, professors, and other persons interested in the v history of education and gave us the impetus to gather on a regular basis to share work, to ask for help, to discuss ideas and methods, and to motivate and to inspire one another. It provided, and continues to provide, a venue for sharing which is necessary for creating a learning community of scholars. I am grateful to the core of people who attended and shared their work as well as their feedback to my work. They have been a valuable resource for my growth and learning. One who does research on the history of education must access the primary sources and documents that are the raw materials of the discipline. The sources do not speak for themselves, but without access to them, the educational story cannot be told. I now have a keen appreciation for librarians and archivists who provide so many valuable services for historians. First, at UCR, I want to thank the director of Interlibrary Loan Services, Janet Moores, and her excellent staff. In a very professional and efficient manner, they helped me locate and obtain books, dissertations, theses, articles, etc. all of which have been valuable to my study. Second, I acknowledge the kind assistance of Julie Monroe, Library Assistant in the Special Collections and Archives at the main library at the University of Idaho. While visiting Moscow, Ms. Monroe went out of her way to help me use the library’s collection. Third, at the Latter-day Saint Church History Library in Salt Lake City, I received valuable help especially from Alan Morrell as well as others on their staff and the volunteers who donate their time and talents. Fourth, I want to acknowledge the many staff members in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. I spent many vi hours there reading and transcribing documents that formed the backbone of my study. The staff always treated me professionally and courteously. In addition to the libraries and archives that I visited, I corresponded with or visited individual Institutes of Religion to secure documents about the history of each institute. I want to acknowledge the assistance and cooperation of Dr. Kip Jenkins, the Director of the Institute of Religion at Moscow, Idaho. Dr. Jenkins gave me a tour of the present building and allowed me to photocopy some important documents from their library. He also shared some vintage photographs of the original institute building. Dr. John L. Fowles, an instructor at the Logan Institute adjacent to the Utah State University, shared with me a summary history he authored of the Logan Institute. Jack S. Marshall of the Salt Lake City Institute adjacent to the University of Utah donated a copy of Mary Lythgoe Bradford’s biography, Lowell L. Bennion: Teacher, Counselor, Humanitarian, so that I could understand the beginnings of that institute. Finally, Dr. Robert Lee, director of the Pocatello Institute adjacent to the Idaho State University, sent me some documents related to the history of the Pocatello Institute. I want to acknowledge the cooperation of the administration and faculty in the Continuing Education Division of Santiago Canyon College in Orange, California, where I have taught for the last twenty-two years. During my doctoral studies I have received my colleagues’ understanding and cooperation when I had to lighten my load of committee work and department duties so that I could focus on my studies and research. Their help and cooperation is recognized and appreciated. vii At the end of May of this year, I had the opportunity to present a paper at the Mormon History Association national conference in St. George, Utah. While at the conference I met a doctoral student in Educational Leadership from Brigham Young University, Casey P. Griffiths. I was already acquainted with some of Casey’s publications and I had used his master’s thesis on Joseph F. Merrill in my research. My paper was on the contributions of J. Wyley Sessions to the church education system. Casey informed me of an article he had already published on the same topic, but more importantly, he told me about an oral interview that had been conducted in 1965 with J. Wyley Sessions. Casey graciously sent me his transcript of the interview along with permission to use it in my study; it added some significant details to the story of the founding of the first institute. I acknowledge Casey’s willingness to share data. At the same conference I became reacquainted with another graduate student, Brett Dowdle, who had just completed in April his Master of Arts at BYU in the history department. I had met Brett a year previously at the Church History Library. At that time I discovered that he was looking at the beginning of the entire Mormon supplementary religious education movement—including the Religion Class program, the Seminary program, and the Institute program. He shared with me his thesis; again, I acknowledge his contribution to my understanding of the same movement. My emphasis is just on the Institute portion of the LDS supplementary religious education movement. While conducting my research for this study, it occurred to me that I had met a Jay Sessions while I was an undergraduate at Brigham Young University.