The Utah Endowment for the Humanities funded the Oral History Institute (OHI) of Salt Lake City to conduct interviews with members of different ethnic minorities and racial groups. The people chosen to be interviewed were from Utah's Black, Greek, Jewish, Japanese, Mexican, Hispanic, Chinese, Ute and Italian communities; and were in most cases fifty-five years of age and older. A Caucasian group was also interviewed by the OHI to gain a perspective of ethnic and racial group interaction, but Caucasions were not included in the subsequent photograph exhibit produced by the OHI. The goal of the project was to try to determine if, how, or to what extent each minority culture had been impacted by the larger Utah culture.
This particular series of interviews with Caucasians took place from 1984 to 1988. Events recalled by the interviewees span the time period from the early 1900s to 1988. Included in this collection are the transcriptions of the interviews with corresponding cassette tapes found in the Multimedia Division of Special Collections..
Common themes within the interviews are family life, educational and work experiences, and ethnic and race relations in Utah. Of particular interest are the interviews with four past Utah governors and Stanley C. Harvey's experiences as the captain of a first aid team sent into the Carbon County Castlegate Mine after the 1922 explosion.
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Purchased from the Oral History Institute in 1988.
Processed by Janet Everts Smoak in 1990.
Audio cassette tapes transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (A0328).
Form part of the Ethnic Relations in Utah Oral History Project.
Judge Crockett recalls his law career in Salt Lake City, including positions as Salt Lake County Attorney, Third District Court judge, and as a Utah State Supreme Court Justice. He also explains his involvement in the David Oliver Disbarrment Case which occurred in the 1930s.
Senator Farley reminisces about her childhood in South Dakota, her education and career in the New York, Chicago, and Menneapolis fashion industries, and her experiences as a civil rights activist in Minnesota and in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also discusses her experiences as a Utah state senator and her campaigns for the United States House of Representatives.
Mr. Harvey recalls his father's pioneering efforts in the field of mining first aid and rescue work. He also discusses his own career in Utah coal mines and Mr. Harvey also relates his experiences as a captain of a rescue team sent into the Carbon County Castlegate Mine after the 1922 explosion.
Mr. Holbrook discusses his childhood in Bountiful, Utah, his experiences on an LDS mission in Taiwan, and his civil rights activism in the South and in Utah during the 1960s. He also recalls the LDS Priesthood Controversy and reminisces about his term as a Utah State Representative in the 1970s.
Mr. Jensen and Mr. Quealy represented the State of Utah in the legal cases concerning jurisdiction issues with the Ute Indians arising over the Central Utah Project. Both men recall the specific court cases and the state's position on a number of issues.
Governor Lee recalls his early life in Price, Utah, his experiences in the Army, stateside, during WWII, and his business dealings in Price, Utah. He also explains how he first became Mayor of Price, Utah and then later Governor of Utah and finally Mayor of Salt Lake City. The Governor also gives his impressions of race relations in Utah between the 1940s and the 1960s.
Governor Matheson discusses minority relations in Utah and issues surrounding the Central Utah Project and the State's relationship with the Ute Indians.
Governor Maw reminisces about his childhood career as a newspaper boy, education at the University of Utah, and subsequent career in Utah politics. In particular, he discusses Depression Era politics in Utah and the Japanese Relocation Centers in Utah during WWII.
Mr. Merrill discusses his experiences as a former Catholic priest working with the Salt Lake City, Utah, Hispanic population.
Governor Rampton recalls his childhood in Bountiful, Utah, his education in law at the University of Utah and George Washington University in Washington D.C., Depression Era politics in Utah, and his terms as Governor of Utah.
Mr. Rothstein, a contributor to the Oral History Institute Photograph exhibit that accompanied these interviews, recalls his education in New York City schools and later at Columbia University, and his decision to be a professional photographer. He also reminisces about his experiences in various professional positions, including the Farm Security Administration's Photo rapher's Project in the 1930s and his work for Look Magazine.
Dr. Williams discusses his education at Stanford University and Harvard University and subsequent career as a political science professor at the University of Utah.
Dr. Knowlton discusses his activity in the Mexican- American protest movements in New Mexico and Texas and his subsequent return to Utah and career at the University of Utah as a Professor of Sociology. Dr. Knowlton remained active in the Chicano movement in Utah.