Manuscript Group 419

Carla Emery Papers

Papers, 1957-2000
4.0 cubic feet

 

Carla Emery donated her papers to the University of Idaho Library between 1988 and 2000.  Marilyn Sandmeyer processed them in March 2007.

History

Carla (Carlotta Louise Harshbarger) Emery was born on January 19, 1939 in Los Angeles and died in Odessa, Texas, on October 11, 2005.  Her family moved to a farm in Montana while she was still an infant.  Carla became a firm believer in self-sufficiency and the “back to the land” philosophy.  Throughout her life, she tried to live by a creed of organic gardening and old style homesteading skills. 

In 1970, she began distributing segments of herself-published book, An Old Fashioned Recipe Book, which went through several editions throughout the 1970s.  Her notoriety took her on the road where she distributed copies of her book and was featured on “Good Morning America,” The Mike Douglas Show,” and “The Tonight Show.”  Bantam Books eventually published her book in 1977, then in its 7th edition.  

 

Carla Emery opened the “School for Country Living” with her first husband Mike on property purchased in Kendrick, Idaho in 1976.  Within a two-year period, the school became victim of a devastating flood, washing out the property and most of the outbuildings. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1985.  Carla married Donald DeLong in 2000 and moved to Arizona.  She remained active in spite of health concerns and toured the country speaking about gardening, raising livestock, and environmental issues.  She continued to write profusely, producing manuscripts, publishing articles and another book in 1998, Secret, Don’t Tell: The Encyclopedia of Hypnotism.

 

On her webpage, Carla wrote down how she would like to be remembered: “She was responsible. She loved a job. She loved being a wife, a mother, and a writer. She worked hard and did her best.”

Scope And Content

The records of Carla Emery span the years 1971 to 1998, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1971 to 1993.

Included in the records are correspondence, manuscripts, videocassettes, various editions of her Old Fashioned Recipe Book, and School of Country Living class schedules.

Arrangement and Description

Carla Emery began donating her papers to Special Collections in 1988.  Until 2000, she continued to send groups of records. The arrangement of Emery’s manuscript group naturally fell into divisions as described below.

Series List

I. Correspondence

Box 1

II. School of Country Living

Boxes 1-2

III. Publications,  Manuscripts, Film, and Audio tapes

Box 2-3

IV. Personal/Legal

Box 3

Inventory

I. Correspondence
Box Folder Description   Items
1

1

Biographical histories

2005-2006

 

 

2

Family

1981-1982

 

 

3

Family

1982

 

 

4

Family

1982,

 

 

5

Family, friends, publishers

1982, 1988, 1990

 

II. School of Country Living
         
 

6

Form letters, class schedules, projects

1976-1977

 

 

7

Newsletters

1976

 

 

8

Old Fashioned Recipe Book – index, form letters, ordering information

1971-1974

 

III. Publications, Manuscripts, Film and Audiotapes
         
 

9

Old Fashioned Recipe Book

1971

 

 

10

Old Fashioned Recipe Book

1974

 

 

11

Old Fashioned Recipe Book

1976

 

 

12

Old Fashioned Recipe Book

1981

 

 

13

Old Fashioned Recipe Book

1993

 

2

14

Old Fashioned Recipe Book, draft of 5th edition index

n.d.

 

 

15

Old Fashioned Recipe Book, additional chapters

1971

 

 

16

Bantam Books contract, correspondence, and schedules

1974-1987

 

 

17

The Encyclopedia of Country Living, Part 1 (video cassette)

n.d.

 

 

18

The Encyclopedia of Country Living, Part 2 (video cassette)

n.d.

 

 

19

The Encyclopedia of Country Living, Master (video cassette)

n.d.

 

 

20

Carla Emery masters of video cassettes  (2)

1994

 

 

21

Manuscript for “The Right One”

n.d.

 

 

22

Manuscript for “In the End there’s a Beginning”

1990

 

 

23

Manuscript for “A Woman’s Life”

1990

 

 

24

Manuscript for “Journey I: The Lady In the Tower”

n.d.

 

 

25

Manuscript for “Part I: The Lady In the Tower”

1992

 

 

26

Manuscript for “Darker Than You Think”

1980-1989

 

 

27

Manuscript for “The Address of Pi(e?)”

1989

 

 

28

Manuscript for “Darker Than You Think” (folder 1)

1991

 

3

29

Manuscript for “Darker Than You Think” (folder 2)

1991

 

 

30

“A Writer: The 3-in-1 Being”

n.d.

 

 

31

Handwritten journals

n.d.

 

 

32

Handwritten journals

n.d.

 

 

33

List of manuscripts/journals by Emery

n.d.

 

 

34

Articles and publications

1989, 1991, 1993

 

 

35

Micro cassettes (5)

n.d.

 

 

36

Audiotape “Pit Battle”

n.d.

 

 

37

Photocopy of “Antisocial or Criminal Acts and Hypnosis” by Paul Reitter

1958

 

 

38

Photocopy of “Hypnotism and Crime” by Dr. Heinz Hammerschlag

1957

 

 

39

Photocopy of “Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control” by John Marks

1979

 

 

40

Photocopy of “Operation Mind Control” by Walter Bowart

1978

 

 

41

Photocopy of “The Control of Candy Jones” by Donald Bain

1976

 

 

42

Manuscript for “Darker Than You Think”

1991

 

 

43

Psychology class papers

n.d.

 

 

44

Hypnotherapy office and letters of support

1990

 

 

45

Charles Tebbetts Hypnotism Training Institute, Inc.

1990

 

 

46

Cassette tape sets: “How To Prepare for the Year 2000”

1998

 

 

47

Cassette tape sets: “The Writing Workshop”

n.d.

 

 

48

Cassette tape: ”The Stories of My Life”

n.d.

 

 

49

Cassette tape: “Trends In the Nation’s Food Supply”

n.d.

 

 

50

Cassette tape: “How To Grow the Greatest Garden of Your Life”

n.d.

 

 

51

Video cassette: “Trends In the Nation’s Food Supply”

n.d.

 

 

52

Video cassette: ”The Stories of My Life”

n.d.

 

 

53

Video cassette: “How To Grow the Greatest Garden of Your Life”

n.d.

 

 

54

Video cassette: “Master Writing Workshop”

n.d.

 

 

55

Video cassette: “Therapy Aspects of Criminal Hypnosis”

n.d.

 

4

56

Compact videos (7)

2000

 

 

57

Book: Secret, Don’t Tell: The Encyclopedia of Hypnotism (2 copies)

1998

 

IV. Personal/Legal
         
 
58

Family tree, will, drawings, negatives, and transcripts

1956-1992

 

 

59

Newsclippings, legal papers, and conference material

1987-1993

 

 

60

Copies of photographs and prints

n.d.

 

 

mg419.htm / March 2007