Utah State History News Briefs
Help us identify this historic photo
Nominations being accepted for America's Historic Tree Register
New book! Salt Lake City: 1890-1930 (Images of America)
Odd Fellows moving videos from Utah Heritage Foundation
Grants for small institutions available
Help us identify this historic photo!
This photograph is believed to be a photo of the Salt Lake City Bees baseball team, sometime near the turn of the 20th century. Anyone who can identify the team or members of the team please contact Russell L. Gray at rigprovo@juno.com
Nominations Being Accepted for America's Historic Tree Register
American Forests is asking the public to go online and nominate their favorite tree for a place on America’s Historic Tree Register. This nomination process is not just limited to the public but includes all established historic tree programs and historical societies. This newly created Register will showcase historically and culturally significant trees, in addition to spotlighting trees that have played notable roles in an individual’s life, such as one planted by an ancestor or those climbed as a child.
Trees can be nominated on http://www.americanforests.org/htr/ and can be entered into one of 5 categories: Historic trees – trees associated with a historic or cultural event; Famous people – trees associated with historical, cultural, literary, or artistic figures; Places – trees associated with a historic location, institution, park, or festival; Age – trees that are remarkably old; Unique – trees that are unusual in size, shape, or growing range, have survived through difficult circumstances, or are significant in folklore.
The nominated tree will be published in the Register if its description qualifies for one of the five categories and has supporting documents. If a nominated tree does not qualify for the category, or cannot be authenticated, then it will be listed as a Personal Tree. This separate category is a part of the Historic Tree Program, but not of the official Register. It will include any tree that has a significant meaning to an individual, providing a forum for anyone to share the story of their special tree.
For more information, please contact historictrees@amfor.org or (202) 737-1944.
New Book! Salt Lake City: 1890-1930 (Images of America)
Between 1890 and 1930, Salt Lake City experienced some of the most rapid and profound changes of any city in U.S. history. In its pioneer period, from the beginning of white settlement in 1847 to about 1890, the city struggled against outside pressures to maintain its identity as a self-sufficient Mormon utopian community, with its theocratic government, agricultural economy, and polygamous society. But by the turn of the 20th century, Mormonism had largely abandoned those features, and Salt Lake City was becoming like most other American cities as it embraced capitalism, the evolution of transportation and industry, ethnic and cultural diversity, women’s rights, and modern entertainment.
Melissa Ferguson, curator of manuscripts at the Utah State Historical Society and a doctoral student at the University of Utah, has written this book in collaboration with Gary Topping, professor of history at Salt Lake Community College. The project is a partnership with the Utah State Historical Society and consists mostly of images drawn from the Harry Shipler Photograph Collection held at that institution.
Available online after May 18th, and in stores on May 25th or you can visit Arcadia Publishing website to purchase a copy of the book. Two companion publications featuring the author's favorite pics from the book will be available May 25th: Postcards of America and Calendars of American--a SLC calendar for 2010.
Odd Fellows Moving Videos from Utah Heritage Foundation
The Odd Fellows building in Salt Lake completed a historic move during summer 2009. The Utah Heritage Foundation charted its progress. Click here to see videos of the move.
Grants for Smaller Institutions Available
The National Endowment for the Humanities is offering Preservation Assistance Grants of up to $6,000 to help small and mid-sized institutions improve their ability to preserve and care for their humanities collections, including special collections of books and journals, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings, architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine arts, textiles, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, furniture, and historical objects.
The grants do not require a match. Institutions such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, arts and cultural organizations, and town and county records offices are encouraged to apply. See http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pag.html for more information.
New Hours of Operation
Beginning August 4, 2008, State History, including the Research Center, will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. We will be closed on Fridays. The Research Center will be open these same hours. It will be closed on Saturday. These changes are part of a statewide initiative, Working 4 Utah. Read more about the hours change and Governor Huntsman's initiative.