Guide to the Hannah Claire Haines papers

Hannah Claire Haines was born on a ranch near Saratoga, Carbon County, Wyoming on July 15, 1891 to Harrison Winfield Haines and Anna Barbara Becker Haines (married September 16, 1890). In 1900 the family moved to Santa Cruz, California and remained there until 1905 when her family moved to St. Anthony, Idaho. There her father managed the Riverside Hotel and Claire graduated from the St. Anthony High School on May 21, 1909. Shortly after graduating, Claire dropped her first name "Hannah" and in official documents and newspaper articles the name "H. Claire Haines" and "Claire H. Haines" begins to appear.

Since nursing and teaching were virtually the only professions open to women at the time, Claire's father urged her to enter into nurse's training. Claire came to Salt Lake City in 1910 where she enrolled in the Holy Cross Hospital Training School for Nurses and graduated on May 23, 1912.

After working as a nurse for a few years, Claire decided nursing was not for her. She went back to St. Anthony, Idaho for a few years and persuaded her father to let her become an accountant. Returning to Salt Lake City in 1915, she took a special business course, an extension course in accounting from the University of Utah, and an accounting course from the Walton School of Commerce in Chicago.

When Claire first canvassed accounting offices for work, the men who sat in the swivel chairs laughed. "A woman public accountant? Unheard of!" Undaunted, she opened her own accounting office and passed the Utah Certified Public Accountant exam in 1923, becoming the first woman to do so. Later, she was hired by Haskins and Sells, a national accounting firm. They soon recognized her talent and sent her to their head office in New York City. After a few years, she took a position with Bead Chain Manufacturing Co. in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the firm that made the familiar chain strings for lamps. In 1929, she moved to Chicago where she specialized in hotel and property management accounting. In 1935, she returned to Salt Lake City to assist in the care of her aging parents. For the next 20 years, she conducted a private practice from an office in the Union Bank and Trust Co. building. From 1954 until 1957 she was both a director and an accountant of the Union Bank and Trust Co., Salt Lake City. She remembered, "The men just did not know what to do with me—whether to accept me as one of them or to treat me with kid gloves. It often led to amusing (and sometimes embarrassing) situations. But eventually the've come to adjust themselves to the fact that women are in the business world to stay." She continued to work in Utah until her retirement in 1973 when she moved to California.

She was a member of the American Institute of Accountants, National Association of Bank Auditors and Controllers, Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants, American Women's Association of CPAs, and Business and Professional Women's Club of Salt Lake City, a club she was instrumental in establishing. In her later life, she also traveled extensively.

One of Claire's great loves was Westminster College. She admired the efforts that were made to provide an education to women. She donated often and always enjoyed hearing from the scholarship recipients. She also contributed to the building fund for Malouf Hall, the original home of the nursing program on the Westminster College camplus.

Hannah Claire Haines died on November 12, 1974 at a retirement home in West Covina, California at the age of 83. In her will she gave a gift of $100,000 to the Westminster College Endowment Funds to be used for general purposes, as well as a $25,000 gift to the Westminster College library. Her obituary stated that "contributions may be made to Westminster College in her name". A portrait of Claire Haines by Lauren Spalding, unveiled at Westminster College in 1976, hangs in Bamberger Hall on the Westminster campus.

Sources of biographical note:

• Josephine Starling's biography of Haines (Box 1, Folder 1 of this collection)
• Hales, David. "Giovale Library receives rich archival collection", Westminster Review, 2006 Fall issue, viewed online July 2, 2015
• Materials in Box 1, Folders 1 and 18 of this collection

This collection consists of the papers of Hannah Claire Haines (1891-1974). Haines was a Utah nurse and later an accountant, who in 1923 was the first woman to pass the Utah CPA examination. The materials, dating 1884-2015, include a 10-page biography of Haines by her cousin Josephine Starling, several certificates relating to Haines' professional and educational careers in general education, nursing, and accounting. The collection mainly consists of photographs taken throughout Haines' life and awards, diplomas, and certificates she received. There are also some letters to Haines from students who received awards from gifts she gave for Westminster scholarships (Haines, in her will, gave a scholarship memorial endowment, and a gift to the Westminster College library).

Restrictions on Access:

Open to public research.

Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Twenty-four hours advance notice is encouraged.

Restrictions on Use:

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material must be obtained from the director of the Giovale Library.

Preferred Citation:

Hannah Claire Haines papers, 1884-2015, MSS-014, Giovale Library Archives, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically; undated materials precede dated materials.

Acquisition Information:

This collection was prepared and donated to Westminster College in 2006 by Mrs. Josephine Starling of Arlington, Virginia, a cousin of Hannah Claire Haines.

Processing Note:

Processed September 2007 by Charlene Newbold. Originally arranged alphabetically by subject. Oversized materials have been removed and placed in a second box (Box 2 oversized). Rearranged chronologically in July 2015 by Sarah Shaw, retaining Box 1 for regular-sized materials and Box 2 for oversized materials.

Creator:

Haines, Hannah Claire, 1891-1974

Language:

Collection materials are in English.

Quantity:

0.5 linear feet

Language of the Finding Aid:

English.

Author of the Finding Aid:

Finding aid written September 2007 by Charlene Newbold; expanded July 2015 by Sarah Shaw.

EAD Creation Date:

2015 June 18 by Sarah Shaw

Standard:

Describing Archives : A Content Standard (DACS)

Subarea:

Related Material:

Related photographs in Giovale Library Archives:

• Photograph of Claire Haines, 1909
• Photograph of Hannah Claire Haines, High School graduation
• Photograph of H. Claire Haines, 1912 (in nurse's uniform)
• Photograph of Claire Haines (mid-life)
• Photograph of Hannah Claire Haines (late in life)
• Photographs of Anna Barbara Becker Haines and Harrison Winfield Haines

Corporate Names:

American Institute of Accountants
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Holy Cross Hospital (Salt Lake City, Utah). Nursing School
Utah State Board of Examination and Registration of Hospital Trained and Graduate Nurses
Westminster College (Salt Lake City, Utah : 1902-1983)--Benefactors
Walton School of Commerce

Subject Terms:

Accountants--Utah--Salt Lake City
Nurses--Utah--Salt Lake City
Women accountants--Utah--Salt Lake City--History--Sources
Women benefactors--Utah--Salt Lake City--History--Sources
Women in business--Utah--Salt Lake City--History--Sources

Form or Genre Terms:

Biographies (documents)
Certificates
Clippings (information artifacts)
Diplomas
Medals
Obituaries
Photographs
Pins (jewelry)

Personal Names:

Haines, Hannah Claire, 1891-1974--Archives
Starling, Josephine

Geographical Names:

Salt Lake City (Utah)--History--Sources