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Boom & Bust: Topaz Concentration Camp
During World War II, a city of more than 8,000 people rose out of Utah's desert for three years, and then returned to dust.
After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, US President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the relocation and imprisonment of more than…
Community Cookbooks
Before food blogs and Pinterest, Utah women shared their best recipes in community cookbooks. More than just recipes, these books kept rural foodways and food culture alive.
Today, home cooks can simply search the internet to find thousands of…
Carbon College and Utah’s Educational Revolt
Back in the 1950s, Utah’s budget-slashing governor J. Bracken Lee wanted to close the first institution of higher education in eastern Utah – which he actually helped establish! But Utahns balked at his plan and stopped it.
Upon its approval in…
Welcome to Main Street: Helper Commercial District
Every rural Utah town has their own special Main Street. In Carbon County, Helper’s main street tells a rich historic story about change and continuity in its unique community.
In the early twentieth century, the small community of Helper was…
Segregation, Racial Violence, and the Klan in Rural Utah
African Americans living and traveling through Utah in the early twentieth century had to delicately navigate the increasing power of the Ku Klux Klan, which contributed to an acceptance of racially-motivated violence.
Black people have lived and…
Turkeys: Industrial Change Makes it Everyone’s Bird
This Thanksgiving, you might enjoy a meal that includes a roasted turkey. What are the chances it was born and raised here in Utah?Few people might associate Utah with one of America’s favorite holiday meals: turkeys. But, the turkey industry in…
Putting a Face on Poverty: Dorthea Lange in Utah
Famous photographer Dorthea Lange captured the heartbreaking struggles and resiliency of rural Utah during the Great Depression. Find out more about Lange and her extraordinary photographs.During the Great Depression of the early 1930s, Utah…
Basque Community in Utah
Hailing from the mountainous border region between Spain and France, Basques are a tightly-knit and proud ethnic group. Find out how Basque immigrants to the Intermountain West maintained their identity, community, and traditions so far from home.
In…
Town that Drowned: Keetley
Known for its history as a settlement for displaced Japanese-Americans during World War II, this ranching, mining, and farm town in Wasatch County was buried by the Jordanelle Reservoir.
If you’ve ever been to the Jordanelle Reservoir, you may not…
Eugene Jelesnik: The Man Behind the Music
How did a Jewish, Ukranian violin player become one of Utah’s most beloved local celebrities? Learn about the life of one extraordinary man.
Eugene Jelesnik, skillfully riffing his violin wearing one of his thirty-seven sparkly dinner jackets, was…
Fighting for a Museum: Daughters of Utah Pioneers vs. Marmalade Neighbors
Museums are usually established in the public trust and in the public interest. But one museum in Salt Lake City’s Marmalade District caused a whole whirlwind of drama -- and even a state Supreme Court case.
Located at the top of Salt Lake City's…
Sorority of River Rats: Gender Norms on the River
If you’ve ever been on a river trip, you probably didn’t bring along your hair curlers or a nightgown. But for women rafters in the 1930s, keeping up gender norms was part of the river experience.
Between 1936 and 1949, Norm Nevills operated a…
Chlorine, Giardia, and Pickles
If you or your dog have ever gotten sick drinking untreated water, you've probably heard of giardia. Chlorine is regularly used in water treatment plants across Utah today to fight this deadly water parasite, but some of its earliest opponents…
The Civilian Conservation Corps and Desert Reclamation
During the depths of the Great Depression, thousands of young men went to work on over one thousand water projects in Utah. Learn about some of the projects that survive to this day.
In the 1930s, there was no shortage of work to be done on Utah's…
Law of the River: Conflicts & Legacies
In 1922, Utah joined the Colorado River Compact as arid Western states started to scramble for equal access to the waters of the Colorado River. But taming nature with this legal agreement did not come... naturally.
In 1922, seven states in the…
Law of the River: The 1922 Colorado Compact
Maybe you’ve heard it before: “The Nile is the longest river in the world. The Amazon is the largest. But the Colorado is one of the hardest working.” Learn why.
Did you know a quarter of Utah’s water comes from one river? That river is the…
Utah v. United States: the 1931 Riverbed Case
Water law in the West can be complicated. Find out how river runners helped the government decide who owns the riverbed of the Colorado Basin, and why that even matters to the public.
In the late 1920s, the state of Utah wanted to use the riverbeds…
The Battle Over Big Cottonwood Conduit
Frequent droughts and a growing population continue to raise the stakes for water access in Utah. Learn about a drawn-out conflict over water in Salt Lake City that shows how tensions between agricultural and municipal water users are hardly new.
In…
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…
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…