Archives News

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! The Utah State Law Library provides a short history of the holiday: The first presidential proclamation about Thanksgiving was made by George Washington in 1789. He declared the 26th of November as the date of celebration. In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed that the last Thursday in November was a national holiday. Finally, in 1941

Naturalization records maintained by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services since 1906 will be transferred from the Department of Homeland Security to the National Archives and Records Administration beginning in 2010. Public access will be available if the immigrant has passed away or turned 100 years old. Previously, these files were available through a laborious Freedom of Information Act

As some cool Celtic musicians once said, “Everyone is 1/365th Irish.” You know, because of St. Patrick’s Day! However, if you have some real Emerald Isle blood in you (like 12% of Americans), and your ancestors landed in Utah (and maybe stayed awhile), there is a chance the Utah State Archives Research Center has some records about them. Naturalization records

On January 5, 2009 Jon M. Huntsman was sworn in for a second term as the Governor of Utah. It was a smaller ceremony than in the past, as befits more difficult economic times. Records from these past inaugurations are available for many governors in the collections of the Utah State Archives, including: Governor Maw Scrapbooks, 1940-1946. Governor Rampton Inaugural

Following the Summer Olympics in Beijing? It may be interesting to see news coverage from 100 years ago in the Deseret News, posted at the Library of Congress Chronicling America site. The newspaper image is courtesy of the University of Utah, which of course hosts many historical newspapers from Utah at digitalnewspapers.org.