Archives News

A pint of whiskey for a sick cow, a tablespoonful for a teething baby, and a quart of brandy for an ailing mother were some of the many reasons Spanish Fork citizens sought exceptions from the city-wide prohibition of alcohol that went into effect in the year 1900.  On January 25, 1900, the city council of Spanish Fork passed Ordinance

Black Americans were among the first pioneer settlers to arrive in Utah, coming to the Great Basin as enslaved people. Although many lived in Utah long enough to become free, their enslaved status and later position on the fringe of Utah society have left us with incomplete versions of their stories. Secondary sources are often the only available records that

My macabre curiosity always gets the best of me, and I couldn’t help but thumb through the pages of the Huntington City Register of Deaths, a compilation of death certificates, local duplicates of the official records that get filed with the state.  They came to the State Archives during a transfer of records from Huntington City. I read each page,

Here at the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service, our Local Government Team looks a little different these days, as we have welcomed a few new members. We wanted to take a moment to reintroduce ourselves and the unique work we do here at the State Archives. Over the last several years, we’ve been busy listening and learning from

A copy of a black and white photo of the Saltair sits above my Grandma’s desk. I’ve been obsessed with it since I was a kid. Her father claimed to be one of the bathers featured in the center of the picture perched upon a floating tub. He’s surrounded by a group of men and women, frolicking in their old-timey

Sydney Dahle started as a deputy clerk in the Cache County Clerk’s office in 2021, and is assigned to work as the county’s official record-keeper. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri Sydney moved to Utah to attend Utah State University. Sydney has an interest in preserving history and helping people access government records, and recently graduated with degrees in history and

Records retention is simply a practice by which an organization maintains their records for set lengths of time, and systems in which they use to either redirect, store, or dispose of those records. The records retention schedule is the policy which guides this practice, by clearly defining how long a record must be kept and the guidelines for how records

Howdy! Looks like you are getting ready to depart on a records management journey. The road to a good records management program will require endurance, patience and perseverance. Here are 5 things to prepare for before you hit the trail:  1. Determine your destination: You will want to determine your destination by setting records management goals. Do you want to

The Central Utah Water Conservancy District manages a vast network of water facilities in eight Utah counties. Recordkeeping for this vital resource is of the utmost importance to the organization. Records Manager Mandy McClellan offers up some insight into her role and advice for other recordkeepers.  Tell us how you got your start in records management? Is this a career

Here at the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service we seek to support government agencies throughout the whole records lifecycle: from records creation, through use and access, from records storage, to destruction and preservation. So when we see a great records management project, we want to celebrate! Murray City recently shared news of their latest records clean-up project with