Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social Sciences

In the Direction of His Dreams: Memoirs by Lowry NelsonReview by: Edith MartindaleInternational Social Science Review, Vol. 62, No. 3 (SUMMER 1987), pp. 143-144Published by: Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social SciencesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41881762 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 143

Lowry Nelson, In the Direction of His Dreams: Memoirs, New York: Philo- sophical Library, 1985, pp. x + 370, $19.95.

Lowry Nelson, in this book, traces the fascinating story of his life from his Mormon childhood on a farm in Utah to his brilliant career as a poet, essayist, editor, educator, researcher, and administrator, eventually making a name for himself in international social science.

In recording the story of his life, Lowry Nelson describes in his own words a sociological picture of what the world was like in the late 19th and 20th centuries. From humble beginnings, he achieved prominence working for the US govern- ment where his assignments directed him not only to the various states, but also to Europe, South America, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

After retiring to Provo, Utah, in 1973 with his wife Florence, he completed two memoirs and turned his research talents to studying millennialism and the social effects of religious fundamentalism. When Florence died in 1981, to fill the vacuum in his life, he undertook the intellectual project of assembling his poetry for publication and working on his essays. In 1983, at the age of 90, he published a collection of his poems entitled Desert Ride and in 1984 brought out a collection of his essays under the title of Errant Essays. With his eyesight failing, he again turned to writing poetry, which had been his first love in the world of letters.

Lowry Nelson was born in Ferron Creek, Utah, in 1893 to mother Mary Artamicia Lowry and father Hyrum Alonzo Nelson, both born in Manti, Utah. Ferron Creek was a Mormon community where his family had settled. In 1908, after completing nine years of public school, he enrolled in Brigham Young Academy, eventually earning aB.S. in 1916 from Utah State Agricultural College. Later, in 1929, he received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wiscon- sin.

As a county agent, founder, and administrator of an agricultural experiment station, he played a vital role in helping to form the basic agricultural institutions of America. During the administration of Franklin Roosevelt, he was appointed member of the Department of Agriculture. He was also a member of the National Planning Association, as well as a delegate to the International Labor Organiza- tion.

In 1921 , Lowry Nelson organized the University Extension Division at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where until 1934 he served as its director. During that period, he was also professor of rural social economics and served as dean of the College of Applied Science. At the University of Minnesota, he was professor of sociology from 1937 until 1958, when he retired. After leaving Minnesota, he taught at various universities throughout the United States as a visiting professor until 1973.

Most of his life Lowry Nelson spent studying farmers and their problems, lecturing and writing about rural America. He was the author of 12 books, eight chapters in books by others, and 81 monographs and bulletins. He was an early advocate of reform in the Mormon Church. In 1951, in an article in the Nation magazine, he called attention to the fact that blacks were not allowed to participate in the priesthood, which eventually resulted in the church liberalizing their policy regarding blacks.

In the Direction of His Dreams consists of two sections. The first is "Boyhood in a Mormon Village" in which Lowry Nelson discusses his ancestors- the Nelsons

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144 INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW

and the Lowrys of Ferron, the settling of Utah, growing up on a farm, life styles, school, and church- and continues through his adolescence. Some of the hard- ships the pioneers in the West underwent are beyond belief. He tells of his paternal grandmother, born in Denmark in 1840, who joined the Mormon Church and emigrated to Utah in 1857. After five weeks on the ocean, she arrived in Philadel- phia, then went by train to Iowa City where emigrants for Utah gathered. There she became part of a Handcart Company with her mother. There were 75 carts in the company. "The morning after her arrival she was assigned to a handcart with six persons, but three were unable to pull, so the pulling fell to her and two others" (p. 113).

The second section, "Eighty: One Man's Way There," is divided into two parts. The first is "Goodbye to Boyhood," which describes Lowry Nelson's going off to school with his brother Victor, college life, World War I, his job in the Extension Service as county agent, editor of a newspaper, and Brigham Young University. The second part, "Marriage, Family, Career," also discusses the Great Depres- sion, the Mormon Church, working for the New Deal, teaching at the University of Minnesota, and his year in Cuba, ending with last will and testament.

Lowry Nelson was a man of decency, rare honor, and common sense, who had a lifetime commitment to liberal movements and causes, always expressing hope for the future. In his poem "Faith Emergent," he set forth his spiritual and philosoph- ical views. Here is an excerpt (p. 370):

"As Homo sapiens becomes mature, Possessed of vastly expanded knowledge, Many cherished myths will vanish, And sectarianism will diminish, Making possible a world with only one faith,

In the long reach of time ahead, nations, With their walls and borders, will dissolve And form a Citizenship of the world,

As said: 'in centuries ahead.' "

On November 21 , 1986, at the age of 93, Lowry Nelson died in Provo, Utah, of causes incident to age. Fortunately, he lived to see In the Direction of His Dreams published and was able to receive the laudatory comments from his colleagues, relatives, and friends.

In the Direction of His Dreams is not only an autobiography, it is a poignant saga of life in late 19th and 20th century America filled with the hopes and aspirations of the pioneers on the Western frontier and their fulfillment. This book should have considerable appeal for everyone, for it provides a rare look at the simpler world out of which America evolved and the changes that transpired in our society along the way. Edith Martindale 2900 West Owasso Saint Paul, Minnesota 55113 USA

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