Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “History Main Blog”
Please join the Utah Division of State History and the Department of Cultural and Community Engagement as we engage with our past, take informed action in the present, and work together to shape the future during Utah’s first annual Civic Season. Throughout June and July State History will highlight nine …
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 seduced–the language was intentionally vague–she “shot [her] betrayer.” We asked Lisa Tait, the article’s author, a few questions about Olson’s …
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 of the Great Salt Lake. But it was likely a Native American from the Paleoindian or Early Archaic period, evidence …
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 recently been “discovered” and made available online. Sanborn Maps provide detailed information about buildings throughout the U.S., all for setting …
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, Matthew C. Godfrey, a General Editor of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, a few questions about the sugar industry and …
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 often our students report that they didn’t think history was relevant in their lives… until they had the opportunity to …
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 an important American story. Utah’s leaders applied for statehood seven times—and failed six times—over five decades. Here we compiled a list …
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 panels to be presented at the conference. This year Utah and the world have been gripped by a deadly pandemic. …
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 number of racial and ethnic communities in the state, has become a foundational resource in Utah history. Our new project …
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 to show his papers, but the soldiers slapped and hit him and took him away. He looked back once, very …
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 a repository of cemetery and burial information. Utah is the only state that works to collect burial information from cemeteries …
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 throughout the state. We created questionnaires for students to share their experiences during the pandemic that will become a permanent …