Category Archives: Blog

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New Collections – Winter 2023

Happy New Year and welcome to 2023! We can’t believe tomorrow is already March, but wanted to pause to share some exciting new collections that have joined MWDL over the winter months.

Utah Valley University

Utah Valley University contributed 5 new collections, all of which highlight the student community and their academic work.

The UVU Center for Social Impact provides curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular student experiences in six diverse pathways of social impact. Participants can engage in various programs and events, volunteer or recruit volunteers, and enhance academic experience through coursework, research, and scholarly distinction. Student teams from the UVU Center for Social Impact participate annually in the UVU “Map the System” competition, which engages students at UVU and universities worldwide in systems thinking and visualizing social problems. The winning team presentations from the UVU Map the System competition then go on to compete in the Oxford Map the System competition, at Oxford University. The “UVU Center for Social Impact-Map the System Presentations” collection showcases the 2021 and 2022 team presentations from the UVU Map the System events and the Oxford Map the System events.

Touchstones Archive an archive of the issues of Touchstones: UVU’s Journal of Literature and Art. Touchstones is the Utah Valley University undergraduate journal of poetry, prose, and art. It is published biannually, in the fall and spring semesters. It is a student publication sponsored by UVU’s English and Literature Department. Touchstone’s editorial staff is comprised entirely of current UVU student volunteers.

Every year, thousands of UVU undergraduate students engage in high-quality original research and creative work, mentored by dedicated faculty members. UVU Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Archive provides an opportunity to preserve and display some of their best artistic performances, visual arts displays, and poster presentations.

The Ethics and Values Telecourse Series, Philosophy 2050 collection consists of the 2006-2012 Ethics & Values Philosophy 2050 telecourse series, developed at Utah Valley State College for distance education students of this required core course. Each episode focused on a different philosopher or philosophical school of thought related to ethics and morality. Episodes were taught by Distinguished Professor Dr. Elaine Englehardt, often included a contributing faculty member, usually from the Department of Philosophy, and always included four students in attendance.

Finally, in September 2020, UVU professors Dr. Eddy Cadet, Dr. Weihong Wang, Dr. Jon Westover, Dr. Hilary Hungerford, and Dr. Maria Blevins were awarded a $350,000 grant by the National Science Foundation for a special 3-year project with Utah Lake, titled “Undergraduate Preparation through Multidisciplinary Service-Learning at Utah Lake.” This grant includes class projects in each of the professors’ courses during the academic year, as well as projects from an interdisciplinary team of summer research assistants each year. During the NSF service project, students are involved with the community while gaining professional skills, increasing access to professional networks, and deepening students’ knowledge of career pathways. The student teams from multiple interdisciplinary courses taught by these professors were selected to work on the Utah Lake Project, and their works are included in Utah Lake-UVU Undergraduate Service Learning Projects collection.

Oregon Digital

First, congratulations to Oregon Digital on the recent launch of their new portal design. Be sure to check it out! We also added several new collections from OD.

Photograph of road sign reading, Welcome to The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation

Pamela J. Peters is a Diné multimedia artist specializing in filmmaking, photography, and multimedia documentaries. Now living in Los Angeles California, Peters was born in Shiprock, New Mexico on the Navajo (Diné) Nation. She uses her Diné first clan, Tátchii’nii clan (Red Running into the Water) to identify her photography work. This collection contains 27 documentary photographic prints taken during the 2016 protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) construction across the northern United States. Approved construction for DAPL resulted in the pipeline running through the Standing Rock Reservation of the Great Sioux Nation (Očhéthi Šakówiŋ), a Native American reservation located across the North and South Dakota borders. In response to the DAPL project’s threats to local water supplies and sacred sites, water protectors from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe were joined in protest by other Native and non-Native allies. Peters’ photos show grassroots opposition and signs of dissent placed on Standing Rock Reservation land where the DAPL was approved for construction. In doing so, her work captures images of water protectors defending the Sioux Nation’s water rights and Indigenous sovereignty through protest.

Meanwhile, Wartime Posters collection comprises more than 550 propagandistic and informational posters created during various conflicts, primarily World War I and World War II. Posters within the collection cover a wide range of war-related themes such as conservation, production, recruitment, and patriotism. Individual posters range in size from small leaflets and magazine covers, to larger banners and posters several square feet in size.

Propaganda poster titled, They Signal “Send Books”, 1917
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New Collections – Summer, Fall 2022

Welcome to Fall 2022! MWDL has added a number of new collections from University of Utah, University of Oregon, and Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement. Read on for more details on this exciting new content.

Utah City Directories Collection – UT Dept. of Cultural & Community Engagement

Utah City Directories Collection contains reference books produced in Utah throughout its urban history. These directories are a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations and institutions, giving their location in Salt Lake City, Utah and surrounding valley. It is arranged alphabetically, geographically and by publisher. The City Directories also have advertisements for businesses.

Zig Jackson photographs – University of Oregon Libraries

Zig Jackson (b.1957- ) is a Native artist and photographer who grew up on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. He is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) whose work includes portraiture and documentary photography depicting traditional indigenous culture. This collection (1990-2009) contains 89 black and white prints taken at Indian reservations and other regions across the United States. The prints feature documentary photography of contemporary Native American communities and events, and offer commentary on Indian identity, land rights, sovereignty, representation, and tribal traditions. Prints show Native American ceremonies, Indian reservations, sacred sites, lodges, monuments, tourism, souvenir booths, food stands, road signs, government buildings, and urban areas.

Tom Yellowtail Honor Dance, Holy Man, from Veterans Series, Crow Agency, Montana (recto)

University of Utah – J. Willard Marriott Library

The Marriner S. Eccles papers (1910-1985) chronicles the years when Eccles made his greatest contributions as a national and international fiscal and monetary expert, businessman, and public figure.

The Mickey Ibarra papers (1996-2001) contain materials from his tenure as an Assistant to President and Director of Inter-governmental Affairs for the Clinton White House.

The Ashton, Evans, and Brazier architectural blueprints (1923-1963) detail the additions to the YWCA in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the renovations of Saltair.

Finally, the Mormon Homelands Young Women Project audio-visual collection (2014-2017) consists of modern-day oral history interviews with young Latter Day Saint (LDS) women about their experience moving from Mormon-minority communities to Mormon-majority communities.

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Continued DPLA collaboration

MWDL has been a Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) Service Hub since 2013. We are proud to be one of DPLA’s first service hubs and have been providing content ever since. With nearly 45 million items now available through DPLA, you might wonder which MWDL items rise to the top. Here are the six most-viewed MWDL items for the past six months. These range from the Middle Ages to the 21st century and demonstrate the breadth of material available from the MWDL network.

March 2022 – Utah Government Digital Library (Utah State Library): Affordable housing options (2007). This factsheet on affordable housing was contributed by the Olene Walker Housing Fund.

February 2022 – Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library: Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds (1302-1310). Giovanni Pisano carved this Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds for the pulpit of Pisa Cathedral. Giovanni’s father, Nicola Pisano, had created a pulpit for the baptistery of Pisa Cathedral about forty years before Giovanni made this work. While Nicola Pisano was heavily influenced by ancient Etruscan, Roman, and Early Christian ruins for his carvings, Giovanni Pisano chose to depict his figures in the Gothic style of the day. Giovanni Pisano’s looser, dynamic composition, sinuous lines, and lean elegant figures all reflect the Gothic tastes of the reigning French court.

January 2022; November 2021 – Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library: Sioux Indians in Ghost Dance regalia (ca. 1880). This photograph is so popular, it appears twice on our list! Charles R. Savage was a preeminent photographer working out of the Salt Lake Valley in the late 19th century.

December 2021 – Utah State Archives: 1916; Women’s Suffrage (1916). This correspondence hails from Governor Spry’s records and reflects the Governor’s involvement in a wide range of important administrative matters, including suffrage for women.

October 2021 – University of Utah, J. Willard Marriott Library: A trip across the plains, and life in California (1851). This memoir of Dr. George Keller, physician to the Wayne County (Ohio) Company during its 1849 journey to California, includes a guide to the trail and detailed description of California.

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New Collections Roundup, Winter 2022

We’re back with more details on new collections added from Oregon Digital, University of Utah- J. Willard Marriott Library, and Utah Valley University – Fulton Library and City of Orem (UT). With International Women’s Day coming right up on Tuesday March 8, we’d especially like to highlight collections with content on women’s history and contributions throughout our region.

Oregon Digital

Twelve collections from University of Oregon Libraries joined MWDL via Oregon Digital in January.

The Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project documents the longtime lesbian community in Eugene (OR) and was conducted by Professor Judith Raiskin of the University of Oregon Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Linda Long, Curator of Manuscripts in the University of Oregon Libraries in 2018. The Lord & Schryver landscape architectural records, 1929-1970, showcase the work of two pioneering female architects, Elizabeth Lord (1887-1976) and Edith Schryver (1901-1984), who founded the Lord & Schryver landscape architecture firm in 1929 in Salem (OR). Laura J. Bock was a student at the University of Oregon during the 1960s who took part in civil rights activism and anti-Vietnam protests at the university. The Laura J Bock Papers (1962–1969) contains political ephemera such as flyers and posters, memos, buttons, and underground newsletters and publications, as well as Bock’s personal notes, correspondence, and an oral history (with transcript).

A number of collections detail work by illustrators, artists and architects. First, the Chester E. Corry Papers document Corry’s work as a prominent landscape architect, particularly in the southern Oregon towns of Medford and Ashland. The Edward Tunis papers offer manuscripts and illustrations for children’s books. The Ellis Fuller Lawrence papers, 1901–1929 includes correspondence, architectural drawings and photographs relating to projects undertaken by Lawrence as architect from 1908–1958, mainly in Oregon and Washington. (Though Lawrence became the Dean of University of Oregon’s School of Architecture & Environment in 1914, records and correspondence by Lawrence as Dean of the School of Architecture are not included in this collection.) John Yeon architectural drawings, 1934-1976 document Yeon’s work in the Pacific Northwest as an architect, landscape architect, and conservationist. The Kurt Werth papers consists of Werth’s original children’s book illustrations and manuscripts, other artwork and manuscripts, personal papers, artifacts, personal and professional correspondence, and papers of his wife, Margaret Werth. The Kurt Wiese papers is primarily comprised of children’s book production material including original drawings, sketches, proofs, manuscripts, and correspondence. Other artwork and personal papers are also included. Finally, the Quincy Scott Political Cartoons collection includes original artwork produced during his tenure at The Oregonian (1931–49), comprised of over 5,000 almost daily political cartoons.

Last but not least, the University Archives sound recordings collection, 1933-1995, contains historical sound recordings—cylinders, discs, wires, and tapes—that document the history of the university and of individuals and organizations documented in its special collections. Many of these recordings are unique, and as primary source materials offer different perspectives on the historical record. John Edward Tysell Sr. trained as a doctor in Chicago before serving in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. The Tysell papers consists of correspondence, photographs and slides, ephemera and artifacts relating to Tysell’s service in WWII.

University of Utah – J. Willard Marriott Library

Nine new collections from UU-Marriott Library joined MWDL in January, representing a broad array of topics including contemporary oral history projects, Mormon settlement in Arizona, American involvement in the Spanish-American War in the Philippines, home videos, and the Japanese-American experience.

In particular, the Women in STEM Oral Histories contain video and text transcripts of interviews of women working in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) fields. The histories belong to the Aileen H. Clyde 20th Century Women’s Legacy Archive.

Other oral history projects include Great Salt Lake Oral History Collection, which documents the work and interactions of environmentalists, outdoor sport enthusiasts, artists, and authors with the Great Salt Lake. Construyendo Latinidad (Constructing Latinx Identity) in the Intermountain West contains video and text transcripts of interviews about constructing Latinx identity in the Intermountain West during the turn of the 21st century.

The Isaac K. Russell papers offer a unique resource: issues of The American Soldier, a newspaper founded by Russell during the Spanish-American War in the Philippines. The Allen H. Lundgren papers contain correspondence between Lundgren and his wife during his LDS missionary service in Sweden and military service in World War II in France & Germany.

Somewhat closer to home, the Mormon Settlement in Arizona collection details Mormon settlement 1857-1986 around the Little Colorado River. Likewise the Pantages Theater – Salt Lake City collection offers historical architecture documents on the building located at 148 South Main Street (AKA the Utah Theater). The Lloyd and Kiyomi Takehara Ryujin Photographs offer a look into the Japanese-American experience in 1950s California.

Finally, the O.L. [Orland L. Brig] Tapp Film Collection contains footage from various scenic spots around the Intermountain West.

Utah Valley University & City of Orem (UT)

Two collections joined MWDL via Utah Valley University – Fulton Library; one is from UVU and the other, from City of Orem (UT) Public Library.

Orem (UT) Timpanogos Storytelling Festival collection documents the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, held in Orem, Utah. The collection covers materials from 1990 through 2016. Festival founder Karen Ashton held the Festival in her backyard from 1990-1995. As attendance increased the Festival location changed three more times, from the Olmstead Power Plant at the mouth of the Provo Canyon, to Orem’s Mt. Timpanogos Park, and finally, in 2017, to Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah.

The Ian Wilson Collection of UVU Business School History Scrapbooks are part of the Ian Wilson Papers, a collection which is comprised of materials related to the history of Utah Valley University’s Woodbury School of Business, and donated by Dr. Ian Wilson, its former dean.

Thanks again for reading and this completes our collections roundup for now!

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New Collection Roundup – Late 2021

Hello MWDL network and welcome to late winter 2022! Today we’d like to feature collections and content that (re)joined MWDL in late 2021 before highlighting what’s been added since 2022 began.

Utah K-12 COVID-19 Memory Project (Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement)

The department formerly known as “Utah Department of Heritage & Arts” changed its name mid-2021 to “Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement” as part of a strategic planning process to guide its vision, mission, and objectives over the next five years. You can read more on their activities and initiatives in 2021’s Annual Report.

The Utah K-12 COVID-19 Memory Project began in 2020 to collect questionnaires with student responses regarding school, family, and community life collected during the COVID-19 pandemic from Utah K-12 students. DCCE’s Historical Collections Curator, Lisa Barr, appeared on PBS Utah in December 2021 to discuss the project in more depth. Be sure to check out the collection in its entirety!

University of Nevada, Las Vegas Digital Collections

Following several years of work to migrate digital collections content and systems from CONTENTdm to Islandora, UNLV’s content got a full facelift in MWDL in October 2021. Congratulations! This increased the amount of content to over 55K items on diverse topics ranging from gaming industry history to nuclear testing to water management in southern Nevada. You can view all collections here. UNLV’s finding aids are also available online.

Brigham Young University Finding Aids

BYU’s finding aids got a refresh in MWDL in fall 2021 and we added three times as many finding aids as before! This was the first content addition to this collection in a number of years and the first from BYU’s ArchivesSpace repository. You can search the entire collection here.

Utah Government Digital Library (Utah State Library)

Finally, Utah State Library’s Utah Government Digital Library underwent a major upgrade of its platform and we welcomed refreshed content to MWDL in September 2021. This collection offers over 97,000 public domain government publications from the Utah State Government on a vast array of topics.

Thanks for reading and we’ll be back shortly with more information on collections added in Winter 2021-22!

Partner Spotlight: Salt Lake Community College

Featured Collection: Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

Analogital – Exhibition Views

In this week’s partner spotlight, we would like to take the time to acknowledge our wonderful partners over at Salt Lake Community College. SLCC’s digital libraries contain a variety of collections, but the featured collection for this week is the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art collection. In this collection, you can find the many different exhibitions, galleries, etc. that have been held, and artists who have been highlighted in the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. If you have time please feel free to browse this collection; there are many intriguing sub-collections from over the years, and a lot of the art is unique and local.

Aside from exhibit/art collections, SLCC also provides many different collections used for research purposes. You can use their database to search for various books, journal articles, digital archives, online videos, etc. Feel free to browse the featured collection Utah Museum of Contemporary Art here, or directly on Utah Museum of Contemporary Art’s website.

Not Just Another Pretty Face (2009) – Exhibition Views

The picture above is taken from the featured collection. It shows three paintings from the exhibition Not Just Another Pretty Face (2009). This exhibition occurs annually and encourages new individuals to think of themselves as patrons/artists supporting contemporary art. Please go check out this exhibition and more at our partner’s website!

Partner Spotlight: University of Utah

Featured Collection: Photo Archives

View of a cabin at Brighton Resort in 1932

With Thanksgiving the next day, we wanted to take the time to give thanks to our partner at the University of Utah, our home. The J. Willard Marriott Library is in our partner spotlight for this week as we give thanks to all they do for us, and for the many amazing collections they give us access too. Among these, is a Photo Archives collection that contains pictures of everything that has been happening at the University of Utah, but Salt Lake City in general. These pictures range from headshots of different officials, to gymnastic meets at the University of Utah back from the 1980s. With ski season right around the corner as well, one of the favorites in this collection are the series of pictures from Brighton resort back in 1930. Anytime you are missing the slopes, head over to Marriott Library’s photo archives and check out the action shots of various skiers throughout the years.

The image above is another one of my favorite in this collection. This was taken in June of 1931, and we are still thankful for this view today. Please feel free to checkout our partner at the University of Utah, J. Willard Marriott Library. You can also access their amazing collection which the images in this post came from here. Take some time today and tomorrow to think about all the great things in your life to be thankful for, and happy holidays!

Partner Spotlight: Utah State Archives

Featured Collection: Utah State Historical Society World War Military Listings

Names of the people who served from Utah WWII

In this week’s Partner Spotlight, we want to highlight our partner here locally, Utah State Archives, or more formally known as Utah Division of Archives and Records Service. With it being Veterans Day, we wanted to take the time to remember and thank our military veterans all across the nation, living and dead, who fought for our freedom and freedom of others all around the world. The picture above shows a list of names of some of the brave men and women from Utah who served in WWII. In the featured collection, you can browse through several historical images of records consisting of Utahns who were killed, reported missing, or discharged from both WWI and WWII. With all that is going on in the world, MWDL would like to show immense gratitude to all those who lost their lives in these wars, those who still are impacted from the tragedies that war brings, and those who continue to serve to protect our country and the people within it. From MWDL, we would like to send a huge thank you to all our veterans out there!

Please be sure to check out our wonderful partners and their collections like this one and more. Feel free to contact Utah State Archives for any record or archive requests you may have as well. Visit their website at https://archives.utah.gov/, and be sure to check out the featured collection over on our website with the link here: Utah State Historical Society World War Military Listings. Happy Veterans Day to all! Be sure to take the time today and thank a veteran for their service!

Partner Spotlight: University of Nevada – Las Vegas

Featured Collection: Menus: The Art of Dining

This week’s Partner Spotlight shines bright on our partners at UNLV, University Libraries Digital Collection! We all know the city they are from, but the Digital Collections’ library at UNLV is full of historic and interesting collections. The collection highlighted today is their “Menus: The Art of Dining” collection. This collection features many pictures of various menus, from Wine menus at hotels, to lunch/dinner menus at some of the most historically respected restaurants around the world. This is a great resource to get an idea of the cultures the menus are from, but also what the trendy aesthetics were at the time the menu was created. As you go back further in time, you may notice that calligraphy as well as intricate detail to the art on the menu were heavily focused on. More recently, simplicity and minimalism is the focus. Below are a few favorites in the collection, but in order to get the importance of this collection feel free to browse it yourself!

To the left, you can see the cover of the wine menu at the hotel El Rancho Vegas. This menu cover is from some time between 1950-1960, about 75 years ago.

El Rancho Vegas was a hotel on the “Strip” in Vegas that was opened in 1941, and was short-lived as the owner, Beldon Katleman, knocked it down just 19 years in 1960.









Another favorite from this collection is the lunch menu cover from the Piccadilly Hotel, located in Paris, France. This menu cover dates all the way back to 1889. The artwork and calligraphy were hand-drawn, which speaks for itself.










Once we are able to travel freely again, or the next time you are at a restaurant, pay close attention to the menus, or lists, that you order from. See how times have changed as you compare the menus from today to those of the past from this amazing collection. Feel free to check out our partners’ website, Digital Library, UNLV. You can also head to this collection at the link at the top of the page!

Partner Spotlight: Southern Utah University

Featured Collection: Dixie National Forest (UT) Photographs

This week in our Partner Spotlight, we will be highlighting our partners at Southern Utah University, Sherratt Library as well as U.S. Forest Service, who provides all the photographs of this collection. One of the many interesting collections they supply is the Dixie National Forest Photographs, which include over 8,000 photos of Utah’s largest national forest. These pictures in the collection were provided by the US Forest Service. The picture above shows the road perpendicular to the entrance to one of the many campsites in the forest, Red Canyon Campground.

Browsing through this collection, you can expect to see various images of the lakes, reservoirs, campgrounds, and beautiful still scenes from everywhere around the forest.


Shown to the left is a scene from Panguitch Lake, one of the personal favorites from this collection. Depicted is a group of people lowering their boat at one of the docks on the 10 miles of shoreline that surround the lake. The word “Panguitch” comes from the local Native Americans and means “big fish”. This name seems to be very fitting as the lake is as good as any for year-round fishing.

Here is another look at Panguitch lake showing the large amount of shoreline in the background on a bright, clear day.






You can head to our partners’ websites at Sherratt Library, Southern Utah University, and to U.S. Forest Service, Dixie National Forest. For more of this collection specifically, please check out the link below, which takes you to the MWDL page for this collection:

Dixie National Forest (UT) Photographs