Oral History Program Dennis Kelley Interviewed by Curt Kelley 22 June 2008 i Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Dennis Kelley Interviewed by Curt Kelley 22 June 2008 Copyright © 2014 by Weber State University, Stewart Library ii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in University Archives. The Stewart Library also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber State College/University Student Projects have been created by students working with several different professors on the Weber State campus. The topics are varied and based on the student's interest or task for a specific assignment. These oral history assignments were created to help Weber State students learn the value and importance of recording public history and to benefit the expansion of the Weber State oral history collections. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Kelley, Dennis, an oral history by Kelley, Curt, 22 June 2008, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: This is an Oral history interview with Dennis G. Kelley. It is being conducted on June 22, 2008 at his home in Morgan, Utah, and concerns his recollections of working for Governor George Dewey Clyde. The interviewer is his son, Curt T. Kelley. CK: Mr. Kelley, why don't you tell us how you became employed by Governor Clyde. DK: I was working across the street of the Governor’s Residence, when they started to build it. An inquiry was made by your mother's father, who I was working with at the time at the Shriner's Hospital as to who was going to take care of the grounds of the Governor's Mansion. I went to the state office at the state capital and inquired at the state greenhouses as to the possibility of going to work. That led to an interview with Governor Clyde's executive Secretary. She interviewed me and I waited a few weeks, then got a call to come to the state capital to be interviewed again. The Governor's mansion was still being built, the landscaping was not complete yet, and I was asked to meet Governor Clyde at the site of the Governor's residence on Fairfax and 11th avenue. After walking the grounds and having an interview (I was attending school at the time and unmarried). He encouraged me to go ahead and apply for the job. The next thing I knew, I was helping move everything from the old Governor's mansion to the new one. CK: You were still in High School at the time? DK: No, I had graduated that spring, this was late in the summer when I started at the Governor's Mansion. CK: Did Granddad work with you at the Governor's residence? 1 DK: No, he worked across the street at Shriner's. CK: How often did you talk with Governor Clyde? DK: I'd see him about every morning, prior to him going to work, unless he was out of town. He'd leave early in the morning-I'd usually get there about 7am. We'd have a conversation about anything special coming up, or any instructions he might have for me. CK: What do you remember about Governor Clyde? DK: Well, he was a stern man, but he was also one that was, at least for me personally, concerned about my welfare and how I was doing. He asked me how school was going (I was going to college at the time). Would ask about the workers (at that time we used state welfare people to help maintain the grounds) and any problems with certain people. He was always there to back me up in the decisions I would make. If someone was not working out, he was there to discuss what to do. He was very fair but stern. He loved the outdoors, and loved to be in the garden. He would come home many times and pick up a hoe, or tool and go out and help in the gardens. CK: Did he ever talk about his time at Utah State, or what got him interested in politics? DK: Well, I think the reason he got involved in politics was his concern for the development of water in our state. He was one of the pioneers that foresaw the need to build dams and reservoirs to save water for summer usage. He was very active in the Lake Powell project, also the Flaming Gorge Project, he was very deeply involved in that. So I feel that a lot of the motivation for going into politics at the time was his engineering skills and his knowledge of hydraulics and the value of water to our dry arid state. He was 2 very conscious of irrigation. We talked many times about proper irrigation and when the residence was built he was very concerned that we had a time clock—which was new at the time—to operate the valves. CK: He was a very avid conservative? DK: Yes, I would say he was very conservative. He was conservative in his own manner of personal things. He was not an extravagant person. He drove the same car for his full term in office. He didn't have any desire for a fancy automobile. He was really concerned at that time, and I forget the date, but there was a period of time when the teachers went on strike. Although he was a teacher, and educator himself, he was concerned about the mandates that the teachers were making, and how they would affect the state. He publicly said he did not believe in some of the things they were asking for. One instance we had one morning when I arrived at work there was a cross burned into the lawn of the Governor's Mansion. When he found out about it, he was mad, but told me to make haste to repair the damage and not to make a big thing about it. He did not want any news publicity. I, of course, felt different, and felt the cross was very inappropriate. CK: You worked for Governor Clyde for both his terms? DK: Yes CK: Throughout his term he was very involved with conservation and other water projects? DK: Water projects yes. He was involved a lot up at Utah State in conservation, not only for water, but also, he was quite active in the wildlife program. I can't remember him going out hunting, he was active in making sure that the state lands were brought about. The 3 state parks, like East Canyon up here, and Utah Lake, were begun by him and were a highlight of his administration. State parks were for everyone, not a select few. CK: So a lot of the state parks we have today were instrumental through him? DK: Well, started through him. The planning and the hopes and dreams, an idea was born in his administration. CK: One of the things you didn't have to worry about when Governor Clyde left office was that you still had a job. What was the transition like from Clyde to Rampton? DK: Yes, there were changes. I was not a civil servant, I was an employee of the governor's office, so my job could have gone to someone else, but I had (the phone rang, so we stopped for a moment). One of the reasons I felt like I moved into the switch was that I was there, and the oldest employee there from Clyde's terms. I signed for all the china and other inventory when we moved to the new mansion, I was fortunate enough to stay. I also helped Governor Clyde with his landscaping at his new home in Salt Lake. We stayed in touch for about a year, but after his home was done, we really didn't have reason to be in contact. I thought a lot of Governor Clyde. He was a hard working person and appreciated when you put in extra effort and let you know it. CK: You participated in the move from the old mansion to the new and back didn't you? DK: No, when I left the Governor's mansion, the Rampton's were still in office when I left to work for Evan's Floral. CK: One last question, what do you think the impact of Governor Clyde has been on the state today? 4 DK: I think his forethought in engineering and planning, especially the water projects, the Colorado water projects. He was very instrumental in those dams, and in the dams down south. Getting Federal funding and the engineering done. The tunnel built in Roosevelt and the Strawberry. This was not completed in his term, and I don't know where it stands now. 5