H. Baxter Liebler papers
Scope and Contents
The papers have had, to a degree, an imposed order placed upon them due to the condition in which they arrived at Utah State University. The papers upon arrival had virtually no filing order, with the exception of about four feet of the St. Christopher's Mission correspondence file. This file is the first series of the collection and has been left intact. Although called a correspondence file, this name is somewhat of a misnomer, as the file contains more that just correspondence. In this series resides most of the early records of the mission. These records date from the early 1940's into the 1960s and the documents contain the origins of St. Christopher's Mission to the Navajo. Of interest here is a block of material that details the acquisition of land for the mission. This purchase involved considerable negotiation between authorities of the Navajo tribe, the Federal government, and the state of Utah government and most of the correspondence is in the collection. This file also includes material regarding the Southwest Indian Mission corporation, blueprints, personnel material etc. This block of documents ends mostly in the 1960s.
The second series of records in the collection contain subject files relating to Liebler's personal life and interests, as well as the operations of the Hat Rock Valley Retreat center and his continued involvement with St. Christopher's. This material had no discernable order, thus the decision was made to organize them alphabetically by subject. These documents include Liebler's files concerning his religious concerns over the direction of the Episcopal Church in the United states, as well as his budding interests in the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements withing the Christian community of America. The subject files also include his personal files (taxes, insurance, personal belongings etc.), as well as his written work. This section also contains a small file of Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center and a small file of St. Christopher's file. The next series in the collection is a correspondence series. The letters have been arranged into an incoming and outgoing correspondence file. The incoming material has been sorted alphabetically by surname and then filed chronologically by date. Occasionally large blocks of letters from the same individual were found and these have been filed together under that individual's name and then placed into alphabetical order and filed at the end of each four letter set.
The remainder of the collection consists of newsletters, newspaper clippings, oversized material and reel t reel tape recordings. The newsletters were published by St. Christopher's mission and by the Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center. The St. Christopher's newsletters begin in 1944 and run through 1974, and the Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center newsletters, called messages, run from 1966 through 1985. Finally, the collection has a large block of newspaper clippings about Liebler's work with the Navajo and about pertinent news items to the Navajo or the Episcopal church. These have been filed chronologically by date. The oversized material has been cross referenced to its proper place in the collection. A list of Liebler's reel to reel tapes finishes the register. These tapes cover topics such as Liebler's radio talks, religious services, and historical information about his work. In addition, the collection has one 16mm movie produced in 1949 about St. Christopher's. The film is a silent color movie.
Some newsletters relating to Joan Liebler and documents relating to Bishop Steven Plummer, who was Vicar of the St. Christopher’s Mission several years after Father Liebler’s retirement in the 1960s were added to box 34 in June 2013
Dates
- Creation: 1910-1982
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Restrictions
Open to public research.
Copyright
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Utah State University Libraries, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.
Permission to publish material from the H. Baxter Liebler papers must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head.
Biographical Note
The Reverend Harold Baxter Liebler established a mission to the Navajo Indians at Bluff, Utah in 1943 named St. Christopher's until his retirement in the middle 1960s. Liebler's mission to the Navajo Indians, however, did not end upon his retirement. Instead, he moved into the Monument Valley area of Arizona and established the Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center and St. Mary's of the Moonlight chapel. He resided here, in Monument Valley, until his death in 1982. Liebler, even though operating this new religious site was still intricately involved at St. Christopher's. He was asked to fill both short term and long term vacancies on many occasions after his so called retirement. The papers in this collection focus primarily upon Liebler's activity among the Navajo Indians from 1943 until his death in 1982. Much of the material, in addition to detailing the above work, reflects his work as an Episcopal priest. The collection also chronicles Liebler's life as an Episcopal priest.
Extent
48 boxes (27 linear ft.)
Abstract
Records of the St. Christopher's Mission to the Navajo in Bluff, Utah (1940s-1960s); Liebler's personal papers, including correspondence, writings, and subject files; newspaper clippings concerning Liebler's work; newsletters of St. Christopher's Mission to the Navajo and the Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center (1966-1985); 166 reel to reel tapes of Liebler's radio talks, religious services, and his other works; four 16mm films (silent, ca. 1949, color) about St. Christopher's and Navajo life and customs; Liebler's 1917 diary; and "Brother Juniper's Tales of Navajo land," an account of daily life at the mission with some details of Navajo beliefs, by Charles Hillyer Armour Ford (Brother Juniper).
Arrangement
Arranged in numeric sequence according to box and folder.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was purchased from Joan Liebler in 1986 with funds from the Marie-Eccles-Caine Foundation.
Geographic
Topical
- Missionaries
- Missionaries--Arizona.
- Missionaries--Utah.
- Native Americans
- Navajo Indians--Folklore.
- Navajo Indians--Missions.
- Navajo Indians--Rites and ceremonies.
- Navajo Indians--Social conditions--20th century.
- Navajo Indians--Social life and customs--20th century.
- Public hospitals--Utah--Bluff.
- Religion
- Tales--Southwest, New.
- Utah
- Title
- Guide to the H. Baxter Liebler papers, 1910-1982
- Author
- Finding aid created by Special Collections and Archives.
- Date
- ©2008
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding guide is in English in Latin script.
- Sponsor
- Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008
Repository Details
Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)
scweb@usu.edu