Archives News

Featured image for “Finding Aids at the Archives: October 2024”
November 7, 2024

Finding Aids at the Archives: October 2024

Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here are the newest ones created during October 2024: Davis School District (Utah). Davis High School. Yearbooks Legislature. Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel State government organization charts The following series inventories were updated during October 2024 by our archivists: District Court (Fifth District : Washington County) Civil registers
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October 31, 2024

A Story of Past Futures for the Utah State Archives

October marked the 20th anniversary of the formal opening of the current home of the Utah State Archives and Records Service at 346 S. Rio Grande Street. The anniversary gives us at the Archives the opportunity to reflect on how past visions of a purpose-built facility for the Archives brought us to where we are today. The Archives first became
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October 23, 2024

A Monumental Controversy in Utah

In September 1996, President Bill Clinton made the controversial decision to draw on powers reserved to him by the 1906 Antiquities Act, and designate 1,880,461 aces of land in southern Utah as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. But did you know that sixty years earlier federal officials were pondering the designation of a similar monument that would have dwarfed the area
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October 9, 2024

Bringing Science to the Desert

The Superconducting Super Collider The history of human activity in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Desert suggests that it is a place where the biggest of human ideas can take root. During the 1980’s this tendency took the shape of a detailed proposal to turn a section of Great Basin desert into the world’s most cutting edge science and research destination.
Featured image for “Finding Aids at the Archives: September 2024”
October 7, 2024

Finding Aids at the Archives: September 2024

Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here are the newest ones created during September 2024: District Court (Third District : Tooele County) Probate registers Library-Gymnasium Commission The Library-Gymnasium Movement pamphlet The following series inventories were updated this month by our archivists: District Court (First District : Rich County) Declaration of Intention record books District Court (First
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October 2, 2024

MX Missile Records

The MX Missile The MX Missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile utilized by the United States between 1985 and 2005. Development began on the MX missile (which stood for “Missile Experimental”) in 1971 and in 1979 U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced that 200 MX missiles would be deployed throughout western Utah and eastern Nevada. This proposed basing system was immediately
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September 17, 2024

Reviving Vital Records

Birth and death certificates are some of the most popular records requested and used at the Utah State Archives. For the last year, our staff has been working to accelerate providing quality access, especially online, to these valuable records as soon as they become public. In this post, we’ll explore the process from beginning to end. Records Management The Office
Featured image for “Finding Aids at the Archives: August 2024”
September 10, 2024

Finding Aids at the Archives: August 2024

Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here are the newest ones created during August 2024: Inventory of U.S. Commissioner Morris Sommer’s criminal docket from District Court (Third District), 1895. Inventory of U.S. Commissioner Morris Sommer’s civil case docket books from District Court (Third District), 1895-1896. Inventory of Civil case files from District Court (Sixth District :
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August 16, 2024

New Digital Collection: Colorado River Development Records

In 2022, the Colorado River Compact celebrated its 100th anniversary as the foundational agreement for a complex legal framework that has come to guide how the river’s waters are utilized by the western states, western tribes, and Mexico. In the leadup to that 100th anniversary, the Utah State Archives and Records Service digitized a variety of important records documenting Utah’s
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August 13, 2024

Finding Aids at the Archives: July 2024

Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here are the newest ones created during July 2024: Inventory of Probate case files from District Court (Sixth District : Wayne County), 1896- The following series inventories were updated by our archivists: Inventory of Upper Colorado River project case files from Governor (1957-1965 : Clyde), 1957-1964. Inventory of Annual Comprehensive