May 19, 2018 Dr. Eldon Dorman, Carbon County Oral Histories
By Anna Neatrour
One of the hazards of working on metadata for digital collections is getting distracted by the items you are describing, and spending more time than you should reading them! I was working on the metadata for the Carbon County Oral History collection some time ago, and was drawn in to read one of these oral histories in particular, from Dr. Eldon Dorman. Dr. Dorman’s account of providing medical care for mine workers is incredibly interesting, as is his work in supporting paleontology and archaeology in Utah. You can learn more about his fascinating life in his obituary in the Deseret News.
As I was reviewing the items in the collection, I was struck immediately by the table of contents in this oral history, particularly this part:
Oral History Table of Contents
How could I not want to spend a little bit of extra time learning about Crazy Jim and the Stabbings? Jim caused issues by putting his sheep up to pasture near the water supply for the mining town, creating pollution problems until his sheep met an untimely end. The stabbing referred to involve a story about a man named Big John, who had a run-in with another man who “seemed to be knife happy”. Dr. Droman’s oral history is filled with interesting stories, and I encourage you to spend some time reading it. Encounters with primary sources like this make working with digital collections very rewarding!
Due to the Marriott Library’s partnerships with the Department of Heritage and Arts, there are a few more materials relating to Dr. Dorman that are hosted on our digital collections repository.
Here’s a photo of Dr. Dorman making a house call in 1938 from the Department of Heritage and Arts Classified Photos collection.
Dr. Eldon Dorman photo, from the Utah State Historical Society, Department of Heritage and Arts
You can also learn more about health practices in Carbon County and some of the other doctors that practiced there, as well as further mentions of Dr. Dorman, in another collection from the Department of Heritage and Arts, Historic and Prehistoric Publications, which features A History of Carbon County.
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