Interested in Utah History?

Researching the Utah State Archives

Utah Government Records and History

Utah Archives Month programs planned

The Utah State Archives will observe Utah Archives Month throughout October with weekly events each Wednesday at noon. Classes geared to community and family historians will be offered each week. The statewide theme for 2009 is “Connecting With the Human Experience.”

Janina Chilton, State Hospital historian, will examine the history of the State Hospital on October 7.
Laurie Bryant, retired paleontologist and citizen historian, will present “Away from the Smoke and Dust: A Century on Salt Lake City’s East Bench,” a slideshow and talk on the history of the 15th & 15th neighborhood, on October 14.

Alan Barnett, lead reference archivist at the Utah State Archives, will discuss the growth and development of Sugar House, including a history of the territorial prison, on October 21.

“Wake the Dead,” a popular class on family history sources and research in Utah, will be presented by Tony Castro, reference archivist at the Utah State Archives, on October 28. A tour of the research center is included.

All events will be held in the Courtyard Meeting Room in the State Archives Building, 346 S. Rio Grande Street (455 West), Salt Lake City. An exhibit of capitol artifacts is on display in the lobby of the Archives building. The display includes notable artifacts, such as a capitol dome light, original office furnishings, historic photographs, design submission competition entries, program of competition booklets, a piece of granite, and commemorative items.

NOTE:

Here are some links to the Utah Archives that may be of great benefit in your research.


Research Guides to Utah State Archives
Learn all about the resources available for Utah.

Utah Digital Archives
The archives include such records as Utah Death Certificate images from 1904-1956; Sanpete County death register, 1898-1904, the Utah Burials Database and Board of Pardons applications from 1892-1949.

Utah Digital Newspapers
This archive contains digital images of many, many Utah historical newspapers. It is one if the best resources you can use to really "get to know" your ancestors.

 Utah State Archive
This site will tell you everything you want to know about the state of Utah.

P:ioneer: Utah's Online Library

Find digital resources of historical significance from a variety of digital collections in Utah. Some of the collections material is rare, hard-to-find and may be unavailable anywhere else. You can find digitized photographs, manuscripts texts, maps, audio & video recordings, transcripts, books, yearbooks, newspapers, theses and dissertations, and digital exhibits, as well as "born digital" items.
Each of these collections provide free, online access to digitized material.

Latest on nFS Rollout in Utah/Idaho

If you check out the Utah/Idaho Release website you will see that the balance of the Stakes in the Idaho Falls temple district go live to general release on September 14th (next Monday). This involves about 30 stakes.

Also, the first 10 stakes in the Provo temple district in Utah go live the same day, September 14th! This includes a couple of stakes in Salem, Santaquin, Spanish Fork and Provo.

To the rest of you, remember to get ready by following the instructions listed in my article  "The Final Readiness for nFS".

Time for UVPAFUG Again - Come Join Me

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Sep 2009, from 9 am until noon in the Edgewood/Riverside LDS Chapel, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is in the Provo "River Bottoms" behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue. You get to it by turning east from University Avenue at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Crista Cowan on IF YOU GET STUCK GOING BACKWARD, GO FORWARD: TRACING DESCENDANTS OF YOUR ANCESTORS. Are you stuck in your march back through time identifying ancestors? Turn around. Revitalize your research. Rekindle your desire to continue with some success. Descendancy research utilizes much of the same methodology as ancestral research, but can lead to a whole new way of looking at your genealogy. Often it can lead to the discovery of cousins who have missing pieces of the puzzle needed to complete your picture of common ancestors.

Crista Cowan is the owner and operator of Legacy Family History Services. She has been involved in family history research for over 20 years, actively doing client research for the past eight years. She specializes in descendancy research, Jewish Immigration, and sharing family history with the genealogically challenged. Crista is an active member of the Association of Professional Genealogist (APG), currently serving her second term as president of the Utah Valley chapter. She regularly teaches Family History classes at her local LDS Family History Center and has been employed at Ancestry.com since 2004.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes taught concerning technology and family history. As usual, there will be something for everyone at all levels of expertise. The classes currently scheduled for this meeting are the following:

1. Documenting Sources in PAF 5 and nFS, by Duane Dudley
2. Getting Organized in Your Research, by Beth Ann Wiseman
3. Genealogy on Your Mac, by Venita Roylance
4. Q&A: Descendancy Research, by Crista Cowan
5. Video of last month's main presentation - Using Your Digital Camera, by Mary E. V. Hill
6. How Legacy Works (cont'd), by Joel Graham
7. RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell
8. Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay.

All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays.

The Final Readiness for nFS

As of August 24th all remaining temple districts (Utah/Idaho) received their official preparation notice for new FamilySearch. This rollout began immediately with 29 stakes in the St. George district going live on Aug. 31st. 13 stakes in Idaho Falls district go live on September 7th as will the remaining stakes in the St. George district. All remaining stakes in Utah/Idaho will only receive about 7 days notice, so we need to be prepared.

1 - The first think you need to do is check the new.familysearch.org Utah and Idaho Release website often. Clicking on the temple district will show the rollout dates for each temple district.

2 - Consultants must follow the instructions on the "Prepare" tab and the "Report" tab. Priesthood leaders should also follow the instructions..

3 - A new updated E-learning course has been added to your list in the HELP center. Please retake the lesson. If you already have access to nFS go to the Training and Resources tab under HELP in new FamilySearch to locate the lessons.

4 - To minimize the impact on the FamilySearch Support Missionaries, please use the HELP center to try to answer your own questions first. When you first contact Support, the Missionaries use the same HELP files to try to resolve your questions.

5 - If you want a good understanding of FamilySearch Support with its purpose and functionality, see the article written by the Ancestry Insider.

6 - A new Family History Course has been prepared for use by consultants in their ward or branch under the direction of the Bishop. Stake Presidents and Bishops have been sent a copy of the new manuals.

The Instructor's Guide to Temple and Family History Work is available for order online at the LDS Distribution Center for $5.50 (order #35804000). There are 7 lessons, 3 workshops, and a DVD.

The Student Manual for this class is the new Member's Guide to Temple and Family History Work (#36795000). Currently the Member's Guide must be ordered over the phone and is being limited to 10 copies. Phone: 800-537-5001.

7 - As a reminder to Priesthood Leadership you can review your responsibilities here.

8 - Continue to check for classes being taught at the Family History Library in downtown Salt Lake.

When the time for PERFORMANCE arrives, 

the time for PREPARATION is past.