Coming to the U
Affirmative Action
Curley graduated with his MLS in 1971. Throughout his early life, many U.S. academic institutions systemically excluded African Americans, both as students and as faculty. However, as the Civil Rights Movement gained ground in the 1960s, the federal government began to implement policies designed to support minority employees and job applicants. A series of executive orders in the 1960s, issued by presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, called for “affirmative action” on the part of government contractors to ensure equal opportunity for all applicants and employees regardless of race and prohibited employment discrimination based on race.1 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 reaffirmed these policies, and affirmative action policies developed in public universities across the U.S. These policies promoted the hiring of minority faculty and the admission of minority students as a way to counteract the discriminatory policies that had long governed access to academic spaces.2
In the early 1970s, the University was one of many institutions seeking to hire some of their first minority faculty members. Brigham D. Madsen, Director of Libraries at the time, expressed in a memo that he was “particularly interested in adding faculty from minority groups,” seeking Asian, Black, and Chicano librarians in particular.3 A recruitment officer would have reached out to library schools across the country seeking recent minority graduates. Curley was one such graduate, and applied for the job in late 1971. He was a highly desireable candidate, what with his success in his Master's program and the glowing reviews given in his reccomendation letters. He was hired as an Instructor in the Library effective March 15, 1972, with an annual salary of $8,000 (approximately $63,000 when adjusted for inflation).4 He was one of only sixteen Black faculty members across the entire university, and the first MLS-holding Black librarian in the state.5
1972 letter from Brigham D. Madsen, Director of Libraries, discussing the hiring of Curley Jones. Image credits: University of Utah Archives, Acc0526 Curley Jones Faculty File.
Beginning Life in Utah
In 1970, there were approximately 6,617 African Americans living in Utah, making up only 0.6% of the total state population.6 While the Intermountain West has historically been a majority white region, Utah in particular has long had a fraught relationship with its African American population. In his letter recommending the hiring of Curley Jones, provided above, Madsen states that they “explained the unique situation for Blacks in [Salt Lake City] and [Utah]” and “the problems [Curley] may face”.7 At this point in time, the dominant religion in Utah, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon Church) had policies in place preventing Black members of the church from holding the priesthood. This contributed to widespread racism and mistreatment of Black people in the state, whether they were members of the church or not.
Many Black newcomers to Utah, including Curley Jones and Reverend France Davis (who arrived a year after Curley), struggled to find housing that would accept a Black tenant.8 While Utah was largely unfriendly to Black immigrants, especially those who weren’t members of the LDS church, people like Curley were able to find (and form) their own spaces in the Salt Lake Community that welcomed African Americans, including as the Calvary Baptist Church and other majority-Black organizations.