Manuscript Register

This document describes a collection of materials held by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu

Posted to Internet: March 2000

Acquisition Note: Dorothy M. Johnson gave this collection to the University of Iowa Libraries in 1963.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Photographs: Box 1

Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department.

Copyright:  Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on "Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials"

Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.

Biographical Note

Dorothy M. Johnson was born on December 19, 1905, in McGregor, Iowa. Her widowed mother moved them to Whitefish, Montana, in 1913. Johnson graduated from the University of Montana with a bachelor's degree in 1928. From 1944 to 1950, she edited a women's magazine in New York. Returning to Whitefish, she became the news editor of a local newspaper. In 1953, she joined the journalism faculty at the University of Montana. She is best known for her Western stories. Three of her books, The Hanging Tree, Liberty Valance, and A Man Called Horse , were made into motion pictures. Johnson died in 1984, at the age of 78.

Scope and Contents

The papers of Dorothy M. Johnson consist of two boxes of manuscripts, dating from 1896 to 1958. This small collection includes family correspondence and photographs (1896 -- 1900). There are also typescript drafts, outlines, and correspondence from some of her short stories. One box of manuscripts contains papers which document the writing of The Hanging Tree.