Archives News

For almost as long as there has been government in Utah, there has been the desire to reorganize, optimize, streamline and generally make it better. This past week, Governor Herbert announced the Advisory Council to Optimize State Government to fulfill recent legislation. The Utah State Archives holds records to several past projects of a similar nature and has made many

There are now over 40,000 images in the Senate Working Bills digital archive. The date range of 1896 thru 1947 cover half of the legislative sessions until the target end date of 1989 (1990 to the present are on le.utah.gov).   In 1946 as a response to recent events, the Senate passed a resolution in a special session to honor

In the immediate aftermath of  World War II, the Department of War and the Department of the Navy both published national lists of casualties for the U.S. Army and Army Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The intent was to disseminate the information to the general public in a timely manner, for the benefit of next of kin,

Recently, as the Archives staff was working with Ogden City to review historic records from Ogden held in the Archives, we ran across some mysterious records. The records were in the format of 24 large glass negatives, 11” x 14”. They had been identified simply as documents from the Ogden City Police Department. In order to determine more exactly what

The Utah State Archives is pleased to announce that the 116-year-old Utah State Constitution is now available with a full text search on its web site. The Utah State Archives is also the custodian of the record which now may be viewed along side a typescript taken from the 1898 Revised Statutes of Utah at archives.utah.gov. The “engrossed” copy of

“The Tall & Short Man” is a tale of extortion, deceit, robbery, and crime. The story involves crimes against the highest echelon of Ogden society by a shadowy figure under multiple names that eluded the police for eight years.

The birth certificates of three different children from one set of parents in one year is liable to catch one’s attention. It turned out that in July 1905, when Frank and Iku Arima filed for birth certificates for twins Estella and Orville born July 18, 1905, they also filed for their first son, Clarence, born February 8, 1904. Further research

Duplicious: [etymology: duplicate + delicious.] This is a word. It can mean so good it should be shared by all. (“I sent that duplicious tune to all my friends on facebook.”) Duplicitous can mean two-faced or deceptive. (“Watch out! He is one duplicitous hombre!”) Duplicative can mean repetative or the same again, again. [etymology from Late Latin duplicitās a being

A researcher recently requested to look at an obscure record series described simply as “Census records, 1880” (Series 5269).  After retrieving the records, Archives staff became curious and set about trying to figure out what the records really were.  The records include five booklets that were clearly standard forms (form 7-392) printed for the 1880 Federal Census and have notes

According to the Social Security Administration, the most popular baby names in Utah now are Ethan and Olivia. Thanks to a forthcoming index of birth certificates issued in 1905, we may now know the most popular names from over a century ago. Girls Mary Ruth Alice Thelma Helen Florence Elizabeth Margaret Edna Hazel Boys John William George James Joseph Charles