Item Detail
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Booth, Morna Lamayne Hamaker
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1922-
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MSS 827
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Biography
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Morna Lamayne Hamaker Booth was born in Vernal, Utah to Elizabeth and Levan Hamaker on January 1, 1922. When she was eight years old, she and her family moved to a forty-acre farm in Fort Duchesne. She attended school there until her family's lease ran out. Thereafter, the family moved into a garage, and then a three- bedroom house for two years, and then to Bennett, where Morna attended seventh and eighth grade. She attended eight grade twice because she could not afford high school, where also worked as a janitor. Following, she received a scholarship to Carbon Jr. College. She attended the college and served as vice president of the Mademoiselle club before winning a scholarship to the University of Utah in Logan, where she worked at a cafe. After attending for a year, she worked at the post exchange in Ogden for two years. In 1944, she married Joseph Franklin Booth, and in January of 1946, they moved to Port Jefferson, New York, where they had a child. In 1947, they returned to Logan, where Morna worked at a telephone office. The family moved to Dragerton, where Morna taught school. Another child was born in 1950, and in 1953, Morna and Joseph separated, and Morna went to live with her mother in Dugway. She had a child that year and also began divorce papers. She worked as a telephone operator before moving to Laketown, Utah, where she taught school in the winter, and attended school in the summer. In 1957, she moved to North Logan, where she moved to North Logan, where she worked as an assistant manager at a cafeteria and attended school at the A.C. In August of 1959, she moved to Grantsville, where she taught, and in that same year, finally received her bachelor's degree.
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Part of the J. Allen Parkinson collection, this is a three-page typescript biography written by one of Morna's children. It is located in the third of the collection, which is labeled, Biographies, Ba-By. The manuscript describes Morna as a very studious and intelligent student, having received various scholarships in her high academics. While attending college, Morna had an incredibly rigorous schedule, as she worked nights, studied early in the morning, and attended school for the remainder of the day; according to the schedule written in the manuscript, she only slept three hours a night. The manuscript, as written in 1960, concludes with Morna living in Grantsville, teaching.