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, and Chase Roberts, Artifacts Assistant, I’m privy to a lot of cool stuff. I’d like to spend my blog time letting the manuscripts and artifacts people share their newest additions to the collections, which are now available for your use:
The Mel Larsen, Bus Driver artifact collection
Mel Larsen drove a bus for 39 years with the Utah Transit Authority – before it was the UTA! Here is a link to the collections page for more items and information.
The Utah State Firemen’s Association Papers, 1879-1984 – MSS B 1996
Interested in the history of the state’s firefighters? This collection contains 41 boxes of correspondence, financial ledgers and receipts, meeting minutes, annual convention materials, membership records, by-laws, yearbooks, Ottinger Hall library records, obituaries, death records, scrapbooks, and photographs pertaining to the Utah State Firemen’s Association, Salt Lake Veteran Volunteer Firemen Association, Salt Lake Firemen’s Mutual Aid Association, Salt Lake Firemen’s Relief Association, and the Ladies Auxiliary to Veteran Volunteer Firemen’s Association.
The Utah Heritage Foundation National Register Nominations, 1967-1987 – MSS B 1998
This collection is one cubic box of correspondence, newspaper clippings, blueprints, articles, surveys, architectural histories, and photographs regarding historic sites and structures that the Utah Heritage Foundation nominated for the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
Architectural Drawings
Did you know we’ve been adding our architectural drawings to the catalog? There are now over 350 drawings or sets of drawings available to the public, with more to come. The Lehi National Guard Armory, Provo Town Square, and the Elizabeth Gardens Apartments are a few examples. To browse the collection, just go to the library catalog and use the search term “architectural drawings.”
http://utah.polarislibrary.com/Search/default.aspx?ctx=18.1033.0.0.5
Saxey Family Black Beaded Jacket
This jacket is from the late 1800s – early 1900s and has exquisite beadwork set on quilted black silk. The beads on the cuffs are meant to dangle down as the sleeves come together in a very distinctive cut. The sleeves are sewn with an almost ninety degree angle at the elbow so the cuffs come together at the center- as for hand warming. We wonder if this jacket was made for funerary reasons because of the all black color palette and warmth of quilting.
Utah Information Technology Industry Association (UITA) Startup and Development Papers, 1999-2005 – MSS A 6278
This small but fascinating collection of 12 leaves documents founding CEO of the Utah Information Technology Association Peter Genereaux’s reflections on UITA, remarks given by Genereaux at his retirement party in 1999, his own career summary, and Genereaux’s paper Utah Information Technology Industry Association (UITA) Startup and Development Experience written in 2001.
The United States Fuel Company Hiawatha Coal Mine Records, 1915-1990 (additions) – MSS B 1090
Thirty one boxes have been added to the now 80 total boxes of this extensive collection, extending the date range coverage of this coal mine operation and company town to 1915 -1990. The collection includes accounting information, contracts, correspondence, annual reports, coal analysis samples, daily operation reports, inventory sheets, tax forms, employee timesheets, Price Trading Company sales receipts, and coal-related publications pertaining to the Hiawatha Coal Mine located in Carbon County, Utah.
Photographs related to the collection can be found under the title The United States Fuel Company Hiawatha Coal Mine Photographs Collection, 1920-1995 – MSS C 1090.
So there you go – some pretty cool stuff. Here’s a link to our Collections page.
Feel free to contact the Research Center if you have any further questions.