Utah, the Right Place: The Official Centennial History - Softcover

Alexander, Thomas G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 087905767X ISBN 13: 9780879057671

Publisher: Gibbs Smith, 1996

Synopsis

Traces the personalities and events that have shaped the forty-fifth state of the Union

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Weaving together the stories of the Anasazi; the Spaniards; the Mormons, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Greek Orthodox; the athletes, artists, and entertainers--all the famous and not-so-famous people from Utah's past--Thomas Alexander tells a story of determination, creativity, and originality.

With humor and insight, Alexander traces the personalities and events that have shaped Utah, bringing to light little-known facts and raising for discussion often-buried issues. His narrative is rich in detail, providing context and perspective to familiar but sometimes misunderstood events, along with fascinating anecdotes to illuminate the times and people.

Among other things, Alexander offers a candid look at the displacement of Native Americans by Mormon settlements and the state's early efforts to tame prostitution in the cities. He provides a new perspective on environmental activism in Utah, including movements as early as the 1890s to improve air quality and limit pollution from smoke. He describes the state's longstanding promotion of the arts and the decades-old leadership efforts by Utah's women in education and politics. And he delves into the turn-of-the-century struggles with growth in the state's urban areas--even describing one Salt Lake City plan to pay children a bounty on rats of ten cents per head (and ten cents per hundred for flies).

From the Back Cover

"The common denominator of these Utahns is neither birthplace, gender, politics, economic position, religion, ethnic background, liberalism, conservatism, nor profession," Alexander writes. "It is, rather, that each chose Utah as their home and that they have made the state a better place for all of us. Like these people, we become Utahns because we love its land and people, and because we have come to understand that it is still 'the right place.'"

Edition details

• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 087905767X
• ISBN 13: 9780879057671
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 488
• Editor: Sadler Richard W., Whetstone Susan Allred