BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT DOUGLAS, 1896–99 Michael J. Clark Utah Historical Quarterly, Summer 1978 Although the record is clear, few people know that on the east bench, overlooking Salt Lake City and touching the boundaries of the University of Utah, more than six hundred Black people—soldiers of the United States Twenty-fourth Infantry, wives, children, and others—lived, worked, and attended school …
African Americans at Fort Douglas
THE 24th INFANTRY BROUGHT AFRICAN AMERICANS TO FORT DOUGLAS Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, February 1995 In October 1896 Salt Lake City experienced a small but important change in the racial makeup of its population. The arrival of the U.S. Army’s 24th Infantry Regiment at Fort Douglas brought approximately 600 African American men, women, and children to the city. Only …
Utah’s Early African American Farmers
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, May 1996 In the 19th century Utah’s small number of African Americans worked at whatever jobs they could find. Discrimination and a lack of educational opportunities generally meant low-income, often menial, work. Some remained slaves until Congress banned slavery in the territories on June 19, 1862. Still, according to historian Ronald G. Coleman, “a few …
African Americans Built Churches
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, July 1996 Wherever African Americans gathered in sufficient number they soon organized a church. That was true throughout the West, including Utah. Although blacks first settled permanently in Salt Lake City in July 1847, a black community did not really evolve until the 1890s when the territory’s African American population reached 533, a majority of …
Hotel Served Basques and African Americans
ROYAL HOTEL SERVED BASQUES AND AFRICAN AMERICANS Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, October 1996 Built in 1914 at 2522 Wall Avenue, Ogden, the Royal Hotel has filled a unique role in the city’s history. A modest three-story masonry building, the hotel originally provided housing for blue collar railroad workers and travelers. Shops, cafes, and offices filled the front spaces of …
Hispanic Folk Practices
HISPANIC FOLK PRACTICES IN UTAH INCLUDE THE HEALING ARTS Miriam Murphy History Blazer, February 1995 Alternative medicine is widely recognized and talked about in Utah and throughout the United States. Discussed in popular magazines and on television, it is more than a late twentieth-century fad, however. Its roots run deep, and its practice encompasses many aspects neglected by the mass …
Early Greek Immigrants
Helen Zeese Papanikolas Utah Historical Quarterly V. 22 #2 The Greek immigrant was the last of the Europeans to come to America. Fewer than two thousand Greeks were in the entire country before the 1880s. The first arrivals were young boys bought by American naval officers and philanthropists on the Turkish slave block. They were sent to the United States …
Greek Sheepmen
GREEK SHEEPMEN BROUGHT OLD-COUNTRY WAYS TO UTAH Helen Z. Papanikolas History Blazer, September 1995 At the beginning of this century, many men and boys from Greece found work in Utah mines and on railroad gangs. They had come from a pastoral people who spent the greater part of the year driving sheep and goats to mountains for summer pasture and …
The Greek Midwife Magerou
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, February 1996 She was the matriarch of the first Greek immigrant families to settle in Midvale, Bingham, and Magna. Most of the men worked in the copper mine and the smelters. Georgia Lathouris Mageras—called Magerou after her marriage—was the midwife who delivered their offspring and provided many other medical services to the community. She was …
Scandinavian Life in Utah
SCANDINAVIAN LIFE IN UTAH INCLUDED A UNIQUE SENSE OF HUMOR Kent Powell History Blazer, October 1995 During the last half of the nineteenth century Sanpete County became home to hundreds of Mormon converts from the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Aspects of this heritage remain in the buildings, traditions, foods, stories, and humor that were essential elements of …