c0541 J. Cecil Alter Photograph Collection, ca. 1910-1940 A Register of the Collection at the Utah State Historical Society Utah State Historical Society 2006 Finding aid encode in EAD 1.0 by Craig Ringgenberg using XMetaL 1.0, 1999. Finding aid written in English. 2006 Rearranged

The machine-readable finding aid for this collection was created by the

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with financial assistance from an LSTA grant provided by the

Utah State Library Division. Utah State Historical Society 2006
Salt Lake City, Utah

Copyright Utah State Historical Society. All rights reserved. Reproduction, storage or transmittal of this work, or any part of it, in any form or by any means, for commercial purposes, is prohibited without prior authorization of the Utah State Historical Society. This work may be used for scholarly and other non-commercial use provided that the Utah State Historical Society is acknowledged as the creator and copyright holder.

Summary Description Utah State Historical Society Mss C 541 Alter, J. Cecil, 1879-1964. J. Cecil Alter Photograph Collection, ca. 1910-1940. 10.5 lin. ft. (21 boxes) J. Cecil 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. His photographs include prints, negatives, slides of Utah, the West, and Midwest (Ohio, Kansas), and post cards collected from his travels. Topics: California Cities and towns Grand Canyon Meteorology Oregon Snow Utah Water West (U.S.) Places: Utah -- Description and travel -- Photographs. The West--Description and travel--Photographs Background Biographical Note

J. Cecil 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

Photographs, negatives, post cards, slides of Utah scenes, the West, the Midwest, and Meteorology.

 Series Descriptions

Photographs

Postcards

Albums

Miscellaneous

Stereographs

Glass Lantern Slides

 Administrative Information Preferred Citation:

J. Cecil Alter Photograph Collection, ca. 1930-1940, Utah State Historical Society.

Acquisition Information:

Gift of Norma Alter

 Restrictions on Use

The J. Cecil Alter Photograph Collection is 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 Susan Whetstone, 2006 Finding aid compiled by Susan Whetstone Finding aid revised by Susan Whetstone, 2006 Finding aid edited by Linda Thatcher, 2006 Collection cataloged by Linda Thatcher, 2000 (RLIN ID: UTSX00-A11). Finding aid encoded for the World Wide Web by Craig Ringgenberg, 2006. Related collections

The photographs in this collection were separated from Mss B 541.

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

 Container list Box Folder Contents Photographs 1 1 Abbe, Cleveland 1 2 Alfalfa Seed Station 1 3 Alta (Utah) 1 4 Alter, J. Cecil 1 5 Arches 1 6 Automobiles 1 7 Bear Lake 1 8 Beaver (Utah) 1 9 Beaver Dams 1 10 Berkeley (California) 1 11 Blanding (Utah) 1 12-13 Blanding area--Natural Bridges 1 14 Bluff (Utah)--Kumen Jones 1 15 Bluff (Utah)--Twin Buttes 1 16 Boy Scouts 1 17 Bridger, Jim--Monument 1 18 Cable Car--Cable Mountain 1 19 Cache Valley 1 20-22 California 1 23 Callville Fort 1 24 Cape Ferry (Virginia) 1 25 Cape Henry and Elizabeth Beach 2 1 Castle Gate (Utah) 2 2 CATALO 2 3 Cheyenne (Wyoming) 2 4 City of Rocks 2 5 City Creek Canyon 2 6 Clear Creek (Utah) 2 7 Clouds 2 8 Corinne (Utah) 2 9-10 Corona (Colorado) 2 11 Cove Fort 2 12 Custer National Monument 2 13 Davis, Mrs. Ida T. 2 14-15 Denver (Colorado) 2 16 Fort Deseret 3 1 Dinosaur bones 3 2 Dinosaur quarry 3 3 Donner Trail 3 4 Echo Canyon--Devil's Slide 3 5-6 Eclipse--solar 3 7 Faust (Utah)--Pony Express 3 8-11 Fish Lake 3 12 Fort Bridger 3 13-14 Fort Supply 3 15 Fountain Green (Utah) 3 16 Fraser, George--Family 3 17 Fruita (Utah) 3 18-21 Grand Canyon 4 1-6 Grand Canyon 4 7 Granger (Wyoming) 4 8-9 Great Basin Experiment Station--Ephraim 4 10-11 Great Salt Lake 5 1 Green River (Utah) 5 2 Gregg, Willis Ray 5 3 Gunnison Monument 5 4 Harper (Utah) 5 5 Hickman, Bill--Monument 5 6 Hole-in-the-Rock 5 7 Hot Pots--Midway 5 8 Hurricane (Utah) 5 9 Jackson Hole (Wyoming) 5 10 Johnson, Zeke 5 11 Jordan River 5 12 Justin, Miner 5 13 Kimball, Heber C.--Gravestone 5 14 Kimberly (Utah) 5 15 L.D.S. Church 5 16 Lee, John D.--Gravestone 5 17 Lethbridge (Canada) 5 18 Lightning 5 19 Lowther, William Ernest 5 20 McColly, Fred--Family 5 21 Maple Creek 5 22 Marvin, Charles F. 6 1-8 Medford (Oregon) 6 9-12 Mesa Verde 7 1 Mohave Desert 7 2 Molybdenum Mine--Utah 7 3 Monument Valley 7 4 Moore, L.C.--Trips 7 5-6 Mt. Shasta (California) 7 7 Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods (California) 7 8 Mountain Meadows (Utah) 7 9 Mud Slides 7 10 Native Americans 7 11 Nebraska-Dakotas 7 12 Nephi Canyon 7 13 Ogden (Utah) 7 14 Ogden, Peter Skene--Monument 7 15-16 Oil Refining--Wyoming 7 17 Ouray, Chief 7 18 Pack trip 7 19 Parowan Canyon, petroglyphs 7 20 Parowan Gap--Petroglyphs 7 21 People 7 22 Perkins Peak 7 23 Pictographs 7 24 Pikes Peak (Colorado) 7 25-26 Placer mining 8 1-2 Portland (Oregon) 8 3 Promontory (Utah)--Monument 8 4 Provo Canyon 8 5 Rabbit Brush 8 6 Rockwell, Orrin Porter--Daughter 8 7 St. George (Utah) 8 8-9 Salt Desert 8 10-15 Salt Lake City (Utah) 8 16 Salt Lake City area 8 17 Salt Lake Municipal Airport 9 1-8 San Francisco (California) 9 9 Sheep/wool (Jericho, Utah) 9 10-13 Silver Lake 10 1 Slade, Joseph A. 10 2-3 Smoke--Salt Lake Valley 10 4-7 Sow gauges 10 8 Snow Shoeing 10 9-11 Snow Survey--Maple Creek 10 12 Snow Survey--Sevier River 10 13-14 South Pass (Wyoming) 11 1-6 Southern Utah 11 7 Stock yards--Union 11 8 Stockton (Utah) 11 9 Strawberry Reservoir 11 10 Tahoe, Lake--Virginia City 11 11 Thew, Robert Garrett--Family 11 12 Timpanogos Cave and Mountain 11 13 Tulsa (Oklahoma) 11 14 Twin Peaks (Utah) 11 15 Tyler, W.A.--Christian Science class 11 16 Uinta County 11 17 Utah--General scenery 11 18 Utah Fire, Clay, Mud Mine 11 19-20 Utah Power & Light--Bear River System 11 21-22 Utah Power & Light--Terminal 12 1 Vernal, Jensen, & Ouray, Utah 12 2-5 Washington, D.C. 12 6-7 Wayne Wonderland 12 8 Weather Bureau--Central Offices 12 9 Weather Bureau--First Canopies 12 10-13 Weather Bureau Co-operative Stations, Utah: A-H 13 1-3 Weather Bureau Co-operative Stations, Utah: I-N 13 4-9 Weather Bureau Co-operative Stations, Utah: O-Z 13 10-12 Weather Bureau Co-operative Stations, Wyoming 14 1-3 Weather Bureau--Instruments 14 4 Weather Bureau--Office (Cincinnati, Ohio) 14 5 Weather Bureau--Office and men 14 6 Weather Bureau--Stations 14 7-12 Wichita, Kansas--Exposition (weather) 14 13 Wyoming--Monuments 14 14 Wyoming--Snow blockade 14 15 Yellowstone National Park 14 16 Zion National Park Post cards 15 1 Boulder Dam 15 2 California--Death Valley 15 3 California--Los Angeles 15 4 California--Oakland 15 5 California--Redwoods 15 6-9 California--San Francisco 15 10 California--Santa Cruz 15 11-12 California--Southern 15 13-16 Colorado 15 17 Kansas 15 18 Maryland--Annapolis 15 19 Maryland--Baltimore 16 1 Mesa Verde 16 2 Tijuana (Mexico) 16 3 Montana 16 4 Nevada 16 5 North Dakota 16 6-7 Ohio 16 8 Oregon 16 9 Union Pacific Railroad--Omaha, Nebraska 16 10-11 Utah 16 12 Washington--Seattle 16 13-17 Washington, D.C. 16 18-19 Yellowstone National Park Albums 17 1 The West--Desert areas (1-88) 17 2 Meteorology (1-117) 17 3 Southern Utah-Grand Canyon (1-204) 17 4 Southern Utah (photocopies of folder 3) 17 5 Southern Utah--1922 trip (1-65) 17 6 Zion National Park (1-18) Miscellaneous 18 1 Agriculture 18 2 Alter, J. Cecil home 18 3 Family photographs 18 4 Family album 18 5 American Falls (Idaho) 18 6 American Fork Canyon 18 7 Bear Lake 18 8 Bear River 18 9 Bear Trap Dam (Chicago) 18 10 Blacksmith's Fork 18 11 Bluff School 18 12 Book Cliffs 18 13 Bridal Veil Falls 18 14 Bromley's Stage Station 18 15 Bridger, Jim 18 16-17 Bryce Canyon 18 18 Buffalo Hunt 18 19 Cache County (Utah)--site of fur caches 18 20 Capitol Reef 18 21 Carthage Jail 18 22-23 Cedar Breaks 18 24 Christian Science (Cincinnati, Ohio?) 18 25 City Creek Canyon 18 26 Duck hunting 18 27 Echo Canyon 18 28 Ft. Deseret 18 29 Garfield Beach 18 30 Goblet of Venus (San Juan County) 18 31 Goodyear Cabin (Ogden, Utah) 18 32-33 Grand Canyon 18 34 Grand Junction (Colorado) 19 1-2 Great Salt Lake 19 3 Hunting trip 19 4 Hole-in-the-Rock and vicinity 19 5 Indian family 19 6 Indian ruins 19 7 Irrigation 19 8 Jackson Hole (Wyoming) 19 9 Jordan River 19 10 LaSal Mountains 19 11 Lake Mary 19 12 Lake Minnie 19 13 Lake Tahoe 19 14 Lakes 19 15 Lava Canyon (Grace, Idaho) 19 16 Lee's Ferry 19 17 Liberty Park 19 18 Lucin Cutoff/Midlake Station 19 19 Markers 19 20 Mesa Verde 19 21 Midway (Utah) 19 22 Mining 19 23 Modena, Christmas, 1902 19 24 Mormon Trail 19 25 Moroni's Maple Canyon 19 26 Mt. Marvine/Mt. Olympus (Mt. Terrill) 19 27 Mountain Meadows 19 28 Ogden Canyon 19 29 Natural Bridges 19 30 Nauvoo Temple 19 31 Parley's Canyon 19 32 Parowan Canyon 19 33 Pipe Springs 19 34 Price (Utah) 19 35 Promontory (Utah) 19 36 Rosebud School ? 19 37 Salt Lake Municipal Airport 19 38 Saltair 19 39 San Rafael 19 40 Shaunee Mission 19 41 Sheep industry 19 42 Silver Lake 19 43 Skiing 19 44 Southern Utah 19 45 Southeastern Utah (Indian ruins) 19 46 Sugar factories 19 47 Timpanogos Cave & Mountain 19 48 Union Pacific 19 49 University of Utah 19 50 Yellowstone National Park 19 51-52 Zion National Park 19 53 Unidentified Stereographs 20 1-22 Bountiful (Utah)--agriculture scenes 23-29 Brigham City (Utah)--fruit industry 30 Colorado River 31 Courthouse Rock 32-35 Ecker Hill 36-37 Emery (Utah) 38-39 Ft. Deseret (Utah) 40-42 Gilsonite mine 43 Grand Canyon 44-57 Great Salt Lake (Salt industry) 58-61 Indian Ruins 62-67 Jericho (Utah) 68-72 Kaysville (Utah) 73-76 Mesa Verde 77-79 Midlake (Utah) 80-82 Moroni's Maple Canyon 83 Nephi (Utah) 84 Ouray (Utah) 85 Piute Dam spillway 86 Provo Canyon 87-96 Salt Lake City (Utah) 97-98 Sevier Bridge Dam 99 Silver City (Utah) 100 Strawberry Irrigation Ditch 101 Zion National Park 102-111 Misc.--agriculture 112-114 Columbia River Highway 115-123 Wyoming 124-159 Yellowstone National Park 160-162 Unidentified Lantern Slides 21 1 Cartoons 2 Clouds 3 Fog 4-6 Frost and Ice 7-8 Hail and snow 9 Marvin, Charles F. 10-11 Marvin seismograph 12 Meteorgraph 13 Snow density apparatus 14 Rain gauge 15-41 Snow gauges 42-43 Tornadoes