Newly processed: October 2009
All public records at the Utah State Archives are accessible through the Research Center. However, once processed the records are easier to use with proper storage and fuller descriptions, including online series inventories. The following list includes record series that were processed during the month of October 2009:
Division Archives and Records Service
Division of State History
Uintah County (Utah). County Commission
Newly processed: August 2009
All public records at the Utah State Archives are accessible through the Research Center. However, once processed the records are easier to use with proper storage and fuller descriptions, including online series inventories. The following list includes record series that were processed during the month of August 2009:
Governor (2005-2009 : Huntsman)
Department of Community and Culture. Division of State History
- Published Utah Historical Quarterly manuscripts, 1985-
- Unpublished Utah Historical Quarterly manuscripts, 1955-
Recent Naturalization Records
Naturalization records after 1906 are available from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, as explained in our Research Guide on Naturalization.
The records discussed as part of the Genealogy Program, however, end in 1956. If you were naturalized in the time since, you may be able to request a Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document from BCIS. Submit Form N-565 which is available online at www.uscis.gov/n-565.
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.
Post-1906 Naturalization records moving to U.S. National Archives
Naturalization records maintained by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services since 1906 will be transferred from the Department of Homeland Security to the National Archives and Records Administration beginning in 2010. Public access will be available if the immigrant has passed away or turned 100 years old. Previously, these files were available through a laborious Freedom of Information Act request as explained in our guide to Naturalization and Citizenship Records.
U.S. Bares ‘Alien Files’ Kept on Immigrants
By JANIE LORBERPublished: August 12, 2009A wealth of immigrant information collected by American border agents, some of it dating from the late 19th century, will be opened to the public soon. Read complete article from New York Times >>
Family Tree Magazine 101 Best
Family Tree Magazine 101 Best Web Sites 2009
The Utah Death Certificate Index was named one of Family Tree Magazine’s 101 Best Web Sites under the category of 10 Best Sites for Vital Records.
[T]hanks to humanity’s development of 10 fingers and 10 toes, we count things in 10s, group the years in decades and celebrate anniversaries ending in 0—such as this 10th annual installment of Family Tree Magazine’s 101 Best Web Sites…
Utah Death Certificate Index
If only your ancestors had died in Utah, you could find them in this searchable database of more than 250,000 death certificates, from 1904 to 1956, linked to images of the originals.
We appreciate the mention! If you are new to this resource, make sure and try and search to learn about any predecessors that may have died in Utah. Not to mention more indexes, frequently updated research guides and 1,000+ records inventories online.
New Supreme Court Research Guide
Territorial Supreme Court Docket
While looking for some related information, I discovered a research guide for Supreme Court records written probably around 1997, when several relevant records series were processed (such as Abstracts & Briefs and Opinions). It has now been adapted for online use and checked for anything obviously overlooked in the time since its writing.
Utah Supreme Court Records research guide
Call for volunteers!
House Working bills need your help
Would you like to contribute to online digital archives and records? Provide better access for users worldwide? Please consider volunteering for a project to add enhanced, searchable metadata to the Utah House of Representatives Working bills 1896-1989 digital collection!
We are looking to add data to fields for legislative sessions, subjects, individual bill numbers and Laws of Utah chapter numbers (View Examples). This information was not available from existing sources for the initial upload, but will enable users to search for bill files in many more and useful ways.
Work will be done remotely from wherever is convenient–just need a computer and Internet connection. We will provide a software client and training. There is also the possibility to do it all in a regular web browser.
For more information, contact:
Gina Strack
gmstrack
utah.gov
(801) 531-3843
Oaths of Office Digital Collection
2009 Oaths of Office
The Governor’s Office sent over the most recent set of oaths of office for key officeholders in the state. In 2005, we had done an online exhibit to provide online copies of these documents. This time, however, we set up a simple digital collection:
In addition, there is a series inventory for the original paper and subsequent microfilm plus a regularly updated index for all oaths of office since 1965.
Government Publications and Information
A new research guide is available with an introduction and some information on finding records informally classified as Publications:
Government Publications and Documents
Unlike the original records created by Utah state and local agencies held by the Utah State Archives, publications are meant to be widely distributed and often come to the Archives in non-traditional ways. A majority of recent publications, for instance, come through a depository system managed by the Utah State Library, similar to the Federal Depository Library System for federal documents. If you look closely at some older issues, many will bear the stamp of libraries both near and far that once had the item in their collections, but then sent it on its way when it was past its usefulness. Other items are signed or stamped as belonging to individual legislators, attorneys general and similar and would probably have a story to tell of their journey if they could speak!
