Current Challenges and Developments in a Post-Industrial Neighborhood: Part Two

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Thirty-Fourby Brad Westwood The Pioneer Park neighborhood has always been a contested space. Initially, the area was owned by Native Americans until Mormon (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Pioneers colonized the land. Since 1847, the region has been in constant transition as new and old residents and business interests …

Amy Barry, Stories from Utah’s Cemeteries Database (Part 1 & 2, Reissued)

Date: December 23, 2019 (Season 1, Episode 7 – Part 1: 25 min. & 3 sec. long and Part 2: 26 min. & 1 sec. long). Click here for Part 1 and Click here for Part 2 of the BuzzSprout versions of this Speak Your Piece two-part episode. The above cropped photograph is of Fort Douglas Cemetery (June 1963), one …

Benevolent and Mutual Aid Societies, Fraternal Orders, and Labor Unions and Salt Lake City’s West Side

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twentyby Brad Westwood and Cassandra Clark Above image caption: The Salt Lake City office of the Modern Woodmen of America, a workers’ fraternal life insurance organization, was located in 1911 in an upper floor office of the Bamberger Building (163 South Main Street). Photo courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society, Shipler Photographic Collection …

Chinese Americans on Plum Alley and on the West Side

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-ThreeBy Brad Westwood Above photo caption: Based on information provided on a Salt Lake Tribune folder, the above image was described simply as the “Yee Family, Plum Alley.” What we know for certain is that the image was taken on January 9, 1946, by Chinese American Tribune photographer Ray King. The photo backdrop is …

Latinos/as and Salt Lake City’s West Side: Part One

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-EightBy Brad Westwood, Cassandra Clark and Catherine Aviles Above photo caption: Two men accompany “Señorita Chicana 1971” (Miss Chicana 1971) at “Adelante [Ahead!]: A Plan for Action Conference,” held on October 29-30, 1971, in the Salt Palace. Elio Rios from Puerto Rico (left) is the only individual identified in this image. This gathering was …

SLC’s Latinx Population, Environmental Racism: A West Side Story, Past & Present

Date: September 20, 2021 (Season 3, Episode 11; 49:26 minutes long). Click here for the BuzzSprout version of this Speak Your Piece episode. The above image is a screenshot of USU’s spatially layered interactive map of Salt Lake City which demonstrates the overlap between pollution hotspots, Latinx Populations and mid-century mortgage redlining boundaries. Are you interested in other episodes of …

Japanese Americans on the West Side

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-SevenBy Brad Westwood and Cassandra Clark During the late nineteenth century, Japanese American immigrants arrived in Utah seeking employment opportunities. Initially, many worked for railroad companies that previously employed Chinese immigrants. Many Japanese Americans made their mark by opening businesses, worshiping in their temples and churches, and participating in Utah’s civic life. Japanese migrants, …

Irish, Cornish, Welsh and Jewish immigrants and Salt Lake City’s West Side

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-TwoBy Brad Westwood Many of the west side’s earliest immigrants found employment in mining, transportation and smelter industries. Others bought and sold goods essential to frontier life. This segment speaks to the Cornish, Irish and Jewish American Communities who lived and worshiped on the west side. Many immigrants left their homelands because of famine …

Salt Lake City Loses Its “Dirtiest City” Status, the West Side, Public Health, and the City’s Only Surviving Pioneer Square

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Fourteenby Brad Westwood It is no surprise that in terms of public health, sanitary reform, and civic improvements, local and state leaders neglected Salt Lake City’s ethnically diverse and industrial west side. The west side sits along the floodplain of the Jordan River and the southern end of City Creek’s alluvial deposit. At the …

Twentieth Century Changes to Salt Lake City’s Original West Side

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Thirty-Oneby Brad Westwood The above cropped photo is of The Crossroads Coffee Shop, which was located on North Temple adjacent to the Hotel Utah Motor Lodge, circa 1960s. Photograph courtesy of the Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah. Over the years, the Pioneer Park neighborhood has undergone significant changes as …

Latinos/as and the West Side: Part Two

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-NineBy Brad Westwood, Cassandra Clark and Catherine Aviles The above photo is of four Mexican railroad workers, circa 1915-1920, presumably somewhere in Utah. Photo courtesy of the Helen Z. Papanikolas People of Utah (1976) Collection, Utah State Historical Society. Latinos/as who lived in twentieth century Utah faced discrimination and unstable employment options that negatively …

Brokers of Human Capital

Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Nineteenby Brad Westwood Many early American immigrants first heard about Utah and the American West from steamship and labor agents whose work was similar to modern-day employment recruiters. The steamship and labor agents attracted laborers by offering to pay for their transportation costs. In return, laborers signed a contract that required that they pay …