Children in the 1930s Hoped to Become Nurses & Pilots

W. Paul Reeve, Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, February 1995 The 1929 Stock Market Crash that plummeted the United States into the Great Depression also affected Utah quickly and severely. By 1932 farm income had declined from $69 million to $29 million. More than a third of Utah’s work force was unemployed at the depth of the depression, and in …

Reed Smoot & America’s Natural Resources, 1903-33

Thomas G. Alexander Many Utahns remember Reed Smoot for his service as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or for his thirty years as a United States Senator (1903-33). They might remember him for his early battle to keep his senate seat against strong anti-Mormon opposition or for …

Reed Smoot and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, 1930

Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, April 1995 During the 1930s the economies of all of the industrialized nations suffered dramatic declines in production, trade, and employment levels. Already weakened by the human and economic toll of World War I, war debt repayment, and trade imbalances with the United States, foreign nations were confronted in 1930 with the highest tariff barriers …

The Fathers of Capitol Reef National Park

Charles Kelly History Blazer, September 1995 Two men deserve credit for the preliminary work that led to the creation of Capitol Reef National Monument (later Park)—Ephraim P. Pectol and Joseph S. Hickman. Pectol was born May 16, 1875, in Glenwood, Sevier County. In 1888 his family moved to Cainesville. In 1910 he bought some land at Grover and that same …

“Even the Grasshoppers Were Starving” during the 1934 Drought

W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, March 1995 Like rubbing salt in a wound, the nationwide drought of 1934 dramatically increased suffering among many Americans already left destitute by the Great Depression. The Great Plains states were hit especially hard, and following the terrible windstorms that created the Dust Bowl many farmers left their land in search of a better life. …

The Great Depression

John S. McCormick, Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Utah was among the states hit hardest by the Great Depression of the 1930s. That claim surprises many people, who assume, for various reasons, that it was spared the worst. A few statistics make the point. In 1933 Utah’s unemployment rate was 35.8 percent, the fourth highest in the nation, and for the …

President Harding’s 1923 Visit to Utah

W. Paul Reeve History Blazer July 1995 President Warren G. Harding’s 1923 visit to Utah was part of a broader tour of the western United States designed to bring him “closer to the people and their conditions.” After touring Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and other states, he proceeded to Alaska, his primary destination, and became the first president to visit that …

The Beginnings of Commercial Aviation

Charles S. Davey History Blazer, November 1995 Airmail service in the United States began on May 15, 1918, over a single route between Washington, D. C., and New York City with a refueling stop in Philadelphia. From 1918 to 1920 routes were expanded to include Chicago, Cleveland, and Omaha. The last leg of what was developing into a transcontinental route …