Lawrence Clark Powell papers
The North American Cowboy, A Portrait, by Cynthia Farah, 1984.
Collection area: University of Arizona
Collection dates: 1890-2001 bulk (bulk 1971-1991)
Collection consists primarily of files maintained by Lawrence Clark Powell during his residency in Tucson and his tenure at the University of Arizona. Includes correspondence, research files, transcripts of talks, and manuscripts of a variety of books and articles. Much of the collection documents his activities at the University of Arizona, as well as writings he completed during the 1970s and 1980s. Selected correspondents include Edward Abbey, Ansel Adams, Bruce Babbitt, and Paul Horgan. Most of the collection is maintained in the original order in which the files were kept by Powell.
Lawrence Clark Powell was a noted writer and librarian. Powell was well-known for his writings on librarianship and the literature of the American Southwest, including books such as Books West Southwest and Southwest Classics. He served as head librarian at UCLA from 1944 to 1961, when he became the founding dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Library Service. After retiring from UCLA, Powell moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1971, where he served as a Professor in Residence at the University of Arizona's newly-established Graduate School of Library Science. He played a major role in the development of the School as well as the University of Arizona Library until the late 1980s. Powell died in Tucson on March 14, 2001 at the age of 94.
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