DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

A NEW CHAPTER IN UTAH'S HISTORY

Since 1897, the Utah Division of State History/Utah State Historical Society has been preserving and sharing Utah's history. Over 275,000 of our photographs, manuscripts, and films are digitized. Additional photographs, manuscripts, books, pamphlets, and other materials are found in our Online Catalog and accessed through the Engagement Room.

In order to preserve and make available the historical record, State History collects materials from different cultures and time periods. As a result, library materials, such as those presented here, may reflect racist, sexist, misogynistic, and/or xenophobic opinions and attitudes. Users are encouraged to alert staff to antiquated language by clicking on the “Update Item Information” link found under each individual image within the collection.

To order high resolution images, contact the Research Center staff at [email protected].

SEARCH OUR DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

Extractions from the Land: Mining and Mineral History in Utah

Extractions from the Land: Mining and Mineral History in Utah is a combination of smaller collections from the Utah Historical Society collections. Utah has a rich history of mining from silver to salt; mineral extraction has shaped the Utah landscape over the decades from boom to bust.

Utah-Colorado Railroad Map Collection

Explore Utah and the Rockies' rail heritage with this digital collection of railroad blueprints curated by the Utah Historical Society. This collection features meticulous plans from local rail companies like the Oregon Short Line, the Denver and Rio Grande Company, and the Salt Lake and Garfield Western Company. These artifacts offer professional and exclusive insight into the strategic development of the most important form of transportation in the 19th and 20th centuries and shed light on a bygone era of Utah and the Rockies' history.

Utah Historical Society Oral History Collection

Utah Historical Society Oral History Collection is a collection of oral histories from the Utah Historical Society Collection division. Many of the oral histories were funded by Utah Humanities grants. The oral histories were gathered over the decades and from around the state of Utah. These oral histories represent unique histories and different communities from around Utah.

Peoples of Utah Revisited Collection

Utah is home to countless communities, with distinct and intertwined histories. Many of their stories have long been excluded from popular narratives of Utah's past. Through the Peoples of Utah Revisited, the Utah Division of State History seeks to widen the lens on Utah's history and amplify voices that have not been heard.

Utah City Directories Collection

Utah City Directories Collection contains reference books produced in Utah throughout its urban history. These directories are a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations and institutions, giving their location in Salt Lake City, Utah and surrounding valley. It is arranged alphabetically, geographically and in other ways. The City Directories also have advertisements for businesses.

Utah K-12 COVID-19 Memory Project

Questionnaire with student responses regarding school, family, and community life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marilyn Warenski Interviews

The oral history interviews in this collection concern the status of women in Mormon culture, and were collected by Marilyn Warenski during the period 1975-1980.

George Montgomery Scott papers

The George Montgomery Scott collection consists of letter books containing copies of outgoing business correspondence of the George M. Scott Hardware Company, as well as personal correspondence. Scott served as Mayor of Salt Lake City from 1890-1892. Scott became involved in a mining venture at Marysvale, and a cattle business in Colorado, the Lily Park Stock Growers Association, the records of which are represented here.

Sanborn Fire Insurance maps from 1898 to 1969

This collection contains large-scale, detailed maps from 1898 to 1969, depicting the commercial, industrial, and residential sections of several Utah cities. They were designed in 1866 by surveyor D.A. Sanborn to assist fire insurance agents in determining the risk associated with insuring a particular property. This collection is held by Utah Division of State History and includes volumes not available through the main Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps digital collection.

The Elias Hicks Blackburn Papers, 1848-1908

This collection of diaries, correspondence, and miscellaneous personal papers chronicle the life of a Latter-day Saint pioneer in Provo and Loa, Utah. Elias Hicks Blackburn was a farmer, a member of the Utah Territorial legislature, and a home-remedy healer. The collection includes 13 bound diaries from 1848-1849 to 1908, and six pieces of correspondence documenting his foreign mission (1859-1862) and his final years at Loa.

Utah Postcards Collection, 1880s-1924

This curated collection of postcards represents Utah's early tourism industry in the years surrounding Statehood. These postcards highlight the beauty of Utah's natural environment, unique history, economic successes, art and cultural experiences, and comfortable accommodations.

Eugene Jelesnik Video Collection

Eugene Jelesnik hosted KSL Studio's Talent Showcase, a variety show of local amateur performers, for many years. These tapes highlight some of the shows from the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. Patrons may access these video files at the Research Center for the Utah Division of State History and Utah State Archives: historyresearch.utah.gov.

Juanita Brooks Papers

The papers of Juanita Brooks constitute an extraordinarily rich collection, the accumulation of correspondence, manuscripts and collected sources from a long, busy, and distinguished career as a historian. Her research opened new areas of inquiry into Utah's past, as she was not afraid to ask profound questions about difficult historical issues. Brooks' research, methodologies, and her warm personal and professional relationships are represented in this collection.

The Civilian Conservation Corps Newsletters Collection, 1935-1941

The Civilian Conservation Corps Newsletters Collection includes the weekly newsletters from CCC camps located in Utah. These newsletters detail work performed by camp members, courses taught at camp, recreation, and other facets of camp life, and includes a summary of each department in the camp with details of its function.

Antelope Island Buffalo Hunt

Photographs of a buffalo hunt at Antelope Island (Davis County) in 1926. Hunting party includes George Dern and Harry Baxter.

Salt Lake Tribune Negatives

This collection contains over 171,000 images from the 1930s to the 1960s. It is unique in origin as it includes images taken by dozens of different photographers sent out by the newspaper to get the perfect shot, something newsworthy. This results in many "live action" images taken of everyday activities.

Al Morton Photograph and Film Collection

Afton Watkins Gardner

This collection contains images from Charles Goodman, a photographer in Bluff, Utah from the 1890s to 1912. Southern Utah and the surrounding areas are documented in Goodman's work showing an array of activity. A few images from fellow photographer Charles B. Lang, Sr. are included.

Al Morton Photographs and Films

This collection documents scenic Utah. Morton photographed and filmed many of Utah's natural areas, thus helping the tourist industry. He also documented recreation activities. His films were shown in schools and as tourist promotions.

C.R. Savage Portraits

The C.R. savage Portrait Collection contains almost 15,000 images of men, women, and children who went to the Savage studio in Salt Lake for a portrait sitting during the 1930s

Carbon County Cookbook

The Carbon County Cookbook contains recipes from citizens of several cities in Carbon County, such as Helper, Kenilworth, Sunnyside, Hiawatha, Cameron, and Castle Gate, during the 1920s.

Cartoons and Caricatures of Men in Utah

This collection contains artwork in the form of cartoons and caricatures of men in Utah around the turn of the twentieth century. This sketches were part of a 1906 book entitled Just for Fun: Cartoons and Caricatures of Men In Utah.

Charles Raymond Varley Slides, 1868-1986

An ode to architecture, this collection contains images of commercial, religious, and residential buildings of Salt Lake City. "Then and now" images compare the 1886 Salt Lake streets to the streets of 1986.

Civilian Conservation Corps in Utah

The Civilian Conservation Corps in Utah collection contains images from various CCC camps throughout Utah, in both black and white and color, taken and collection by members of the CCC. This collection also has newsletters published by individual camps.

Classified Photographs

Containing over 30,000 images, the Classified Photograph Collection is an artificially created collection by Utah Division of State History over a forty year period. Created as a browsing collection, it is organized by subjecs of popular interest regarding Utah history.

Clifton Bray Photographs

Clifton Bray worked for the Shipler Commercial Photographer Studio and then independently. This collection contains images of Salt Lake City architecture and people in the 1920s, as well as unique images of accident scenes and business contracts for documentary purposes.

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway Payroll Ledgers, 1889-1919

The Denver & Rio Grande payroll ledgers contain the employment records for workers between 1889-1919. The ledgers document the pay of employees from different departments, such as the Agent's Office, the Baggage Department, and the Transfer Gang.

Ellis Reynolds Shipp Papers

This collection contains the papers of Dr. Ellis Reynolds Shipp, one of Utah's first female physicians. It includes her writings in the form of correspondence to family and friends, diary entries, autobiographical works and some poetry and general notes. Subjects such as early medical practice, family history, polygamy, and life in nineteenth and early twentieth century Utah are found.

Fredrick and Nellie Hill Salt Lake Photographs

This collection includes images taken by Fredrick and Nellie Hill on their honeymoon in 1892. After their marriage in Massachusetts, the pair traveled by train throughout the west, photographing their experiences. These images document their time in Utah and include unique views of the Salt Lake valley from the scaffolding of the LDS Salt Lake Temple.

$General Refractories Company Photographs$

General Refractories Company Photographs

This collections documents the expansion to the General Refractories Company in Lehi, Utah in 1955-1956, highlighting the brick trade as part of Utah's clay industry.

George M. Ottinger Photographs

Born in Pennsylvania in 1833, George M. Ottinger came to Utah in 1861. Upon arriving, Ottinger painted scenery for a Salt Lake theater and then joined photographer C.R. Savage, hand-tinting photographs. Though he worked in a variety of careers - from sailor, to fire chief and professor - Ottinger always returned to art and painting. The photographs in this collection reflect Ottinger's role as an artist and life in Utah from the late-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries.

John Peter Simonson Photographs

Documenting Green River, Utah this collection contains images taken by author, pharmacist, and railroad man John Peter Simonson. Simonson and his wife, Eugenie, moved to Utah in 1908 after purchasing the Broadway Drug Store. They operated the store until 1955 and lived in Green River until 1961.

Juanita Brooks Photographs

Images documenting Brooks's professional writing career from 1934-1971 are found in this collection. Brooks specialized in the history of the American west and Mormon history. She is most noted for her writings on the Mountain Meadow Massacre. This collection also provides a glimpse into her personal life with many images of her family, activities, and general life in souther Utah.

Kent Day Family, 1917-1919

The Kent Day Family Collection contains photographs and letters collected by different Day family members, predominantly Ada Elizabeth Day. This collection documents the beginning of World War I from the perspective of different soldiers stationed in various places. The collection also includes documentation of the death of David Day who died of Spanish Influenza.

KUED Topaz Residents

The KUED Topaz Collection contains images used for the KUED 1987 documentary on the Topaz Internment Camp in Delta, Utah during World War II. The collection documents the journey of many Japanese Americans leaving behind home, jobs, and life to enter the Topaz Internment Camp.

Larson Studio Negatives

The Larson Studio Negative Collection was created by Thomas Christian Larson and his son O. Blaine Larson. Both operated the Larson Studio from 1916-1968 in Provo, Utah. The collection contains portraits of many Utah County citizens as well as some Utah landscape and industry scenes and images of Provo.

Movies Made in Utah

Hollywood loved Utah for its old west feel. The Movies Made in Utah collection contains images from various productions filmed in Utah, as well as photo album of a Utah film production studio.

Peoples of Utah

The Peoples of Utah collection contains images that show some of Utah's great diversity. Helen Papanikolas collected and donated these photographs.

Philo T. Farnsworth Television Tubes

The Philo T. Farnsworth Television Tubes Collection contains different examples of the Farnsworth television tubes that are part of the Utah State History's artifacts collection.

Ray King

This collection contains images from Utah photographer Ray King. King worked for the Salt Lake Tribune for many years in the mid-twentieth century. These images document his work in Utah but also his personal life as he photographed trips throughout the United States.

Rural Utah

The majority of Utah's population is found on the Wasatch Front, but Utah's history knows no boundaries. This currated collection features images from rural communities of Utah - including Eureka, Milford, Newton, Ophir, and Stockton.

Salt Lake City Engineers

The Salt Lake City Engineers Collection contains negatives from 1902-1931 that document the construction of various structures in Salt Lake City and the surrounding area. Included are images of roads, street paving, fire stations, bridges, rivers, and canyons.

Schools of the Salt Lake Valley

The Schools of the Salt Lake Valley collection has images of various school structures throughout Salt Lake Valley, many of which have since been demolished. Students of the various schools are often included in the images.

Shipler Commercial Photographs

Shipler Commercial Photographers took thousands of images of Salt Lake City and surrounding areas. This collection contains images from glass plates (1900s-1920s_ and acetate negatives (1940s-1950s), with the majority of the images having an exact date and detailed description.

Taylor Woolley Photographs

The Taylor Woolley Photograph collection documents Utah architect Taylor Woolley's time working under Frank Lloyd Wright during the 1911 construction of Wright's Taliesin I in Wisconsin. The collection also contains some images of Woolley's architectural work in Utah.

Theater Programs

This collection contains programs for dramatic and musical performances at different theatrical establishment in Utah from 1866-1995. Most are from the Salt Lake Theatre, built in 1861 and considered one of the finest theaters west of the Mississippi.

Topaz- Our Daily Diary

Our Daily Diary is a diary kept by the High Third Grade children at the Topaz War Relocation Center during World War II. Students and their teacher document their every day experiences during the time of internment of Japanese-Americans.

Utah 2002 Olympic Legacy

The Olympic Legacy Collection contains images of various events during the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. Also included are images of some artifacts in the Utah State History collection, such as the famous tradable pins.

Utah Governor's Olympics

The Utah Governor’s Olympic Collection contains images taken by the Governor’s Office during the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. The images document the Governor’s activities during the Olympics as well as different Olympic events, such as the Opening Ceremonies and medal ceremony concerts.

Utah State Legislators

Men and women have been serving Utah citizens in the Utah State Legislature since before Utah was officially a state. This collection has images of legislators serving from various Utah counties from 1895-1963.

Utah Power and Light

The Utah Power and Light Collection has images of various schools, businesses, homes, hospitals, service stations, and street scenes mostly in the Salt Lake Valley. Some of the images highlight the lighting of some of the structures.

William Edward Hook Glass Negatives

The William Edward Hook Collection contains images from glass plate negatives. Hook was a photographer in Colorado during the 1890s gold rush. The collection documents life in the west and the railroad in Utah.

We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe: Latinos in Utah Exhibit

This digital exhibit showcases the photographic exhibit of Latino history in Utah by Armando Solorzano, professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah. Topics include Aztec history in Utah, Latino settlements in southeastern Utah, Latino miners, railroad workers, migrant workers, Latino religious practices and political influences.

Work Progress Administration Biographical Sketches

Short biographies generated by the WPA from and about Utah’s remaining pioneers and historical figures. The collection consists of Personal Pioneer History questionnaires, autobiographical and biographical sketches, autobiography and diary transcriptions.

Connell O'Donovan LGBT Utah History Collection

The Connell O'Donovan LGBT Utah History digital collection is a research collection pertaining to LGBTQ+ history in Utah, particularly from pre-Utah territory to the early 1990s. The collection includes various materials such as photographs, newspaper clippings, research notes, personal accounts, biographies, and other documents related to events, activism, and key figures in the movement. Connell O'Donovan uses this collection for historical research, aiming to illuminate the enduring presence of LGBTQ+ communities in Utah. His research also encompasses social and cultural studies, educational purposes, genealogical research, and archival preservation. The Connell O'Donovan LGBT Utah History research collection highlights the contributions of the Utah LGBTQ+ community to the Gay Rights movement, including those who faced prosecution for their sexuality.

Utah Humanities at Fifty: An Oral History Project, 1975-2025

Utah Humanities (UH) is a non-profit organization with a longstanding statewide mission to promote the humanities in every corner of the Beehive State. In 2025, UH turned fifty! As part of the organization's golden anniversary, UH undertook an oral history effort to preserve its history and the heritage of its partnerships in Utah communities. Utah Humanities at Fifty: An Oral History Project, 1975-2025 (hereafter UH@50) is presented here as a digital collection of fifty conversations with former UH partners, board members, and former staff members that speaks to the organization's impact and relevance in Utah. The collection includes interview audio, vetted transcripts, and images of interview participants. A signed UH Interview Agreement and Deed of Gift form for each interviewee is housed at UHS. To learn more about Utah Humanities, read Golden: Fifty Years of Utah Humanities (1975-2025), an essay that explores the organization's fifty-year history, including the founding of the National Endowment for the Humanities and genesis of U.S. state and territory humanities' organizations. The essay draws from UH@50 interviews. This digital collection is a partnership with the Utah Historical Society.