Utah State Archives and Records Service

📚 We're excited to welcome our largest-ever group of summer interns to the Utah State Archives! 🎉

This talented cohort brings interests ranging from genealogy and archival studies to art history, international relations, and public history. Over the coming months, they'll gain hands-on experience while helping preserve and share Utah's records and history.

Get to know Katelyn, Gavin, Sienna, Leena, and Madison and learn more about their backgrounds, interests, and summer assignments in our latest blog post: bit.ly/3QtG3ot

Our office is closed today in observance of Juneteenth National Freedom Day. ❤️💙

In Utah, Juneteenth has been observed since 2016, when Representative Sandra Hollins sponsored legislation establishing Juneteenth Freedom Day as an official state observance. Hollins, the first Black woman elected to the Utah Legislature, worked alongside community leaders and organizations including Betty Sawyer of Project Success Coalition, Inc., the Ogden NAACP and the NAACP Salt Lake Branch, and the Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation. Although Juneteenth was officially observed statewide, it was not yet a state holiday.

That changed in 2022, when Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed Juneteenth National Freedom Day into law as an official Utah state holiday. The legislation was again sponsored by Representative Hollins and received bipartisan support.

We are grateful to the leaders and organizations whose efforts helped establish as an official state holiday in Utah.

📸: Sandra Hollins and Betty Sawyer, photo courtesy of Project Success Coalition

Ever finish a project only to realize there's still more work to do? 👀 That's often the reality of records management! Laws change, technology changes, and organizations change, which means records programs have to keep evolving too.

In our latest records office spotlight, Angie Slaugh, Nathan Dopp, and Rebecca Chadburn from the Utah Department of Workforce Services share how a year-long project led to the creation of 31 new record series, the challenges of coordinating across a large agency, and the lessons they've learned along the way.

Read their story on our blog: bit.ly/442cjCm

Meet Denver Chaunce Oviatt, born July 12, 1895, in Cleveland, Emery County, Utah Territory. He was the eleventh of thirteen children born to Annie Madsen and Henry Herman Oviatt Jr. Denver was a high school graduate and attended one year of college. Prior to the war, he worked as a farmer, schoolteacher, and principal in Elmo.

On May 10, 1917, Denver enlisted in the Army Medical Corps. He began training at the Presidio of San Francisco's Base Hospital before being transferred to the Base Hospital at the Presidio of Monterey. In September, Denver was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa, where he spent the next year. On September 15, 1918, he was sent overseas to France with Base Hospital 85, serving at the AEF Evacuation Hospital in Petit-Majouy. Located southwest of Verdun, the facility treated soldiers engaged in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In January 1919, the French hospital at Fleury-sur-Aire was taken over by the AEF and designated Evacuation Hospital No. 114. Denver finished his overseas service at the Base Hospital in Angers. He was promoted to Private First Class, Medical Department, in March 1918 and to Sergeant, Medical Department, in January 1919. Denver began the journey home on July 20, 1919, and was officially discharged from the Army on July 31, 1919, in Wyoming.

Further research tells us that Denver returned to Elmo in August. The 1920 census shows him living with his parents and working as an elementary school teacher. In 1928, he was hired as a clerk for the Air Service and moved to Salt Lake City, where he lived as a lodger. On July 3, 1930, 34-year-old Denver married 23-year-old Juanita Clegg. The couple moved next door to Juanita's parents and, after Denver's father died, welcomed his mother into their home. Around 1942, Denver began working at Hill Air Force Base, where he remained until 1957, retiring after 15 years there and 30 years of federal service. Denver died on February 9, 1982, in San Bernardino, California, and is buried in Riverside National Cemetery.

Read Denver's World War I questionnaire here: bit.ly/3QF7H1X

👀 We promised a closer look inside those marbled file holders... and they did not disappoint. Among the records were wanted notices from the 1930s and 1940s, including two that feature fingerprints. 😱

The notices were sent from law enforcement agencies in other states and preserved in Grand County Sheriff's Office files. It's a fascinating reminder of how information traveled across the country decades before digital databases.

These records are just one of many collections processed last month. Explore the rest of May's finding aids on our blog: bit.ly/4oecjbC

Congratulations to the Utah Archives Digital Initiatives Team! 🎉

This year at the CIMA - Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists in Cedar City, the team received the 2026 Innovator Award for their work modernizing digital services, expanding online access to records, and strengthening the preservation of Utah’s government history.

The team is led by Melissa Coy and includes Avalon Snell, Leif Eric Johnson, and Rodney Swaner. We’re proud to see their work recognized by colleagues across the region.

Read more about the award and Utah Archives’ time at CIMA on the blog: bit.ly/4g6p7ie

We have a special treat for ! 📚 While working through Grand County Sheriff's Office records, archivist Katie discovered these beautiful marbled file holders. Stay tuned for a closer look at what’s inside later this week. 😉

When your office takes Safety Week seriously! 🚧 These 1967 photos show employees of Utah's State Road Commission (now the Utah DOT) fully embracing "Hard Hat, Red Jacket Day." 🛑

This June, marks its 30th anniversary. For this week's theme, "Staying Safe on the Roads," we couldn't resist sharing these colorful snapshots from nearly 60 years ago. Some things have changed since 1967, but promoting safety on Utah's roads remains just as important today. ❤️

Who else is excited for the Utah Historical Society's new Museum of Utah to open this month?! 🎉

The Museum of Utah Grand Opening Celebration is Saturday, June 27, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is free to the public. We have a feeling that stained-glass ceiling is about to become one of the most photographed spots in the state. 😍

📸: Records and Information Specialist Renée got an early look inside the new North Capitol Building while providing records management and records transfer training for the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. The agency is transitioning from the Governor's Office to the new Department of Criminal Justice and preparing for an upcoming move.

William Henry King was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Utah who served from 1917 to 1941. As one of Utah’s most prominent political figures in the early 20th century, we were excited to come across his twins’ birth certificates while processing 1923 records.

Notice anything missing? 👀 One certificate includes a handwritten “Susan,” while the other does not list a given name. The twins would later be known as Eleanor King and John Creighton King.