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Each year, over 7,000 Utah students, from grades 4-12, embark on a research project for Utah History Day, part of the larger National History Day contest. Students choose a historical topic related to the annual theme, and then conduct primary and secondary research in libraries, archives, and museums. The final projects are presented in one of five ways: an exhibit, documentary, performance,

In the last post, we explored the political obstacles that prevented Utah from becoming a state until 1896. There was another large obstacle that made Congress wary of giving Utah statehood: polygamy. Polygamy started in April of 1841 when Joseph Smith married his first plural wife. By the time the Latter-Day Saints moved from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Salt Lake

Today’s discovery was unearthed by Reference Archivist Tony Castro while he was working on a research request. The patron was interested in seeing early photographs of the Ash Creek Bridge in Washington County. Although we didn’t have any photos in our collection, Tony did find an artist’s rendering of the bridge, before it was actually constructed, in the 1923-4 State

Those who have used Polk City Directories in their research know how valuable they can be in tracking individuals, institutions, and businesses over time. But it’s hard to know exactly how the directories were assembled and why information is presented as it is. A receipt found among records from the Murray City School District sheds just a sliver of light on

Written by Tony Castro, Reference Archivist at the Utah State Archives and Records Service Research Center. These days, historic railroad stations across the country seem to be for everything except purchasing tickets and boarding trains. What’s more popular these days are a variety of services such as chambers of commerce, history museums, and antique shops. In some cases, the stations

Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here are the newest ones created during April 2021: Inventory of Record of Tax Deeds Issued from Beaver County (Utah). County Auditor, 1896-1942. Inventory of Tax sale records from Beaver County (Utah). County Recorder, 1896-2021 Inventory of Annual budgets from Cornish (Utah), 1982-2021 Inventory of Audit reports from Cornish (Utah),

As we continue our series on Utah’s Road to Statehood, we will explore the obstacles that prevented Utah from becoming a state until 1896. In early Utah, religion and politics were so closely intertwined that Congress refused to entertain the idea of statehood until the 1890s. Council of Fifty When the Territory of Utah was created in 1850, President Millard

Take a look at what Reference Archivist Heidi Stringham found in the Archives! These beautiful black and white sketches of Utah State Parks are found in the Administrative Records of the Division of Parks and Recreation, which lives within the Department of Natural Resources. The sketches are from 1981-2 and are all signed by the artist Marilyn R. Miller in the

There are few records held by the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service that illustrate the power and importance of communication like the correspondence sent and received by Utah’s governors.  As the chief executive of the State, the governor directly engages with issues of both local and national importance. The governor correspondence collections are filled with an array of

While searching for a document for a patron, Reference Archivist Heidi Stringham found these colorful cards! They were created by the Governor’s Commission for Women and Families, whose purpose is to protect the rights of women and families in Utah. Since its inception as the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Programs (1968-1970), the organization has also been known as the Governor’s