Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “History Main Blog”
By 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, …
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 magnitude earthquake rattled homes, businesses, and nerves from Boise, Idaho to Richfield, Utah and Rock Springs, Wyoming to Elko, Nevada. …
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 West. We have photographs, maps, manuscripts, architectural drawings, books, and artifacts. The objects are placed into these categories, or sub-collections, …
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. Although specifically a reference to Utah’s first permanent Euro American settlers, the sentiment expressed by the monument’s title aptly represents …
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 the period of segregation. Many hotels across the U.S. were “white only” until the 1960s, and in 1936, Victor Hugo …
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 Capitol. At this event, History Day students fill the Capitol Rotunda with displays of their exhibits, documentaries, websites, performances and …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …