In the 2022 session, the Utah Legislature made several updates to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Here are the highlights. Representative Dan Johnson sponsored House Bill 96 which contains two significant changes. First, it defines a media representative as “a person who requests a record to obtain information for a story or report for publication or broadcast …
New Discoveries in the Archives: A Question of Self-Defense
This blog post was written by McKenzie Wood, a 2022 AS-L Outreach Intern at the Utah State Archives and Records Service. She is in her master’s program for Library and Information Science at St. John’s University in Queens, New York and is particularly interested in criminal justice. On September 9, 1891, Adolf F. Kohler was shot and killed by local …
Happy Retirement, Julie!
This month we said goodbye to Julie Talbot-Maesta after 35 years of public service at the Utah State Archives. Her hard work and attention to detail have been invaluable to the institution. As a Reformatting Specialist, Julie spent time working on a massive inventory project at the Records Center in Clearfield. Most recently, she completed the digitization of the Criminal …
New Finding Aids at the Archives: March 2022
Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here are the newest ones created during March 2022: Inventory of Council minutes from Clarkston (Utah), 1901-1925, 1938-1941, 1986-2019 Inventory of Prisoner card name index from State Prison, 1896-2002 In addition, the following were updated: Inventory of Alien enemy registration forms from Davis County (Utah). County Sheriff, 1940-1945 Inventory of …
ARO Spotlight: Brooke Smith and the Murray City Records Clean Up Project
Here at the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service we seek to support government agencies throughout the whole records lifecycle: from records creation, through use and access, from records storage, to destruction and preservation. So when we see a great records management project, we want to celebrate! Murray City recently shared news of their latest records clean-up project with …
Caroline Pace: The First Women Elected in Spanish Fork City
I first encountered Caroline Pace while sorting through a box of records labeled ‘old stuff.’ Spanish Fork City had transferred the box to the State Archives with many other historical records. However, unlike the other meticulously identified records, this particular box was unruly. The box was full of hundreds of tightly rolled and folded pieces of paper that were difficult …
SUU Digitization Project is a Window to the Past
Each year, the Utah State Historical Records Advisory Board (USHRAB) awards grants to organizations throughout the state to assist with the preservation and public access of our state’s history. These grants are made possible by funding from the National Historical Records and Publications Commission at the National Archives. As we get ready for the USHRAB’s 2022 funding season, we’re going …
Celebrating Sunshine Week with GRAMA
This blog post was written by Becky Wright who is an Archivist with the Davis County Clerk and Auditor’s Office. This is the first in a series of blog posts she authored in celebration of Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week is a nation-wide initiative promoting open government and access to public information. To read the other blog posts, check out the …
Views from the Road: Highway 89
While not as well known or celebrated as Route 66, Highway 89 is a defining artery of tourism and exploration in the western United States. Traveling from the high mountains of Montana to the low deserts of Arizona, Highway 89 passes through (or is adjacent to) seven national parks, including Saguaro, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and …
USHRAB Grant Recipient Lehi Historical Society and Archives Check In
Each year, the Utah State Historical Records Advisory Board (USHRAB) awards grants to organizations throughout the state to assist with the preservation and public access of our state’s history. These grants are made possible by funding from the National Historical Records and Publications Commission at the National Archives. As we get ready for the USHRAB’s 2022 funding season, we’re going …