b0541 J. Cecil Alter Papers, 1896-1959 A Register of the Collection at the Utah State Historical Society Utah State Historical Society 1999 Finding aid encode in EAD 1.0 by Craig Ringgenberg using XMetaL 1.0, 1999. Finding aid written in English.

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Utah State Library Division. Utah State Historical Society 1999
Salt Lake City, Utah

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Summary Description Utah State Historical Society Mss B 541 Alter, J. Cecil, 1879-1964. J. Cecil Alter Papers, 1896-1959 3 lin. ft. (6 boxes) Alter was born near Rensselaer, Indiana on 31 March 1879. He attended Valparaiso University, Northern Indiana Teachers' Institute, and Purdue University. After taking a correspondence course from Columbia University, Alter started working for the U. S. Weather Service. He moved to Salt Lake City in 1927 to work for the Salt Lake Weather Bureau. Besides a distinguished career with the Weather Bureau, he was a noted Utah historian. He wrote James Bridger (1925); Through the Heart of the Scenic West (1927), Storied Domain (1932), and Early Utah Journalism (1938). In 1941 he left Salt Lake City to accept a similiar position in Cincinnati, Ohio where he retired in 1949. He died in May 1964 in Los Angeles, California. The collection contains correspondence, travel logs, correspondence and articles and manuscript for James Bridger: Trapper, Frontiersman, Scout and Guide, 1925, and materials related to his career in the weather service. Topics: Historians -- Utah Meteorology Persons: Bridger, James Places: Utah -- Description and travel Background Biographical Note

Alter was born near Rensselaer, Indiana on 31 March 1879. He attended Valparaiso University, Northern Indiana Teachers' Institute, and Purdue University. After taking a correspondence course from Columbia University, Alter started working for the U. S. Weather Service. He moved to Salt Lake City in 1927 to work for the Salt Lake Weather Bureau. Besides a distinguished career with the Weather Bureau, he was a noted Utah historian. He wrote James Bridger (1925); Through the Heart of the Scenic West (1927), Storied Domain (1932), and Early Utah Journalism (1938). In 1941 he left Salt Lake City to accept a similiar position in Cincinnati, Ohio where he retired in 1949. He died in May 1964 in Los Angeles, California.

Scope and Content

The collection contains correspondence, travel logs, correspondence and articles and manuscript for James Bridger: Trapper, Frontiersman, Scout and Guide, 1925, and materials related to his career in the weather service.

Series Descriptions

Correspondence and Personal Papers

Manuscripts and articles by J. Cecil Alter

Jim Bridger related materials

Materials related to weather studies

Miscellaneous Publications

 Administrative Information Preferred Citation:

J. Cecil Alter Papers, 1896-1959, Utah State Historical Society.

Acquisition Information:

Gift of Norma Alter

 Restrictions on Use

The J. Cecil Alter Papers are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.

Processing Information: Collection processed by Linda Thatcher Finding aid compiled by Linda Thatcher Finding aid edited by Linda Thatcher, 2000 Collection cataloged by Linda Thatcher, 2000 (RLIN ID: UTSX00-A10). Finding aid encoded for the World Wide Web by Craig Ringgenberg, 2000. Related collections

See also the J. Cecil Alter Papers, 1920-1959 Mss B 99.

 Separations

Photographs have been removed and filed as Mss C 541.

 Container list Box Folder Contents Correspondence and Personal Papers 1 1 Certificate from Boy Scouts & Board of State History 1 2 Class Notes, 1896 1 3 Correspondence, 1902-1913 1 4 Correspondence, 1930-1938 1 5 Correspondence, 1941-1949 1 6 Correspondence, 1963 1 7 Diary, 1897-1899 1 8 Personal papers which includes birth certificate 1 9 Travel expenses, 1914 1 10 Travel log, 1919-1921 1 11 Travel log, 1922-1924 1 12 Travel log, 1925-1930 1 13 Travel log, 1938 1 14 Trip journals 1 15 Correspondence between Irv Alter and Jut. Crawford, Asst. Chief Naturalist, Zion National Park, 1977-1980 2 1 Bibliographic citations 2 2 Book dealers 2 3 Maps 2 4 Newspaper clipping which includes obituary 2 5 Notes Manuscripts and articles by J. Cecil Alter 2 6 Reprints of articles by J. Cecil Alter 2 7 Mss: "Authorities Choose Southwestern Books" 2 8 Mss: "The Dry Farming Climate" 2 9 Mss: "Enduring Westerns" 2 10 Mss: "History of Utah" 2 11 Mss: "Mormons Write Mormon History" 2 12 Mss: "Preferred Westerns" 2 13 Mss: "Rain-Makers and Rain Records" 2 14 Mss: The Scarcity of Westerns" 2 15 Mss: "Utah: A Scenic Wonderland" 2 16 Mss: "Utah Interest in the Arizona Strips 2 17 Mss: "Western Bibliographies at Work" 2 18 Mss: "Whose Rain?" 2 19 Scrapbook (Mostly contains reprints of Alter's articles) Jim Bridger related materials 3 1 Jim Bridger Articles 3 2 Jim Bridger Purchases 3 3 Mss: Jim Bridger (pp. 1-100) 3 4 Mss: Jim Bridger (pp. 101-200) 3 5 Mss: Jim Bridger (pp. 201-300) 3 6 Mss: Jim Bridger (pp. 301-400) 3 7 Mss: Jim Bridger (pp. 401-500) 3 8 Mss: Jim Bridger (pp. 501- ) Materials related to weather studies 4 1 Weather Gages 4 2 Weather Information 4 3 Weather Log, 1914-1915 4 4 Weather Reports, 1949 (Cincinnati, Ohio) 4 5 Weather Shielded Gage Miscellaneous Publications 5 1 The Observer's Handbook for 1945, 1944 5 2 Your Weather Prospector, 1953 5 3 The Weather Bureau, 1921 5 4 The Salt Lake Region, XVI International Geological Congress, Guidebook 17, 1933 5 5 The Story of Lightning, undated 5 6 Psychromertric Tables for Obtaining the Vapor Pressure, Relative Humidity, and Temperature of the Dew Point, 1915 5 7 Alfalfa Seed Growing and the Weather, Bulletin No. 171, Utah Agricultural College Experiment Station, 1920 5 8 Realm of Flight: Presenting Practical Information About Weather in Relation to the Piloting of Private Aircraft, undated 5 9 Climate and Man: Yearbook of Agriculture, 1941 5 10 W.J. Humprhreys, Weather Rambles, 1937 5 11 Charles Fitzhugh Talman, The Realm of Air: A Book About Weather, 1931 5 12 Griffith Observatory and Planetarium, undated 5 13 Ghost City in Southern California: Lyon Pony Express Museum, undated 5 14 Griffith Observatory and Planetarium, undated 5 15 The Griffith Observer, Vol. XX, No. 2, February 1956 5 16 Weatherwise; Vol. 3, No. 4 August 1950; Vol. 8, No. 6, December 1955; Vol. 10, No. 1, February 1957; Vol. 13, No. 6, December 1960; Vol. 14, No. 2, April 1961; Vol. 15, No. 2, April 1962; Vol. 15, No. 4, August 1962; Vol. 15, No. 5, October 1962 6 1 Instrument Flying Technique in Weather, 1 January 1944 6 2 Summer Weather Data: Design Data, Statistics, Charts, Maps and Technical Analysis, 1944 6 3 Erection Instructions for Rain Gage Steel Tower Supports, 1939 6 4 Retirement Life, January 1964 6 5 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 45, No. 3, March 1964 6 6 Topics, Vol. 23, No. 2, February 1964 6 7 The Federal Employee, Vol. XLIX, No. 1, January 1964; Vol. XLIX, No. 2, February 1964 6 8 The Weather Bureau, U.S. Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau, 1921, 1923, 1926 6 9 Measurement of Precipitation, 1910 6 10 "Methods of Seasonal Weather Forecasting at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography," reprinted from the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, November 1934 6 11 J. Cecil Alter, "Nature-Faking the Weather" 6 12 J. Cecil Alter, "National Weather Service Origins," Bulletin of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, Vol. 7, No. 3, July 1949 6 13 J. Cecil Alter, The Mountain-Snow Survey: Its Genesis, Exodus, and Revelation, reprinted from U.S.A. Transactions of 1940 of the American Geophysical Union [4 copies]