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 about the growing difficulties of delivery workers. Mostly fun, but definitely not simple. Behind each of these actions exists a …
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 ideas to the meeting, and there was widespread agreement that the problem is dire, but reversible. This is the year …
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 and documentary filmmaker through Utah’s National History Day (NHD) program. For his NHD projects, Jacob investigates critical moments in history …
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 Nuclear Test Site between May and October of 1957. The Plumbbob tests occurred during major worldwide concerns about the safety …
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, the exact date of which is unknown, but is likely from the 1860s. What do these two images have in …
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 your search for an answer! Patrons call or email research requests to the Research Center, and I have the opportunity …
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 outlying farming community and a small downtown grew out of that, mostly of one-story brick structures. The economy was good …
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 collections. He and University of Utah Professor Emeritus C. Gregory Crampton (1911-1995) used primary and secondary sources, including documents, maps, …
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. In this post, I will describe how one goes about actually nominating a building and, hopefully, take some of the …
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 than two weeks after Brigham Young arrived in the valley has brought this long-forgotten grandfather of Zion back into the …
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 these subjects and more have been covered in articles in the Utah Historical Quarterly. The Utah State Historical Society was …
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 hitting the high places”, and then ditched it on State Street and 10th South in Salt Lake City. “While they …