Citation: Utah State Historical Society, Utah State Historical Society Administration Files, Call to Organize, Utah State Archives and Records Service, Series 3192.

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• More images from the State Historical Society Administrative Files can be found in our Digital Archives.

Another important development that came out of the Pioneer Jubilee was the creation of the Utah State Historical Society. While this was not the first time such an organization was suggested, it was the first time that the idea garnered enough support to become a reality. The Jubilee provided an atmosphere of historical remembrance that moved people to action and the founders felt that the time was “appropriate” to send out a call to the people of Utah. It finally was time to create a society dedicated to preserving the memory of the state’s history.

Yet, the founders of the Historical Society wanted it to be more than an agency of remembrance. Their “Call to Organize,” shown here, defined their objectives as:

• The encouragement of historical research and inquiry by the exploration of aboriginal monuments and remains
• The collection of such material as may serve to illustrate the growth of Utah and the Inter-Mountain Region
• The preservation in a permanent depository of manuscripts, documents, papers and tracts of value
• The establishment of a library of books and publications, and a cabinet of antiquities and relics
• The dissemination of information
• The holding of meetings at stated intervals for the interchange of views and criticisms.

The list of names on the call to organize is a veritable “Who’s Who” of influential Utahns. Governor Heber Wells is the first name at the top of the list as a supporter of this private organization. Prominent LDS last names such as Smith, Young, Pratt, and Cannon are scattered through the list. There are also a number of women named. Electa Bullock of Provo, Ellen B Ferguson, Emmeline B. Wells, and others are just as boldly visible as all of their male counterparts.

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