The Utah Division of Archives and Records Service was honored with two awards from the Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists (CIMA) at their annual conference last month. Archival Project Award: Colorado River Compact Project In 2022, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Colorado River Compact, our team digitized over 40,000 records that document the negotiation of the …
Meet the New Government Records Ombudsman
The Utah State Archives is thrilled to welcome our new Government Records Ombudsman, Monica Minaya! Monica comes to us with a wealth of GRAMA (Government Records Access and Management Act) experience having served as the GRAMA response coordinator for both Unified Police and the Herriman Police Department. Let’s get to know her! Welcome, Monica! What are you expecting in your …
Court Indexes Now Online for Weber County and Iron County
“Start your search—but don’t finish it—online.” Sunny Jane Morton and Judy G. Russell, “Researching Courthouse Records In-Person and Online” The Utah State Archives has a lot of court records. Before computer systems and databases, access tools were needed and created to locate a specific record. It was common from the 1800s to the late 1900s to use either bound index …
Meet the Summer 2023 Interns
Summer has arrived, and at the Utah State Archives, we’re excited to welcome a new cohort of talented interns! Learn more about them, and the exciting projects they will be undertaking this summer, below: Sara Riley is currently in the Master in Library and Information Science program at the University of Maryland, with an emphasis in archival and digital curation. …
New Finding Aids at the Archives: May 2023
Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here is the newest one created during May 2023: Inventory of Eastonia (yearbook) from Salt Lake City School District (Utah). East High School, 1926- Inventory of Records of business transacted from Tooele County (Utah). County Commission, 1867-1888 Inventory of Declaration of Intention record books from District Court (First District : …
Utah History Day 2023: History in Government Winners
Every year in April, 4th through 12th grade students from across the state 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 …
Untangling Audio: Navigating Reformatting Challenges
As a Reformatting Specialist, Leif Johnson has come across his fair share of challenging projects. Recently, he was presented with a seriously tricky audio reformatting issue that required his expertise and problem-solving abilities. Below, Leif explains how his technical skills saved the day! “We had court audio records that were recorded at a slower speed to capture more data. This …
New Finding Aids at the Archives: April 2023
Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here is the newest one created during April 2023: Inventory of Council minutes from North Ogden (Utah), 1934-1999 Inventory of Building plans from Provo City School District (Utah), ca. 1930- Inventory of Registers of deaths from Huntington (Utah), 1905-1921 Inventory of Board meeting agendas from Morgan County School District (Utah), …
Highlights with Heidi: The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition
The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, also known as the AYP Exposition, was a world’s fair in Seattle, Washington, in 1909 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush. It attracted over three million visitors to the University of Washington campus and featured exhibits from countries around the globe, including the United States. One state that was particularly involved in the …
Coal Correspondence: Inspector Gomer Thomas and the 1900 Scofield Mine Disaster
This blog post was written by Jack Tingey, a 2023 Intern at the Utah State Archives and Records Service. Jack graduated from BYU with a BA in history and an emphasis on 19th century American history. On May 1, 1900, International Workers Day, Utah State Coal Mine Inspector Gomer Thomas searched through the wreckage of the Winter Quarters No. 4 Mine, …