Traveling to Salt Lake--Archives and Libraries

Besides the Family History Library, here are 7 other Archives and Libraries you shouldn't miss while you are in town (with thanks to Russell Lynch for his article in the March 2010 issue of Crossroads).

• The Utah State Archives holds Utah historical records back to 1850. It includes Utah vital records, land record, mining claims and government documents. The Research Center is at 300 South Rio Grande Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Tel. (801) 533-3535 Fax (801) 533-3504 and they are open Mon. - Thurs. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
• The LDS Church History Library is a new facility on the corner of 15 East and North Temple Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84150. It houses over 260,000 books, 500,000 historic images, and 150,000 journals and diaries. They cover immigration to Utah, and territorial information for the early pioneer settlements covering much of the western United States. It is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m, Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m, and Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. The library is hosting an open house for the conference on Wednesday April 28th from 5:30 to 7:30.
• The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Archive has already been talked about on the NGS blog by Christy Fillerup. The facility is being renovated, but has portions open to the public. They have over 100,000 histories on file with an extensive collection of artifacts and photographs covering the people who arrived in Utah prior to 1869. It is open Monday through Friday 9am to 4pm (you need to arrive by 3) and is located at 300 North Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84103-1699. Phone: 801-532-6479
• The Marriott Library at the University of Utah is home to the Western Americana Collection that covers western United States history from 1550 to 1900. It also has large collections of microfilmed British newspapers and published federal documents. The library is accesible from the University Trax line, and is located at 295 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0860
• (801) 581-8558. Library hours are 7 am to midnight. (Don't you love college libraries :-)
• The Salt Lake Public Library is a beautiful facility located not far from the Family History Library along the main Trax line. It houses indexes and microfilms of the two main Utah newspapers, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News as well as city directories and other regional documents. It is located at 210 East 400 South Salt Lake City UT 84111 (801) 524-8200 and is open on Mon.-Thurs. 9 a.m.-9 p.m, Fri.-Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m, and Sunday 1-5 p.m.
• And the Lee Library at Brigham Young University actually houses the BYU Family History Library, the second largest family history facility in the world. It has more than 200,000 duplicates of microfilms from the Salt Lake Family History Library as well as outstanding map and newspaper collections and as well as one of the largest county history collections in the United States. I have found many an elusive ancestor in the county history collection at the Lee library. The Lee library is a one hour drive south of Salt Lake in the center of the BYU campus in Provo Utah. Hours are Monday–Friday: 7:00 am–12 midnight and Saturday: 8:00 am–12 midnight.
• There is also the Sons of the Utah Pioneers Library located on 3301 East 2920 South, Salt Lake City, UT and is open Tuesday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. They house a collection of thousands of manuscripts, biographies and family histories of Mormon pioneers, as well as the many Utah pioneers of other faiths and religions who came to the region before 1869.

And FYI, the Everton Library a collection of 60,000+ books, manuscripts, records, pedigree charts, newletters, photographs and family histories was one of the largest privately held genealogical libraries in the United States. It was started by the Everton family in 1945 publishers of The Everton Genealogical Helper. Upon the decline of the Everton company, the collection was donated to the Logan City Library, about a 1 1/2 hour drive north of Salt Lake. The collection has been processed and will be open to the public sometime in the summer of 2010.

And FYI #2 The Salt Lake County Library System is a collection of 19 libraries that circulates over 15 million items a year and has a wealth of programs and exhibits running constantly. It is one of the best funded library systems in the country with strong voter support and a high patron participation including over 25,000 participating in the summer reading program. In fact, 79% of the population of Salt Lake County is registered for a county library card.

Presenter Profile: James P Sweany

James Sweany has worked at the Library of Congress for 20 years, all in reference services. His career at the Library began in 1989 with the Congressional Research Service. He has also served in the Hispanic Division, the Humanities and Social Sciences Division, and as acting head of the Congressional and Interlibrary Loan Section. James has extensive reference experience with the Library’s microform and machine readable collections. He has been responsible for developing the Library’s American Indian collections, particularly Native American genealogical resources, and serves presently as head of the Library’s Local History & Genealogy Reading Room.

URL: http://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/

NGS Class: Friday, April 30, 2010 at 11:00 am on the "Research" track. It is titled: "The Library of Congress: Pursuing Your Family History in the National library"

Research Facilities - Daughters of the Utah Pioneers

International Society—Daughters of Utah Pioneers

http://www.dupinternational.org/
300 N Main Street in Salt Lake City, Utah, 801-532-6479

Offerings: DUP’s objective is to "perpetuate the names and achievements of the men, women and children who were the pioneers...by preserving old landmarks, marking historical places, collecting artifacts and histories, establishing a library of historical matter and securing manuscripts, photographs, maps and all such data as shall aid in perfecting a record of pioneers."
Note: Bus stop within 1 block

History Department

Hours: Monday – Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Pioneer Memorial Museum (also known as DUP Museum)

Hours: (Sep-May) Monday – Saturday 9 a.m.to 5 p.m.

Note: Photography not allowed in the Museum

Photo Department

Hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 9:30 a.m.to 4 p.m.

Note: Call ahead (801-532-6479 ext. 206) if you are coming to visit to insure that someone will be there.

Research Facilities - Utah State Archives

Utah State Archives and Records Service History Research Center,
http://historyresearch.utah.gov/

300 S. Rio Grande St., Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1182, (801) 533-3535
Hours: Monday – Thursday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Fridays and Saturdays

Offerings: Research historic state and local Utah government records as well as manuscripts, photographs, books, maps, and online resources about Utah and the West.

Parking: Free public parking on the north side.

Research Facilities - J. Willard Marriott Library

It's time for your pilgrimage to the Family History Holy Land!
NGS in Salt Lake City--April 2010

Salt Lake offers many unique places for researching your ancestors--above and beyond the famous Family History Library. This post is on the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. Known to Utah researchers for their fantastic Utah Newspaper collection, the Special Collections section holds many records useful to researchers. Visit their website at http://www.lib.utah.edu/ for more information.

Location: 295 S 1500 E SLC, UT 84112-0860, 801-581-8558

Hours: Monday- Thursday 7 a.m. to midnight, Friday 7a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday noon to midnight.

Offerings: In addition to their academic collections and in-depth reference and research assistance to library users, the library is a depository for publications from the United States Government, including census data, legislative materials, compilations of government statistics in areas of business and labor, mining, geological and earth sciences and international relations. The library’s Special Collections provides access to rare and valuable books, periodicals, documents, photographs, films, original materials and finding aids.

Parking: A visitor pay parking lot is available off of 1500 E. Access to the library is at the northeast corner of this parking lot near the campus bookstore.

See you soon!
Christy Fillerup

LDS Church History Library Part 1

It's time for your pilgrimage to the Family History Holy Land!

NGS in Salt Lake City--April 2010



Yesterday I posted about the Librarians event on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010. One of the fantastic opportunities as part of this event is a guided tour of the new LDS Church History Library. Not to be confused with the Family History Library, the LDS Church History Library houses a huge collection of LDS manuscripts, photographs, maps, books, etc.



According to the LDs church History Library's website at www.lds.org/churchhistory/library the new building provides "archival storage and public access for materials that chronicle the history of the [LDS] Church from 1830 to the present day." The LDS Church History Library has 270,000 books/newspapers, 240,000 collections of original and unpublished records (journals, correspondence, etc.), 3.5 million patriarchal blessings for Church members, 13,000 collections of photographs, and 23,000 audiovisual items.





The LDS Church History Library is located at 15 East North Temple in downtown Salt Lake City. Photo identification is needed to enter the facility, and parking is available in the form of a public pay lot one block west of the facility. Normal operating hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 am to 5 pm, Thursday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm. It is not currently known if these hours will be modified for the NGS conference.



See you soon!

Christy Fillerup

Librarian's Program

It's time for your pilgrimage to the Family History Holy Land!
NGS in Salt Lake City--April 2010

NGS’s special pre-conference meeting for librarians, sponsored by ProQuest, will be held Tuesday, 27 April, 8:45 am – 4:00 pm in the Empire Room at the Joseph Smith Building.

Librarians attending this program will hear several excellent speakers. ProQuest will provide lunch for librarians and will be available to answer questions about their products. All librarians who work with family history patrons or general reference questions will benefit from this special event.

How the Library of Congress Can Help You With Your Family History Patrons
James P. Sweany, head of the Local History & Genealogy Reading Room at the Library of Congress.

Funding Projects Large and Small
Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL, is the executive director at the Plymouth Historical Museum, Plymouth, Michigan.

Collection Care for Your Library
Chris McAfee works for both BYU and the LDS Church History Department conserving and preserving books,documents, photographs, and other artifacts. M. Scott Simkins is the head conservator at the Family History Library.

Behind the Scenes tours of the Family History Library and the new LDS Church History Library.


See you soon!
Christy Fillerup

Family History Library

A wonderful benefit of holding the National Genealogical Society's 2010 National Conference in Salt Lake City is the vast holdings of the Family History Library.

The Family History Library holds over 2.4 million rolls of microfilm, over 700,000 microfiche, over 350,000 books, and vast electronic resources. These records cover countries from all over the world. Because the holdings of the Family History Library are so vast it is very helpful to prepare research plans before you arrive. Know what you want to research, what you hope to learn, the microfilm, microfiche, or book number, the floor these materials are located on, and how to use them.

The Family History Library is located near the conference venue--the Salt Palace--on 35 North West Temple. The building itself is made up of five floors. The main floor houses family histories and biographies. A short orientation film is also shown on the main floor, which is a good introduction for first time researchers at the Family History Library. Above the main floor are two floors containing the US and Canada Collection. Microfilm and Microfiche are found on the second floor, while the book and map collections are found on the third floor.

International records are found on the two floors below main. The first basement (B1) contains the International Collection, which includes records from Scandinavia, Asia, Africa, South and Central America and the Pacific Islands. The second basement (B2) contains records of the United Kingdom including England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. This floor also contains records for Australia and New Zealand.

In addition to fantastic service missionaries the Family History Library employs research consultants. These consultants can be found at the main desk on each floor. These consultants are highly educated within their area of expertise and are a fantastic resource to help break down brick walls.

More to come on the Family History Library!

Christy Fillerup