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Water Purification Eradicates Typhoid Fever
Public health is a common good that communities have long rallied around. In the early 20th Century, the highly infectious typhoid disease brought health experts and Utah’s citizens together to demand clean water and upgraded public water…
Even the Grasshoppers were Starving: The 1934 Drought
The 1934 drought that ravaged the nation was a natural disaster that came at the worst possible time for Utahns. Find out how officials helped guide the state through this catastrophe with help from the federal government.
In 1934, a historic drought…
Utah's Front Lawns
Each summer, as the snowpack dwindles and drought restrictions come into play, most Utahns keep up a small oasis in the desert – their front lawns. Learn why more than half of Utah’s valuable household water is used outside to sprinkle this…
Decisions Downstream
The decisions we make to manage Utah's rivers are complex. The creation of dams has had long-term impacts, but today, scientists are developing water management models that reflect the needs of both people and fish.
All of us – people, fish, and…
Pleasure Cruising: The Galloway-Stone Expedition
The outdoor recreation industry in Utah is worth billions of dollars. But getting out into nature for simple pleasure – and paying someone to guide you – is a relatively modern concept. Learn about a river trip taken in 1909 that forecast the…
Ancient Farmers & Prehistoric Waterways
People living in Utah have been managing water to support agriculture for over a thousand years. Using tools and techniques perfected by their ancestors, these ancient farmers manipulated water and adapted to their dry environment in order to…
John Wesley Powell's Hydraulic West
A map of the United States is a familiar sight in Utah’s classrooms. But if we had listened to one of America’s most visionary scientists more than one hundred years ago, Utah’s state borders would look totally different today. Maps shape how…
Conquering the Unconquerable River: Buzz Holstrom's Rise to Fame
Armed with a cameraman, a rubber boat named “Charlie,” and a pet racoon, Buzz Holmstrom took a legendary river trip that was featured in the 1938 film “Conquering the Colorado."
In 1937, a man named Buzz Holmstrom built a wooden boat and ran…
Streets Closed for Winter Fun
Water is a key part of Utah’s recreation scene, whether you’re skiing, snowboarding, sledding, or ice skating. Learn how Utah's residents used to love their winter thrills so much that they shut down entire city streets to make way for snowy fun.…
Powerful Madams Presided Over Utah’s Brothels
It may come as a surprise to learn that in late 19th century Utah – an era with great constraints on women’s work – that prostitution offered at least some women a path to a powerful career.In the late 1800s, railroads and urban growth spurred…
Labor Rationing in Utah’s Depression Economy
Meet Barney Flanagan and learn how it fell to him to keep corruption out of government-funded work-relief jobs in Utah during the early years of the Great Depression.When you hear about shortages during the Great Depression, you probably imagine…
Eight-Hour Workday
The reality of an eight-hour workday remains elusive for many Utah workers, but it is still considered the national standard, and one we take for granted. Learn how Utah became the first state to adopt the eight-hour workday.During the late…
Utah Tithing Houses
Much has been made of the early Mormons’ communal work ethic and the effective redistribution of resources within their communities. But how did they actually organize these efforts?Life on the eastern edge of the Great Basin was not easy. When…
Padrone System Stifled Freedom
A lot of Americans still dream of the American West as a place of freedom and opportunity. But for workers at the turn of the twentieth century, it was never quite that simple.As author Mark Twain brings Huckleberry Finn’s story to a close, we read…
A Voice for Working Women
The Woman’s Exponent magazine served an unusual role in advocating for Utah’s working women during the late nineteenth century. One of the greatest advocates for Utah’s working women was the Woman’s Exponent magazine, started in Salt Lake…
Convict Labor: Road-Building Backbone for Utah
Learn about Utah’s convict labor system and how prisoners actually formed the backbone of some of our early public works projects – especially road construction.The term "convict labor" usually conjures up images of men wearing black and white…
Not Bees But Beavers
Irrigation was essential to early Mormons’ ability to survive in Utah. Learn how they labored physically, intellectually, and communally to make the desert bloom.Looking back at the Mormons of the late nineteenth century, one historian joked that,…
Industrialism Drives Utah Women to the Workplace
American industrialism at the turn of the 20th century brought Utah women out of their homes and into the workplace. There they faced inequality and wage disparity.The turn of the twentieth century saw dramatic changes that created new opportunities…
Working for the Best Snow on Earth
Utahns have looked to the mountains for minerals, lumber, water, and even grazing lands. But how were our mountains re-imagined into the skiing playgrounds we know today?Alpine skiers claim that Utah has the best snow on Earth. But before people…
The Rag Man
Rightly or wrongly, others often see our work as defining who we are, and prize some occupations over others. Meet George Goddard, who spent three years traveling Utah and collecting waste.Today, most Americans make recycling a regular part of their…