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Hoop Mania Sweeps Utah
Utah women were captivated by “hoop mania” back in the 1860s. The fashionable hoop-skirt swept through Mormon society.The headline on the September 7, 1859 issue of Salt Lake’s Valley Tan newspaper read “Progress of the Hoop Mania.” The…
Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Baseball in Carbon County
The all-American game of baseball helped new immigrants adjust to life in Utah during the early 1900s.During the early 1900s, the United States came into its own as an industrialized nation. Attracted by jobs and the chance to move up in society,…
The Great White Palace: African American Segregation in Utah
The old Hotel Utah has a storied history of hospitality that is shadowed by the racial prejudice common throughout Utah right into the 1960s.Located on South Temple and Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City, the venerated Hotel Utah was known in its…
Helen Zeese Papanikolas
A famous historian used her girlhood memories of Carbon County to completely change the way we understand Utah’s past.She passed away in 2004, but Helen Zeese Papanikolas is still revered in Utah as an historian whose work made it impossible to…
Stout and Spirited: Utah's 19th Century Liquor Industry
The surprisingly stout and spirited history of the liquor industry in 19th century Utah!During the late 1800s, Utah had a thriving liquor industry. LDS Church President Brigham Young had no qualms about producing or selling alcohol. He built a…
What's so Special about Utah's Danger Cave?
A seemingly non-descript cave in Utah’s west desert holds the key to understanding Utah’s ancient past.To the untrained eye, Danger Cave near Wendover, Utah, is utterly unremarkable. But ask any archaeologist about this dusty desert cave and…
Utah State Symbols
In 2011 Utah state lawmakers voted to designate the Browning M1911 pistol as the official state firearm. The gun would be the latest addition to a surprising collection of historic state symbols.You’ve probably heard of official Utah state symbols…
Celebrating Chinese New Year in Utah
Celebrations of the Chinese Lunar New Year have riveted Utahns since 1869.When Chinese immigrants first came to Utah to build the railroad in 1869, they brought one of their most important holidays, the Chinese Lunar New Year, a 15-day festival that…
The Glorious Gardo House (Part 2)
Salt Lake City’s Gardo House was home to Mormon polygamists on the lamb and the West’s most shining socialites.The Gardo House, a Victorian mansion in downtown Salt Lake, was once touted as the finest home between Chicago and San Francisco. Its…
The Glorious Gardo House (Part 1)
The unusual history of a remarkable mansion in downtown Salt Lake City.Downtown Salt Lake City was once home to a famously opulent Victorian mansion with an extraordinary history. Construction of the Gardo House began in 1873 on the southwest corner…
The Murder of George Demetrakopolous
The murder of Greek labor agent, George Demetrakopolous, and the hunt for his killer in 1908.In the early 20th century, a contentious relationship existed in Utah’s mining camps between Greek immigrant laborers and the agents of Greek labor padrone…
Utah Holiday Feasting, Reveling, Surviving
As you're preparing for the festive season, consider a few vignettes from the 1800s telling how our Utah forebears feasted, reveled, and somehow made their way through the winter holidays.The first known Utah Christmas was a multicultural affair…
Zane's Antipolygamy Crusade
A key figure in the struggle over polygamy was US Supreme Court Justice Charles Zane. His tenure on the bench saw hundreds of people convicted of illegal cohabitation or polygamy, leading some to call his work an “antipolygamy crusade”.The…
Slavery of African-Americans in Early Utah
Slavery of African-Americans in Utah began with the settlement of Mormon pioneers in 1847 and lasted for 15 years until the practice was made illegal in 1862.Three slaves, named Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, came west with the first Mormon…
The Beginning of Public Libraries in Utah
Public libraries are a staple of many of Utah’s communities. Learn how public libraries got started in Utah.October is National Book Month and libraries all over Utah are celebrating with book festivals and activities to help bring readers and…
Kid Activists Honor the ‘Father of Television’
A group of school children fought in the Utah legislature to win recognition for one of the world’s most important inventors.Can you imagine the world without television? Its impact is everywhere, yet few people realize that the inventor of the…
Father Escalante and Joaquin
A story of friendship between Spanish explorer Father Escalante and the Ute boy who was his guide through the Utah territory.In July 1776, a group of Spanish explorers set out from Santa Fe, New Mexico in search of a northern route to one of…
Unsung Heroes and Heroines of Utah Agriculture
Migrant workers from Mexico have long contributed to Utah’s agricultural success. Their labor has been essential to the rural economy of the state.Utah has long relied on migrant labor for its agricultural success. In 1918, for example, sixty…
What's for Dinner? Salt Lake Valley's Prison Site
A Salt Lake Valley archaeology site holds clues to that age old question- ‘what’s for dinner?’ The surprising answer may change the way we understand Utah’s ancient past.For most of us living along the Wasatch Front today, making dinner for…
Mark Twain Comes to Utah
Mark Twain’s visit to Utah and the comical encounter he had with Brigham Young.Mark Twain is known to most of us as the author of such classics as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. A well-known humorist, one of Twain’s earlier books, called…