See what’s happening with Utah history! Explore the past and get excited about the present through historical stories, highlights, program updates, and more. This digital resource serves as your window into the captivating stories, perspectives, and significant events that have helped shape the Beehive State. With meticulous research and insightful analysis, we aim to contextualize and breathe life into Utah's most cherished narratives, ensuring that the legacies of the past continue to resonate in the present.
Descriptive Updates Statement
The Utah Historical Society is conducting a review of the descriptions and terminology of our archives and special collections catalog. We are working to update outdated descriptions and headings of works...
Last updated: August 11, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Descriptive Updates Statement
The Utah Historical Society is conducting a review of the descriptions and terminology of our artifact catalog. We are working to update outdated descriptions and headings of works within the collections to...
Last updated: August 5, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Manuscripts Collection
Researchers wishing to cite a collection should include the following information :(title of work), Utah Historical Society. For example : The Allan Kent Powell Research Collection, circa 1850-2012, Utah Historical Society....
Last updated: August 5, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Architectural Drawings Collection
Researchers wishing to cite a collection should include the following information :(title of work), Utah Historical Society. For example : Sullivan-Tallon House, Restoration and Remodel, Utah Historical Society. Rights Statement Unless...
Last updated: August 5, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Audio Visual Collection
Researchers wishing to cite a collection should include the following information :(title of work), Utah Historical Society. For example : The Shiplers Commercial Photographers Collection, 1903-1980, Utah Historical Society. Rights Statement...
Last updated: August 5, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Back-to-School Learning Opportunities: Explore Utah History Through Museum Field Trips
Written by Kathryn Peterson, Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement As students return to classrooms across the state, teachers have a new opportunity to bring Utah history beyond the...
Last updated: August 3, 2026
Victoria Hills

The Past is Personal: Temporary Exhibit Gallery through June 2027
Written by Jami Van Huss, Guest Curator What do you remember? Why do you remember it? How do you remember it? The Museum of Utah’s inaugural temporary exhibition, The Past...
Last updated: July 15, 2026
Victoria Hills

NHD Utah National Contest Honors
College Park MD | 12-18 June 2026 In June, 47 Utah students, along with their teachers and family members, traveled to Washington, D.C., to compete at the National History Day...
Last updated: July 13, 2026
Victoria Hills

Main Stage Performances | Museum of Utah Grand Opening Celebration
Updated 6/23/26 Check out the main stage perfomers who will be at our Community Grand Opening Celebration on June 27, 2026. Join us from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. for...
Last updated: June 23, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Food Truck Lineup | Museum of Utah Grand Opening Celebration
Updated 6/23/26 Check out the local food trucks that will be at our Community Grand Opening Celebration on June 27, 2026. Join us from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. for...
Last updated: June 23, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Community Partner List | Museum of Utah Grand Opening Celebration
Updated 6/16/26 Check out the community partners and organizations who will be at our Community Grand Opening Celebration on June 27, 2026. Join us from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m....
Last updated: June 16, 2026
Haille VanPatten

The Museum of Utah is a 2026 Blue Star Museum
Free admission for military personnel and their families from May 16 until September 7 The Museum of Utah is pleased to participate in Blue Star Museums, a program that provides...
Last updated: June 2, 2026
Victoria Hills

What were boss bikes used for?
Visit the Museum of Utah, opening June 27 on the Utah Capitol Complex. If you’re not sure, you’re not alone! In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a boss...
Last updated: June 2, 2026
Haille VanPatten

NATIONAL HISTORY DAY IN UTAH 2026 STATE CONTEST RESULTS AND RECAP
National History Day in Utah is proud to announce the results of the 2026 State Contest on April 24, 2026, at Westminster University. This year, more than 5,000 students across...
Last updated: May 26, 2026
Victoria Hills

What is Deseret currency?
Visit the Museum of Utah, opening June 27 on the Utah Capitol Complex. If you were to walk into a general store in 1850s Salt Lake City, standard U.S. dollars...
Last updated: May 9, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Are there really whales in the Great Salt Lake?
Visit the Museum of Utah, opening June 27 on the Utah Capitol Complex. If you grew up in Utah, you might have heard the legendary rumor of two whales living...
Last updated: May 9, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Why is Utah’s state bird the California Gull?
Visit the Museum of Utah, opening June 27 on the Utah Capitol Complex. You may be asking yourself: Why would one of Utah’s official symbols be named after a different...
Last updated: May 9, 2026
Haille VanPatten
Iosepa: Utah’s Pacific Islander Pioneers
Benjamin C. Pykles, Historic Sites Curator Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “Hawaiians in the Utah desert! What?” This was my initial reaction when I...
Last updated: April 27, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Preserving and Studying Utah’s Mining Heritage
No excerpt...
Last updated: April 27, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Welcome To The Utah Pin Quest – History That Sticks With You
Updated 3/23/26: There are still pins left! We recommend visiting each location’s channels, or calling ahead, before your visit. Follow @Uthistoricalsociety on Facebook and Instagram to stay in-the-know about all...
Last updated: March 23, 2026
Haille VanPatten
2022 Call for Papers
Water at the Confluence of Past and Future The Utah State Historical Society and Utah Division of State History invite proposals for papers, sessions, panels, or multi-media presentations for the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Submission Guidelines/CFP
From 1928 to the present, Utah Historical Quarterly has published on all aspects of Utah history. Even as UHQ continues its commitment to themes traditionally associated with Utah history, it challenges readers and authors...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Welcome to the UHQ Blog
Welcome to the new blog for the Utah Historical Quarterly, Utah’s historical journal of record. This blog will feature less formal—but still substantively analytical—essays and thought-provoking pieces about Utah history...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
jmsharp
USHS Research Resources
At the Utah State Historical Society, we’re all about helping you conduct professional or personal research in a quick, efficient manner. We know that you want to find what you’re...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

A Distance Reading of Immigration in Carbon County
Digital Techniques for Utah History By Nate Housley The Marriott Library at the University of Utah houses a number of oral history collections that can aid in interpreting Utah’s history....
Last updated: March 13, 2026
jmsharp

Kick-Off “Utah History Happenings” for Utahns of All Ages
By Kevin Fayles, Assistant Director of Operations, Utah Division of State History I am not a professional historian, but I have loved history for most of my life. I recall...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Remembering One of Salt Lake City’s Forgotten: Louis A. Bertrand
By Laurie J. Bryant, Independent Historian [On July 2nd, at the Salt Lake City Cemetery, we unveiled a monument for 55 individuals who died at the “insane asylum” in the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

How Did I Get Here? – Follow the Historical Markers
By Christina Epperson, GIS Analyst, Utah Division of State History It’s mid-July as I write this blog post and the temperature forecast for the next seven days is near or...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Great Things in Store
By Taya Wallace Taya did such a great job during her internship that we hired her for the summer. In the fall she will begin an internship at the Office...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

From the Mountains of Spain to the Mountains of Utah
By Holly George On a normal afternoon in April 2017, Daniel Jones, a friend from the bus who worked at the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, sent me an...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Holly George

Point A to B
by Katie Barber Katie excelled during her internship with State History, so we hired her for the summer. How often do you think about where you are in the world?...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Where are the women’s voices? How I found the mother lode.
By Rhonda Lauritzen, independent biographer and author. In the spring of 2017, I had no idea the journey ahead when I answered a call from architect, Shalae Larsen, asking me...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

When Buffalo Bill Came to Utah
In the spring 2019 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly, Brent M. Rogers explores William “Buffalo Bill” Cody and his checkered relationship with the state of Utah and members of its...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Holly George

Chinese Railroad Workers Teacher’s Workshop
By Chris Merritt, Ph.D., Utah Division of State History and Erin Huber, Visual Artist, West Lake STEM Junior High The Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah hosted a week-long teacher’s...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
September 2019 Newsletter
Click this link to view the September 2019 Newsletter: https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?u=71e6606aec1876243402bdd94&id=89e5399421...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Certified Local Government Program—Spring City CLG Grant Project
By Alena Franco, CLG Coordinator The Certified Local Government (CLG) program is designed to promote historic preservation at the local level. This is a federal program (through the National Park...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Exploring the History and Archaeology of the Great Salt Lake’s Gunnison Island
by Arie Leefang, Archaeology Records Manager Among the collection of Great Salt Lake Islands, perhaps there is none more prized to visit than the elusive Gunnison Island. Found in the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

A Peek Behind State History’s Curtain
By Kevin Fayles, Assistant Director of Operations Since 1952, we have had an unbroken streak of 67 annual Utah State Historical Society conferences. To put things in perspective, here are...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

TRANSCRIPT OF Utah at the Crossroads of the Mind: History and Philosophy at Midcentury
November 1, 2019, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Location: University of Utah, Marriott Library, Rm 1150 SCHEDULE Panel: 9:00 – 10:30 AM A University for Utah: The Great Issues Forum...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Welcome to the Public Archaeology Lab
The Public Archaeology Lab has officially opened its doors! Staff from the Antiquities Section of the Utah Division of State History poured sweat, blood, and a few tears into polishing...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
October 2019 Newsletter
Click this link to view the October 2019 Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/551e2715af9d/utah-public-archaeology-network-newsletter-september-3584933?fbclid=IwAR3bBobA0epomCd66t9c-aYuSURMKRMcQOFQe67iijs79HFhm4K9hxskHx8 International Archaeology Day is October 19, 2019!...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

What’s New in Collections?
By Michele Elnicky, Historical Collections Specialist Hello, I’m Michele. As a member of the Collections team along with Lisa Barr who’s been working with Manuscripts, Sabrina Sanders, Manager of Artifacts,...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

What is the National Register?
What is the National Register and how do I Nominate a Building? (Part 1) As the National Register Coordinator at the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, this is a question...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Finding Patterns in Plant Ecology
Guest post by Morgan from Abbott Botanical Assessments Plant blindness is a common affliction found among members of the public and scientific community alike. This ranges from not recognizing differences...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Design Through Time: A History of Military Gravestone Design
By Amy Barry, Utah Cemetery & Burials Program Manager Marking burials with gravestones has always had a myriad of meanings. The more modern connotation has reflected European traditions ingrained in...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Women’s Suffrage: 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment
By Christina Epperson, GIS Analyst, Utah Division of State History As a woman today, it is easy to take for granted the ability to stand in line and cast a...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

“Recent Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Projects – More Exciting Than It Sounds!”
By Amber Anderson, Tax Credit Coordinator Two properties in Salt Lake City were recently awarded historic rehabilitation tax credits! Both properties received the federal income tax credit, while one also...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Juvenile Joyriding
By Melissa Coy, Digitization Program Specialist On the night of October 23, 1909, “boys with aspirations for a joy ride” stole a car, drove it around for “a few hours...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

The Utah Historical Quarterly: Over 90 Years of Amazing Research
By Lisa Buckmiller, Program Support Specialist What do Sanpete Oolite Limestone, Taylor A. Woolley, Hollywood, World War I, and a skeleton in grandpa’s barn all have in common? All of...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

From Obscurity into the Light: Master Surveyor Henry G. Sherwood
By Kristine Shorey Forbes The recent discovery of a sheepskin map purported to be the original plat of Salt Lake City created by LDS surveyor savant Henry G. Sherwood fewer...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

What is the National Register and How do I Nominate a Building? (Part 2)
By Cory Jensen, National Register Coordinator In a previous post, I gave some background on what the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is and what it does/does not do....
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

In Search of the Spanish Trail: Santa Fe to Los Angeles, 1829-1948 – Steven K. Madsen’s Research and Photographing The Old Spanish Trail
By Lisa Barr, Museum & Historical Collections Curator As a historical collections curator for Utah Division of State History, I recently processed and arranged Steven K. Madsen’s research and photograph...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Urban Revitilization in Utah’s “Rural” Downtowns
By Steve Cornell, Historical Architect, Division of State History Let’s look at Lehi. I happen to reside here so I’m looking closely, perhaps a little too closely. Lehi was an...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
UtahPAN 2020: Combat Vandalism
[Note: We are re-posting this excellent post from a few weeks ago that was originally shared primarily with archaeologists.]It’s December already! Your mysterious narrator has spent the last week snowed...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Working in the Research Center
By Valerie Jacobson, Information Specialist How often do you have a Utah History question and don’t know where to find the answer? The Research Center is able to help facilitate...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

How to Order Historic Images from Our Research Center
By Gregory Walz Research Center Manager Two photographs: one of Ezra Taft Benson taken on February 22, 1953, and one of James and Margaret Reed of the Donner Party fame,...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Front Row Seat to Atomic Age
Editors’ note (by UHQ editorial fellow Haden Griggs): The Diablo nuclear test was part of a larger series of tests known as Operation Plumbbob that took place at the Nevada...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Jacob Simmons: Young Utah Historian Making History
By Dr. Wendy Rex-Atzet, State Coordinator, Utah History Day Brighton High School senior Jacob Simmons has stories to tell. Since middle school he has honed his skills as a historian...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Utah Commits to Combat Archaeological Vandalism!
On Friday, January 24 over 80 people from 44 organizations participated in person or on a webinar in Utah Public Archaeology Network’s (UtahPAN’s) inaugural meeting! Everyone brought incredible energy and...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Industry & Immigrants in Turn-of-the-Century Utah
Holly George This week alone, I ordered stuff from China, searched the app of a certain giant retailer several times, happily opened a new package, and listened to a podcast...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Holly George
November 2019 Newsletter
November marks Native American History Month! Click this link to view the November 2019 Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/0c2c6c8ae9fd/utah-public-archaeology-network-newsletter-november-3694181 Want to get Utah Public Archaeology Network’s newsletter delivered directly to your email inbox?...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

December 2019 Newsletter
Click this link to view the December 2019 Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/0c2c6c8ae9fd/utah-public-archaeology-network-newsletter-november-3694181 Want to get Utah Public Archaeology Network’s newsletter delivered directly to your email inbox? Click here and never miss another cool story or...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

January 2020 Newsletter
Click this link to view the January 2020 Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/5e84bf55d25a/utah-public-archaeology-network-newsletter-november-3835077 Want to get Utah Public Archaeology Network’s newsletter delivered directly to your email inbox? Click here and never miss another cool story or...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
February 2020 Newsletter
Click this link to view the February 2020 Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/0c2c6c8ae9fd/utah-public-archaeology-network-newsletter-november-3694181 Want to get Utah Public Archaeology Network’s newsletter delivered directly to your email inbox? Click here and never miss another cool story or...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Ways We Can Combat Archaeological Vandalism
No excerpt...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

“Utah History Day on the Hill” Showcases Young Historians
By Dr. Wendy Rex-Atzet, State Coordinator, Utah History Day Each year during the legislative session, the Division of State History hosts Utah History Day on the Hill at the State...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
What’s going on with the Moab Rock Art Nomination to the National Register?
Here at the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) one of our main duties is to identify and nominate properties to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) program. We take...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Researching Segregation in Utah
By Christine Cooper-Rompato My forthcoming article in Utah Historical Quarterly, “Utah in the Green Book,” explores the history of hotels where African Americans could spend the night in Utah during...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Holly George
March 2020 Newsletter
Click here to check out March’s Utah Public Archaeology Network Newsletter! Want to get Utah Public Archaeology Network’s newsletter delivered directly to your email inbox? Click here and never miss another cool...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

This Is the Place for Us: Somali Settlement in the Salt Lake Valley
By Haden Griggs The This Is the Place monument in Salt Lake City commemorates and evokes the struggle nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints faced in settling a land new to them....
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Preserving Textiles: A Glimpse into Collections Care
By Sabrina Sanders, Artifacts Collections Manager The collections held by the Utah Division of State History are as diverse as the stories of a State at the crossroads of the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Utah’s Biggest Earthquake In History: And you don’t even probably know about it!
Christopher W. Merritt, Ph.D., State Historic Preservation Officer With trembles strong enough to shake “the dignity out of all judicial procedures,” [i] at Salt Lake City’s courts, the 6.6 magnitude...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Utah’s Biggest Earthquake In History: And You Don’t Even Probably Know About It!
By Christopher W. Merritt, Ph.D., State Historic Preservation Officer With trembles strong enough to shake “the dignity out of all judicial procedures,” [i] at Salt Lake City’s courts, the 6.6...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Celebrate Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month with us!
Welcome to May, and welcome to Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month! This year we’re hosting online events perfect for history-lovers of all stripes! Is archaeology your passion? Or maybe historic...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
COVID 19 Memory Project
The Covid-19 Memory Project is designed for K-12 students to share their experiences during this unique time in our history. Student responses will become part of a permanent historical collection...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Archaeological Site Etiquette
If you’ve hiked, biked, rafted, or traveled anywhere in Utah, chances are you’ve found ancient ruins and artifacts, also called “archaeological sites”. An archaeological site is anything left by...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Disease & Healthcare in Utah History: A Resource Guide
By Shavauna Munster & Holly George When considering the history of illness, signpost pandemics such as the Justinianic plague, black death, and Spanish influenza often come to mind. However, intermittent...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Holly George

Utah’s Universal Heritage
Savanna Agardy, Utah SHPO Compliance Archaeologist World heritage is defined as cultural or natural heritage that has outstanding universal value. Universal value in heritage essentially means that world heritage belongs...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

A Little Tale of One City: The Salisbury Building and the Lens of Clifton Bray and the Salt Lake Telegram
By Greg Walz, Research Center Manager How might one analyze older photographs of Utah — downtown Salt Lake City in particular — to gain some knowledge about little moments in...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

The Diminishing Pando Clone: History and Forest Management
By Jedediah Rogers It’s rare that a grove of aspen trees enjoys world renown, but this is the case for a stand known as the Pando clone on Fishlake National...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Some of My Favorite Photographs
By Doug Misner, Research & Collections Manager The Utah Division of State History has over a million photographs in our holdings with almost 300,000 digitized and accessible online. These images...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Utah’s Prehistory in Artifacts
Written by Erin Haycock Editor’s note: The artifacts you are about to see have all been looted, or stolen. Looting is the illegal removal of archaeological materials from archaeological sites....
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

“Race Riot” Fears in Salt Lake City: September 1965
By Christopher James Blythe In September 1965, many people in northern Utah were convinced that the NAACP had planned a “riot” for the following month’s general conference of the Church...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

What’s in a Name: Rock Imagery
You may have noticed that we at UPAN and in the wider State Historic Preservation Office, we refer to “rock imagery” when discussing prehistoric/Indigenous petroglyphs, pictographs, and other culturally meaningful...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Milestones: Utah’s History of Equal Access Rights for People with (Dis)abilities
By T. Michelle Tucker, Utah State History Volunteer On July 26, 2020, our nation remembers the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law by President George...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Guest Blog: URARA
We have a guest blog from the Utah Rock Art Research Association (URARA) this week! If you haven’t already heard of this organization, they are a fantastic group of people...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Q&A with J. Michael Hunter on Bees and Beekeeping
Editors’ note: J. Michael Hunter’s article “Laying the Foundation for Utah’s Beekeeping Success” appears in the summer 2020 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly. In this Q&A Hunter offers a fascinating...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Outlaws and Artifacts: A Daggett County Partnership at the John Jarvie Ranch
Written by Chase Roberts Utah Division of State History and Christopher W. Merritt Utah State Historic Preservation Officer If you ask most Utahns where Daggett County is, and you might get...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
B-Limey! Historic Kilns in the Foothills
Written by Christopher W. Merritt, Ph.D., State Historic Preservation Officer You can see the knife-like scar in the foothills near the brightly shining white “U” near the University of Utah...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Relevance, Rights & Responsibilities
By Kevin Fayles, Acting Director When you see the photo above, did you think it was a historic image? Could you tell it was actually taken just a few days...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
The Peculiar Historical and Archaeological Journey of Utah’s First House: The Devereaux Mansion
Written by Christopher W. Merritt, Ph.D. State Historic Preservation Officer How many times have you traveled South Temple in downtown Salt Lake City and noticed the lone red sandstone House...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

101 Anniversary of the End of World War I
By Valerie Jacobson, Information Specialist Late June 1919 was a day for many to rejoice. The Treaty of Paris was signed, bringing an official end to the Great War. How...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Saber Rattling in Strawberry Valley: The 1888 Encampment of the US Army in Utah
Written by Christopher W. Merritt, Ph.D., Utah State Historic Preservation Officer Over 900 soldiers from the Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery branches of the United States Army descended on Strawberry Valley...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
The Architecture of Hunkering Down in the 1950s & ‘60s
We have all experienced our own “hunkering down” during this pandemic year of 2020. Some 60 years ago, other Utahns were preparing to hunker down, but for a very different...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Power Up! The Columbus Power Plant in Little Cottonwood Canyon
Since at least the 1860s, entrepreneurs used the ample water supply found at the confluence of Little Cottonwood and Maybird and Hogum Creeks for industrial purposes, whether timber mills or...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Have You Completed Our Student Covid-19 Survey?
By Lisa Barr, Historical Collections Curator Recognizing that we were living in historic times, in April, State History staff developed The Covid-19 Memory Project, which is geared towards K-12 students...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Nine Mile Canyon Stewardship Day – but Virtual!
Every year Project Discovery, the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition, the Bureau of Land Management, the Utah SHPO and many, many others have gathered in Nine Mile Canyon for a day-long...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Tour of Utah’s National Historic Districts
Written by Cory Jensen, NRHP Coordinator and Chris Merritt, Utah SHPO Many Utahs and tourists do not know the depth and breadth of Utah’s architectural history, and the preserved building...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Utah Cemeteries & Burials
Genealogy research is a booming industry, and Utah is a leader in resources. In 1997, the state legislature created a mandate for the Utah Division of State History to be...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Site Visitation and Sustainability in Southeast Utah
By Allison Aakre, Manti-La Sal National Forest, Shanna Diederichs, Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants, and Donald C. Irwin, Manti-La Sal National Forest Introduction The landscape of Southeast Utah, with its deep...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Choices Matter: Complicity and Action During the Holocaust
By Heidi Chudy, Program Assistant, Utah History Day “A man wearing a star stood on the outside platform- the only place where Jews were allowed to ride. He was eager...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Call for Papers: Revisiting The Peoples of Utah
In anticipation of the 250th anniversary of 1776, the Utah State Historical Society is revisiting The Peoples of Utah, published in 1976. The original Peoples of Utah, which surveyed a...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Call for Papers: Public Health & the Common Good
The Utah State Historical Society announces the focus of its 69th annual conference to be held September 20-24, 2021. Beginning January 1 we are accepting proposals for papers, sessions, and...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Grant Announcement for the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Grant
What is the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Grant?The Utah State Historic Preservation Office (UT-SHPO) will be offering grants to organizations that can help qualified organizations to conduct Cultural Site Stewardship...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Utah at 125: A Bibliography
In January 4, 1896, after decades of struggle, Utah became the 45th state to enter the Union. Utah’s path to statehood was complicated and often controversial, which makes its journey...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Utah Committee on Geographic Names
Originally created and defined by two Utah governors’ executive orders, in 2024 the Utah Committee on Geographic Names (UCGN) became a committee of the Board of State History, which serves...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Blog Series on Historical Memorials
The Utah Historical Society is launching a blog series on historical memorials in Utah. We seek proposals for short historical essays that place historical markers, monuments, and place names in...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Calling All Students!
The Utah Professional Archaeological Council is having it’s winter meeting, and Saturday is a special presentation just for Utah’s students! If you want to learn more about what it takes...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Steward Spotlight: Darrell and Marty Thomas
For this, our first ever Site Steward Spotlight, we will be spotlighting not one, but two dedicated Site Stewards. Marty and Darrell Thomas are a dynamic stewarding duo with 20...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Teach Your Content with a Utah Twist
By Wendy Rex-Atzet, Utah Division of State History In my work with the National History Day (NHD) program, I have witnessed the transformative power of relevancy in student learning. So...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Late Archaic Period Rock Imagery
No excerpt...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Meet Your New Coordinator
No excerpt...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month 2021
Welcome to Utah’s Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month! Every year the Utah State Historic Preservation Office rounds up the very best events so that YOU can get to know the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Sugar Beets and Religion: Q&A with Matthew C. Godfrey
Editors’ note: The winter 2021 edition of Utah Historical Quarterly features an article on the sugar beet industry, labor organizing, and business interests of LDS officials. We asked the author,...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Climbers and Archaeology
By Elizabeth Hora, Public Archaeologist at the Utah Division of State History Within the space of two weeks, I have heard reports of more than four sites (all rock imagery!)...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Release of New Salt Lake City & Ogden City Sanborn Maps
By Roger Roper, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Historians have long known about the value of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, but a new set of these maps for Utah has...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

A Colorful History: Black Rock’s History and Graffiti Woes
Christopher W. Merritt, Ph.D. Utah State Historic Preservation Officer It is unclear when the first human laid eyes upon the geological oddity now called “Black Rock” on the southern shores...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Current Issue
Spring 2023 Utah Historical Quarterly To receive your copy, BECOME A MEMBER of the Utah State Historical Society Within the pages of this issue, women raise children, spin cloth, found...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Stewardship Updates May 2021
Updates for the stewardship program in May 2021 are highlighted by Coordinator Ian Wright....
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

“I Have Shot My Betrayer”: Q&A with Lisa Tait
Editors’ Note: The SPRING 2021 UHQ opens with the story of Amanda Olson, the working-class daughter of Swedish immigrants whose story dominated local news in 1891. After Olson was either raped or...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
UPAN Pledge 2021 Week 2 Resource
This interactive map has all sorts of sites that you can visit! You can filter by historic, prehistoric, or even museums! Or you can activate all layers to see just...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
UPAN Pledge 2021 Week 3 Resources
The following guides are just some of the amazing artifacts that are common to Utah! Each guide will show you some of the specific information an archaeologist can gain from...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Week One: Let’s Learn About Utah’s Archaeology!
This is a collection of readings about Utah’s cultural history curated for the 2021 UPAN pledge drive...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
What is historic in West Valley City and Kearns?
By Langston Guettinger, Historic Preservation Specialist/Architectural Historian at Logan Simpson Design Only in the last twenty years has popular culture come to reevaluate midcentury American architecture with the advent of...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Teaming Up to Record Rock Imagery
Utah SHPO, URARA, and Logan Simpson Team Up to Record Rock Imagery in Central Utah Written by Tina Hart, archaeologist at Logan Simpson Design Robert Van Orden, a member of...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Steward Spotlight July 2021 – Dennis Weder
If you have ever had the pleasure of traveling into the West Desert with Utah Cultural Site Steward Dennis Weder, you will be amazed at how quickly the barren landscape...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Lidar Site Exclusive
Public Archaeologist Elizabeth Hora shows us some really cool Lidar scans of recent excavations at Terrace on the Transcontinental Railroad, and explains what we are looking at....
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Top 5 Reasons to Attend the 69th Annual USHS Conference
Looking for a reason to spend some time with us at our annual history conference? Here are our top 5: 5. Free, virtual, and lives online. Despite Zoom fatigue, we...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

The River Voyage of William Lewis Manly: Q&A with Michael D. Kane
Michael D. Kane is coauthor (with Nathan N. Waite) of “Avoiding Mormons, Running Rapids, Encountering Western Utes: William Lewis Manly’s Voyage Down the Green River and Across Utah in 1849,”...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

History and Geology: Q&A with Rasoul Sorkhabi
Rasoul Sorkhabi is author of “From Edinburgh to Salt Lake City: Archibald Geikie’s Travels in the American West, 1879,” Utah Historical Quarterly 89 (Summer 2021) Introduce readers to your background...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Unshelving Our History
For the past academic year, Cathy Gilmore has served as the Editorial Fellow for Utah Historical Quarterly. Cathy is a graduate student of History at Utah State University. By Cathy...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
National Register Multiple Property Submissions: What are they and how can they help you nominate a building?
Written by Cory Jensen At the Utah State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) I’m frequently contacted by property owners curious about getting their building listed in the National Register of Historic...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
October Staff Spotlight: Savanna Agardy
By Jason Carrillo Hello and welcome history friends to October’s Staff Spotlight! This month we are more than excited to showcase and spotlight the one and only Savanna Agardy. If...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Native Places: An Indigenous Atlas of Utah and the Intermountain West
Editors’ note: This is the first of a series of short essays designed to understand historical markers, monuments, and place names in historical and contemporary perspective. By John Flynn Place...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Happy GIS Day!
Written by Deb Miller, SHPO Records Manager What Is GIS? GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems, which is mapping software on a computer and is used both by everyday people...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

November Staff Spotlight: Lisa Barr & Sabrina Sanders
By Jason Carrillo, Communications Intern Most Utahns know the Rio Grande Depot has a storied history. Since it was built in 1910, the building has passed hands from a train...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

December Staff Spotlight: Cassie Clark
By Jason Carrillo, Communications Intern This month we are proud to introduce our newest public historian: Cassie Clark! Cassie grew up in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, a mountainous dune-decorated region...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Utah History Month
We are kicking-off 2022 with Utah History Month, an opportunity to share ways in which you can engage with our team at State History and our partners through many resources. · ...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

USHS at 125 Speaker Series
In commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the Utah State Historical Society, we are offering a series of monthly presentations or roundtables beginning January and culminating in August 2022. The...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Meet Bernard Augustine DeVoto
The Most Famous Ogdenite You’ve Probably Never Heard Of By Scott L. Greenwell “The chief glory of every people arises from its authors”[*] ~Samuel Johnson Ask anyone in Ogden...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

FY23 Budget Requests for the Division of State History
By Jennifer Ortiz, Director As we start this new year, we are grateful for our funding requests included in Governor Cox’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget. If successful, these requests will...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Ash Creek County Wagon Road
Prepared by Lindsey M. Evenson, Jennifer Bannick, and Everett Bassett of Transcon Environmental, Inc. for Washington County Water Conservancy District. This discussion of Washington County’s historic wagon road through Ash...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

2021 Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program Report
No excerpt...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
UCSS Forms Preview
Below you will find the forms we require to be signed when you start as an active site steward. Don’t worry about filling these out now, that will be taken...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Utah Cemetery Interactive Map
By Amy Barry, Utah Cemeteries Program Manager Cemeteries and burial sites are home to amazing histories. Each burial has a story of the individual. Each cemetery has a story about...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Let That Brick Breathe!
By Amber Anderson, SHPO Tax Credit Coordinator Did you know that historic masonry is meant to breathe? Whether it be brick, stone, or another type of masonry unit, masonry is...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Bettye Gillespie: A Civil Rights Leader
by Cassie Clark, Ph.D., Public Historian Feature photo of Bettye Gillespie from the Hill Top Times, 1979, Utah Digital Newspapers, Digital Library Services Department, J. Willard Marriot Library at the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

This Is My Story: Q&A with Pastor Henry McAllister
Editors’ Note: The latest issue of Utah Historical Quarterly (winter 2022) details the long history in Utah of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), a predominantly African American Pentecostal...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Keynote
TBA...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Plenary
TBA...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Full Conference Program
TBA...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Utah Women at Work: Introducing the Women’s History Month 2022 Theme
By Cassie Clark, Ph.D., Public Historian It is no surprise that the survival and growth of cultures are dependent on the efforts of all members of society. In Utah, women’s...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Interdisciplinary Poster Session
2022 Utah History Conference Water at the Confluence of Past & Future The moment is ripe to bring interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on the place of water in our society—and...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Stewardship Updates December 2021
We gave out some fun awards in recognition of the fantastic first year of our program. Lucky Horseshoe Award – Tim Gittins During one of his site visits, Tim popped not...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Stewardship Updates January 2022
Moving into 2022 we have several goals to help direct the course of our program this year. One – Steward Retention and Appreciation Two – To continue to emphasize to the general...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Celebrate Archaeology and Historic Preservation with these great events
Welcome to Utah’s Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month! Every year the Utah State Historic Preservation Office rounds up the very best events so that YOU can get to know the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Visit Sites with Respect
Written by Elizabeth Hora, Public Archaeologist Let me start off by saying thank you. You opened up this page to learn more about how you can protect the past, and...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Thinking About Geographic Names in Utah
Editors’ note: This is part of a series of short essays designed to understand historical markers, monuments, and place names in historical and contemporary perspective. By Arie Leeflang The stories behind names...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Understanding Ancient Life At Utah Lake: The Culture-History of the Smith Family Archaeological Preserve
It can be hard to look at thousand year old artifacts and gather a sense of what life was like for people. But for archaeologist Elizabeth Hora, that’s the fun...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Utah Women at Work in the Legal Field
by Cassie Clark, Public Historian Women in the United States have long overcome obstacles designed to prevent them from working in the public sphere. During the 1800s, men, and some...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Governor Cox Encourages Everyone To Pledge to Protect the Past
Every year beginning around Spring Break, the state kicks off the annual “archaeological vandalism” season with a bang. In 2021, we had at least two instances of archaeological resource crime...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Celebrate National Libraries Week 2022!
April 3 – 9 is National Libraries Week, and we’re celebrating by honoring Utah’s Carnegie Libraries! We often take for granted our local libraries and all the good things they...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Fix Your Wood Windows Blog
Windows on historic buildings are an important mark of the architectural character. While this is obvious for decorative or stained glass windows, it can be equally true for buildings with...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Utah SHPO Leaves State History on May 4th
In 2022 the Utah legislature passed House Bill 350, which removes the Utah State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) from under the umbrella of the Utah Division of State History (UDSH)...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Arrowhead Trail (aka Old US-91 Highway)
Prepared by Lindsey M. Evenson, Jennifer Bannick, and Everett Bassett of Transcon Environmental, Inc. for Washington County Water Conservancy District. This discussion of the Old US-91/Arrowhead Trail through northeastern Washington...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Bringing War Home: Object Stories and Community Memory of Modern War
By Susan Grayzel, Ph.D. and Molly Boeka Cannon, Ph.D. You decide to tackle that long-postponed task—going through the boxes of material moved from your grandparents’ home into your basement. When...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Meeting Florence and Flo: History and Friendship in the Old and New Wests
By Richard L. Dana It was January 1, 2015, and Marianne Sezon, my wife, was taking the oath of office as the first female judge from a small rural county...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Holly George

Using Visual Art in Historical Research
By Jessica Breiman, Special Collections Digital Archives Librarian, University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library The digital exhibition Mining the West: Primary Elements began as a loose collaborative experiment in...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles
Who is Edith Chapman? Utah’s early LGBTQ+ History in a Salt Lake City House
By Kelsey Neeley, Salt Lake Community College A charming yet unassuming house in Salt Lake City is just one historic property that contributes to the East Side Historic District, and...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Welcome our new UCSS Assistant Coordinator!
Matthew (he/him) joins the SHPO team as the new Assistant Coordinator for the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship (UCSS) program. He comes into this job with extensive experience in public relations,...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

The Uranium Boom and Free Enterprise
By Nate Housley During the uranium boom of the 1950s, thousands of would-be prospectors flooded into the “four corners” region of the Colorado Plateau hoping to strike it rich. The...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
Don’t Burn Down History!
As we enter yet another fire season, we all know the destruction that fires can have on air quality, watersheds, and even personal property and sadly human life and safety....
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Papers
2018 Theme – Conflict and Compromise in History The 1936 Olympics: From a Spark to a FlameHannah Dooley – Senior Nancy Wake: The White Mouse – Heroine of WWIIRemington Minor...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Raising Recognition of Utah’s Latino Community & Places
Written by Christopher Merritt, State Historic Preservation Officer Leer in Español The rich historical legacy of Utah’s Latino residents can be difficult to find. Few of the Latino community’s physical...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Yee Yen: The Most Famous Embezzler of Salt Lake City’s Old Chinatown
Jackson Keys, Undergraduate Student at Brigham Young University, Department of History Wanted: Yee Yen On February 22, 1897, an etching of a Chinese man named Yee Yen appeared in the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Don’t Squish the Cake
Or Why to Avoid Hardware Store Mortar While Repairing Historic Masonry By Jansen Bennett, Historical Architect Like any good blog on historic mortar, I’m going to start by discussing cake. ...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Aumento del reconocimiento de la comunidad y los lugares latinos de Utah
Por Christopher Merritt, oficial de Preservación Histórica del Estado de Utah División de Historia del Estado de Utah Read in English. El rico legado histórico de los residentes latinos de...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Pintura Ditch
Prepared by Lindsey M. Evenson, Jennifer Bannick, and Everett Bassett of Transcon Environmental, Inc. for Washington County Water Conservancy District. This discussion of the Pintura Ditch and Washington County irrigation,...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Utah History: Building Connections Throughout the State
Founded in 1897, July 2022 marked the 55th anniversary of the Utah Division of State History and the 125th year since the organization’s creation. Approaching these milestones, we at the...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Call for Proposals: Public Health in Utah and the American West
Special Issue of Utah Historical Quarterly Guest Editor: Dr. Benjamin Cater, Associate Dean, Foundational Explorations, and Associate Professor of History, Point Loma Nazarene University Utah Historical Quarterly is planning a roundtable conversation for...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman

Remembering Olivia and Juanita, Me, You, and the UHQ
By David Rich Lewis Olivia Coombs was dead. George Wood shot her and her daughter, Emily, on July 28, 1862, in Cedar City, Utah Territory, and then beat them with...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Kevin Fayles

Latina Legislators Make History
By Katherine Kitterman Women’s representation in politics continued to increase in the latest midterm elections, and Utah’s state legislative session is now underway with a record number of 27 female...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Katherine Kitterman
History Ambassador
The History Ambassador program is designed to be a cohorted experience geared towards current university and college students, or those transitioning careers. The Ambassador program is a year-long program for...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley
Award Nominations
2023 Outstanding Achievement Awards Now Being Accepted! The Utah Division of State History’s annual awards recognize individuals and organizations that have made a significant contribution to history, prehistory or historic...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Utah History Conference Changes
Why We Are Changing the Utah History Conference By Jennifer Ortiz, Director, Utah Division of State History After lengthy discussions with our board, staff, and community members, we’ve decided to...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Happy Birthday Utah Division of State History
Happy 126th birthday to the Utah Division of History! We know, we look great for our age. Throughout the past several decades of preserving and sharing Utah’s past, our division...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Meet Our History Ambassadors
Interested in public history, but aren’t sure where to start? Consider an internship or career shadowing opportunity with us! Whether you are looking for a one-year commitment, career shadowing, or...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Haille VanPatten

State History’s New Look And Feel
A note from Director Jennifer Ortiz After six months of design research and working with our Marketing & Communications team, we are delighted to reveal the Utah Historical Society’s (formerly...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Digitally Translating History: My Utah Historical Society Internship
By: Maddison Tenney, Women’s History Initiative Intern for Winter 2023. Tenney is a graduate from BYU who is now attending Harvard Divinity School. She loves women’s history, throwing ceramics, and...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Dr. Cynthia Furse: Inventor & Engineer
This blog post is based on an interview between Dr. Cynthia Furse and Carly Bagley, a state employee for the Utah Historical Society. We’ve included additional resources at the end...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Rio Tinto Kennecott donates $10 million to Museum of Utah
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 10, 2023—As part of its 120th-anniversary celebration, Rio Tinto Kennecott announced a donation of $10 million for the Museum of Utah, which is currently being built...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
eweist

UHS Ambassador Helps Audit Markers And Monuments Database
This blog was written by Kyler, a UHS Ambassador who has been working closely with the Women’s History Initiative. In our task of auditing the Utah Monuments and Markers Database,...
Last updated: March 13, 2026
Alycia Rowley

Utah History Explorers Additional Resources
Updated: 11/13/2025 Thank you for being a member of Utah History Explorers! Below are a few additional resources and materials to help enhance your experience. Please note: there are resources...
Last updated: March 4, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Utah History Explorers Adventure Kit Download
Updated: 11/13/2025 Welcome to Utah History Explorers! Did you know Utah is getting its first-ever state history museum? This adventure kit is going to give you a sneak peek at...
Last updated: March 4, 2026
Haille VanPatten

The Utah Historical Society announces generous $1 million gift from prominent foundation in support of the Museum of Utah
The Utah Historical Society announces a generous $1 million gift from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation in support of the Museum of Utah. The Museum is set...
Last updated: March 3, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Utah Historical Society 2026 Annual Awards Ceremony Recap
The Utah Historical Society’s annual awards recognize individuals and organizations that have made a significant contribution to history, historic preservation, community history and scholarship in Utah. Whether these efforts are...
Last updated: February 2, 2026
Haille VanPatten

Preserving Utah’s Legacy: Utah Historical Society Announces 2025 Award Recipients
Updated: 12/9/25 The Utah Historical Society, a division of the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement, is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2025 Annual Awards. These awards...
Last updated: December 9, 2025
Haille VanPatten

2025 Perspectives Speaker Series: Utah’s WWII Experience
Updated: Oct. 31, 2025 What was Utah’s World War II experience? The Utah Historical Society’s 2025 Perspectives Speaker Series will explore this question from a variety of viewpoints, linking past...
Last updated: October 31, 2025
Haille VanPatten

The Stonewall Legacy in Utah | Civic Season 2025
Updated Sept. 19, 2025, with the help of Connell O’Donovan. The New York City police raid on the Stonewall Inn, located on Christopher Street, on June 28, 1969, ignited a...
Last updated: September 19, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Help Us Update Utah’s Markers and Monuments Database
The Utah Historical Society takes seriously its legislative mandate under Utah Code 9-8-203(3) to maintain a record of the state’s monuments and markers. We manage a public-facing database that provides...
Last updated: September 4, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Driving History Forward: Utah Historical Society Acquires The Mormon Meteor III For State Collection
Press advisorySept. 3, 2025 The Utah Historical Society announces its largest artifact for display in the Museum of Utah — the iconic Mormon Meteor III land speed racer. The custom-built...
Last updated: September 4, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Amplifying Utah’s Literary Voices: A Legacy of Creativity and Community
By Camille Critchfield, Utah Historical Society Oral History and Women’s History Ambassador Utah’s literary history is rich with the voices of women who have shaped both culture and community through...
Last updated: July 29, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Utah During The Great Depression
A curated reading list. Last updated July 7, 2025. To understand Utah during the Great Depression, we must understand how individuals, businesses, and government responded to the most severe economic...
Last updated: July 14, 2025
Haille VanPatten

The First Utahns
A curated reading list. Last updated July 7, 2025. Archeological evidence suggests that Utah has been home to human beings since 11,000 BC. Utah’s first people, the Paleoindians, lived in...
Last updated: July 7, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Economics In Utah
A curated reading list. Last updated July 7, 2025. Arrington, Leonard F. “Utah and the Depression of the 1890’s.” Utah Historical Quarterly 29, no. 1 (January 1961): 2–18. During the...
Last updated: July 7, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Film In Utah
A curated reading list. Last updated July 7, 2025. First invented in the late nineteenth century as silent “moving pictures,” movies became popular in the world of entertainment in the...
Last updated: July 7, 2025
Haille VanPatten

The Asian American Experience In Utah
A curated reading list. Last updated July 7, 2025. The Asian American experience in Utah is a complex one. Much of the scholarship dedicated to Asian American histories in Utah,...
Last updated: July 7, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Civil Rights Act and Desegregation in Utah | Civic Season 2025
On July 2, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. stood slightly to the right of Lyndon B. Johnson watching the president sign into law civil rights legislation that he and many...
Last updated: July 1, 2025
Haille VanPatten

National History Day Contest | 2025 Recap
On June 6-13, 2025, 63 students represented Utah at the 2025 National History Day contest, competing alongside 3,000 students from 58 state and international affiliate programs. The rigorous academic competition...
Last updated: June 26, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Bridging Worlds: Beth Ann Stewart Campbell and Interpreting for the Deaf | Civic Season 2025
Based on the work of Jodi Becker Beth Ann Stewart Campbell was bilingual from the start. Her parents, Zelma and Arnold Moon, grew up together, attending the Utah School for...
Last updated: June 11, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Sparks of Celebration: A look at Utah’s firework traditions | Civic Season 2025
One of the most iconic ways to end a full day of Fourth of July activities is a good old-fashioned firework show. The flashes, booms, and whiffs of smoke have...
Last updated: June 11, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Pioneer Day: Celebrating the State of Utah | Civic Season 2025
July 24 is celebrated annually in Utah as Pioneer Day, an official state holiday. Though the holiday is often understood as commemorating one specific moment in Utah’s history, the celebration...
Last updated: June 11, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Juneteenth Commemorations in Utah | Civic Season 2025
On Juneteenth, Americans remember the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, the news of emancipation finally reached Galveston, Texas, where an estimated 250,000 enslaved Black...
Last updated: June 4, 2025
Haille VanPatten

26th Amendment: Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote | Civic Season 2025
Jennings Randolph started a three-decade crusade as a West Virginia congressman to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. His first attempt at an amendment to the Constitution was...
Last updated: June 1, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Loving Day and the End of Utah’s Interracial Marriage Ban | Civic Season 2025
On the eve of the 1963 state legislative session, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and Utah Citizens Organization for Civil Rights (UCOCR) hosted a chow mein dinner fundraiser at...
Last updated: June 1, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Utah’s Own Betsy Ross | Civic Season 2025
You may know the story of Betsy Ross, even though historians debate whether she was really the one to sew the first American flag as we know it today. What’s...
Last updated: June 1, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Zitkála-Šá: Creating Impact through Creativity | Civic Season 2025
On June 2, 1924, the United States Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act. Many Americans lobbied and advocated for this legislation, which finally granted Native Americans United States citizenship. One...
Last updated: June 1, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Guest Blog | Canyon Connections: Linking History, Horticulture, and Community
Written by: Lynsey Nielson, interpretation and exhibits manager, Red Butte Garden and Arboretum Nestled at the mouth of the canyon that shares our name, Red Butte Garden and Arboretum is...
Last updated: May 8, 2025
Haille VanPatten

National History Day in Utah 2025 State Contest Results and Recap
On April 24-25, 2025, the Utah Historical Society was honored to host 457 students in grades 4-12 at the 44th annual National History Day in Utah State Contest, held at...
Last updated: May 8, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Guest Blog: Exploring the Japanese American stories in Brigham City Museum
Written by Wendy Ogata Utah’s hardscrabble Mormon pioneer history is a well-documented story. A new exhibit at the Brigham City Museum of Art & History delves into the lesser-known accounts...
Last updated: May 5, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation Announces Generous Gift to the Museum of Utah
A joint press release between the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation and The Utah Historical Society Salt Lake City, UT (Mar. 19, 2025) – The Larry H. &...
Last updated: March 19, 2025
Haille VanPatten

The Utah Historical Society Recognizes Women’s History Month in March
As Women’s History Month approaches, it’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women in Utah and beyond who have made an impact on us in the...
Last updated: March 4, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Peoples of Utah Revisited Researcher Highlight | Mary Langworthy
Interview conducted by Jordan Kiyak, research outreach coordinator for the Utah Historical Society We are thrilled to start introducing various researchers who have spent the last two years working on...
Last updated: February 4, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Oral History Spotlight: Courtland Nelson and the 2002 Winter Olympics
Written by Carly Bagley, public historian, and Monique Davila, community engagement coordinator, for Utah Historical Society. In 2024, the International Olympic Committee announced that Utah would once again host the...
Last updated: January 10, 2025
Haille VanPatten

Behind the Scenes: The Researchers of Peoples of Utah Revisited
By: Jordan Kiyak, research outreach coordinator for the Utah Historical Society For the last year and a half, our team has been hard at work recruiting and facilitating research for...
Last updated: December 10, 2024
Haille VanPatten

Martha’s Journey To Washington
By Eliza Carr, public historian for the Utah Women’s History Initiative After a four-year delay, a statue of Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon has taken its place in the National Statuary...
Last updated: December 3, 2024
Haille VanPatten
The Power of Place: How the Nettie Gregory Center Brought a Community Together
By Monique Davila, community engagement coordinator for the Utah Historical Society. Through the Peoples of Utah Revisited, the Utah Historical Society seeks to widen the lens on Utah’s history and...
Last updated: October 31, 2024
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National History Day In Utah Recognizes Teachers Of The Year
National History Day in Utah is thrilled to announce two outstanding educators who have been named our 2024 Mike Johnson Teachers of the Year. James Romrell, from Lakeridge Junior High,...
Last updated: August 12, 2024
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Apply to Participate in a Salt Lake City Youth250 Workshop
Calling institutional leaders and Gen Z individuals: You are invited to apply to participate in our Youth250 workshop, to inform the Gen Z-driven strategy for how American institutions commemorate and observe...
Last updated: July 2, 2024
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Utah Civic Season Reflects On The 60th Anniversary Of The Civil Rights Act
Authored by: Tamara N. Stevenson, Ed.D. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is an important example of how social, political, and economic differences may be examined to create beneficial outcomes...
Last updated: June 28, 2024
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UHS Launches Inaugural Member Month This Summer
Join The Utah Historical Society in August for our inaugural Member Month. We are hitting the road to host events across the state (see dates below) and everyone is invited!...
Last updated: June 27, 2024
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National History Day In Utah: Highlights From The 50th Annual National Contest
On June 9–13, 59 Utah students competed in the 50th Annual National History Day Contest in Washington, D.C. During the week-long competition, Utah students presented their work to judges and...
Last updated: June 25, 2024
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UHS Staff Favorites From Our Collection
Utah’s history comes to life in our collection through a vast array of treasures. At the core of our mission to foster curiosity about the past, inform the present, and...
Last updated: June 18, 2024
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Celebrate Women’s History Month In Utah
Women’s history matters all the time, but this March we’re highlighting the women who shape the Beehive State! We’re so excited to kick off a month full of history and...
Last updated: February 13, 2024
Alycia Rowley

UHS Launches Youth Advisory Council
Join the Youth Advisory Council for its inaugural year! The Utah Historical Society is looking to gather feedback from Utah’s Gen Z community in an effort to ensure our organization’s...
Last updated: February 7, 2024
Alycia Rowley

See your memorabilia in the forthcoming Museum of Utah
Jan. 31, 2024 – The Utah Historical Society requests donations to the Celebrations gallery. The Museum of Utah is slated to open in 2026 on Utah’s Capitol Complex under the...
Last updated: January 31, 2024
Alycia Rowley

The Utah Historical Society Recognizes 2023 History Award Winners
Congratulations to our 2023 History Award recipients. The Utah Historical Society’s annual awards recognize individuals and organizations that have made a significant contribution to history, historic preservation, community history and...
Last updated: January 19, 2024
Alycia Rowley

Utah museums partnership receives prestigious NEH grant
We are thrilled to share that, in a competitive process, the Utah Historical Society has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in partnership with the...
Last updated: January 17, 2024
