By Steven D. Branting Rare are the individuals whose footprints remain in whatever places they call home during their lifetimes. It is one thing to live somewhere and quite another to leave a legacy there. One such person was Frederic Horatio Simmons, whose eventful life in territorial Idaho and Utah deserves to be remembered. Born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, …
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, May 1996 Drop in any afternoon or evening and try out your legs on the indoor running track or take a dip in the superb pool or better still, join one of the classes. The work is easy, safe and recreative, [and] accompanied with music, it adds rhythm and pleasure.” This invitation may sound like …
Everett L. Cooley Utah Historical Quarterly 27 July 1959 Symbols play a significant role in human relationships. Just as national and state flags have symbolic meaning to those living under a specially designated ensign, so too have capitols their special symbolism. Closely associated with the rise of nationalism and sovereignty is the adoption of symbols representing a nation’s dreams and …
Glen M. Leonard Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 On 22 July 1897, in response to a call from Utah’s first state governor, twenty-seven citizens led by journalist-lawyer Jerrold Letcher organized the Utah Historical Society in Salt Lake City, with Franklin D. Richards as president and Letcher as recording secretary (1897–1915). Created on the fiftieth anniversary of Mormon arrival, the society set …
Carol Nixon Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Utah Arts Institute was established on 9 March 1899 by the Third Utah Legislature. Representative Alice Merrill Horne, thirty-one-year-old patron of the arts, ran specifically to advance the arts agenda. Thus the first state arts agency in the nation was created, “the object being to advance the interest of the fine arts.” The …
W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, August 1995 In the summer of 1914 the flaming pistol of a Serb patriot triggered a series of events that held far-reaching implications—even for Utah. The well-aimed bullet killed the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and almost overnight exploded most of Europe into war. Across Utah citizens turned a worried eye toward international events. In …
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, April 1995 Maud Fitch won recognition for her valor near the front lines in France during World War I. A native of Eureka, she was one of many Utah women whose efforts helped the Allies succeed in defeating Kaiser Wilhelm’s war machine. Born in November 1882, Maud was one of five children in the family …
Allan Kent PowellUtah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Known as “The Great War” until the outbreak of World War II, World War I began on 1 August 1914 and ended with armistice on 11 November 1918. The two warring sides were the Allies—comprised of Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy, United States, Japan, Romania, Belgium, Serbia, Greece, Portugal, and Montenegro; and the Central …
Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, June 1995 Utahns have longed struggled with the question of how to most effectively respond to and prevent juvenile delinquency. Rowdy teenagers were a menace to Salt Lake residents during the early years of the city’s development. During a church meeting on May 14, 1868, a custodian of the Mormon Tabernacle complained of “indecent words …
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, February 1995 The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed an international campaign to eradicate prostitution, the “social evil.” Locally, the Woman’s Home Association began in Salt Lake City in 1894 as an interdenominational church program to rescue “fallen” women from a life of prostitution. Lack of funding and support from the surrounding community prevented …