The Coon Chicken Inn was a fried chicken restaurant chain located in the Pacific Northwest and owned by Maxon Lester Graham and his wife Adelaide. The first Coon Chicken Inn was established in 1925 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Coon Chicken Inn was famously known for its racist “coon” caricature logo that was used to promote the authenticity of the southern-style food. At the entrance of the restaurant was a 12-foot “coon head.” Customers entered through the mouth, which had exaggerated large lips and teeth. This same entrance was then used for the other two locations that opened later. Despite protests against the racial slurs and racist caricatures the stores remained open until the late 1950s. Even though the restaurant was racist, the only complaint from the city was when it heard rumors that operators were serving alcohol. On March 11, 1927, The Salt Lake Telegram wrote about the trial that Graham went to for “conducting a disorderly house,” because officers had claimed that they found liquor on three of the restaurant’s tables. (“Graham Enters Not Guilty Plea”)

Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Catherine Roth writes that the large “coon head” used for the entrance of the building was a gimmick to attract customers. (“The Coon Chicken Inn”) Graham also used the logo on postcards, newspaper advertisements, children’s fans, delivery cars, and matchboxes as promotion.

After gaining a lot of success, Graham later opened two more locations in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. Each location had the “coon head” entrance that was used with the first location to attract customers. The restaurant not only provided food for its customers but entertainment as well. The Utah Chronicle mentioned that the restaurant offered dancing and talented local musicians to entertain customers. (“What We’ll Do”) The Coon Chicken Inn was popular among University of Utah students; the Interfraternity Council planned a stag party for students and the restaurant was chosen to host its festivities. (“Greek Council”) Popular among University of Utah students, several fraternities chose to hold events such as banquets at the restaurant because it had a dance floor and live music for everyone to enjoy. (“The Town Chatter”) Variety magazine also mentioned in its April 7, 1937, issue that the Coon Chicken Inn was a great spot for out-of-state bands to work with local musicians, which helped attract customers.

Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Despite being racist, the restaurant was very successful, opening a total of three locations in three different cities. After opening in Seattle in 1930, Graham was met with protests. That same year the Seattle branch of the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP) and the African-American newspaper, the Northwest Enterprise, protested the opening of the restaurant and even threatened Graham “with a lawsuit for libel and defamation of race.” In response, Graham agreed to change his advertising styles by “removing the word ‘Coon’ from the restaurant’s delivery and also by repainting the ‘Coon head’ entrance to the restaurant.” Instead of the “coon head” being black he decided to paint the skin color blue to avoid further issues. Graham also canceled his order of 1,000 car tire covers to please the protesters and not get in legal trouble. In the end, Graham removed the “Coon head” from public view and decided to close the restaurant doors for good. (Roth, “The Coon Chicken Inn”)

Today, the original Coon Chicken Inn building is gone. Despite the restaurant being shut down, Coon Chicken Inn remains relevant today due to the collectibles being sold online as black memorabilia. In 2017, Cook’s Garage, a Texas restaurant, caused outrage when customers noticed a Coon Chicken Inn neon sign on its walls. After receiving so much backlash, the owner said the sign wasn’t there to offend anyone, but to display Americana history. (Robinson) Even though the restaurant has been closed since the 1950s, it is still making headlines to this day. It’s still a relevant topic due to its racism. The Coon Chicken Inn will forever be a part of Utah history.

Chris Oregon is a senior at the University of Utah. He is majoring in mass communication with an emphasis in journalism and minoring in Spanish.

Sources

“Graham Enters Not Guilty Plea,” Salt Lake Telegram, March 11, 1927, 2.

“The Town Chatter,” Utah Chronicle, December 21, 1932, 2.

“What We’ll Do,” Utah Chronicle, January 25, 1934, 2.

“Greek Council Chooses Rulers,” Utah Chronicle, May 21, 1936, 1.

“Salt Lake City Sets Bands for Summer,” Variety, April 7, 1937, 50.

Advertisement, Coon Chicken Inn, Utah Chronicle, September 28, 1944, 4.

Roth, Catherine. “Coon Chicken Inn (Seattle),” HistoryLink.org, October 16, 2009.

Roth, Catherine. “The Coon Chicken Inn: North Seattle’s Beacon of Bigotry,” Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project, University of Washington, 2009.

Robinson, Elliott. “The Coon Chicken Inn Lives,” CreativeTension.org, 2017.

Dec 17

The Life of a Japanese-American Artist in the Topaz Internment Camp in 1940s Utah

By Sayaka Kochi

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941, an estimated 120,000 American citizens were forced into isolated camps because of their Japanese ancestry. Their ethnicity separated Japanese-Americans living in the United States from white culture, and racism took away their human rights. Additionally, many were placed in camps under the false pretense of giving them safe places to live at that time.

Photo of the Central Utah Relocation Center, better known as Topaz. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

One of these internment camps was located in central Utah; the camp, Topaz, was named after a nearby mountain. Chiura Obata, a Japanese-American artist and former professor at the University of California, Berkeley, was one of those who were sent to Topaz. According to Sandra C. Taylor, Obata was “a sensitive, political aware man” who continued his art activities in the Topaz art school while teaching painting to Topaz internees with a hope of raising people’s spirits in the camp. (Taylor, p. 73)

Obata has been a widely recognized Nikkei artist (Japanese word for emigrants and descendants) since before the abandonment of his life in California. On March 11, 1928, the Oakland Tribune reported Obata’s art exhibition in the East-West Gallery of Fine Arts in San Francisco. His artworks had a variety, and every piece of his work expressed his appreciation of art.

Obata was not merely a well-known artist but also a student-oriented teacher. According to the California Magazine published on March 15, 2016, Obata held his last painting demonstration combined with an art sale for “any art student, regardless of race or creed” before he moved into the camp. In April 1942, Obata closed his art studio due to a relocation to the camp, and along with it, he sold his masterpieces, raised money, and donated all earnings into the establishment of a scholarship for students in the University of California.

His enthusiasm for the arts did not decline but grow, even after he was forced to relocate and was imprisoned in the middle of the desert. The Utah Nippo reported on January 25, 1943, that the eighth governor of Utah, Herbert B. Maw, was presented with the scenery painting of Topaz by Obata in the induction ceremony of the new councilmen of the Topaz community government in the Central Utah Relocation Center. Furthermore, the article of the Utah Nippo published in January 1943 announced that Obata’s silk paintings were sent to President Roosevelt as a gift. Even though Obata was interned during World War II, his artistic talent was never oppressed.

Two of the watercolor paintings produced by the students taught by Chiura Obata in Topaz.
Park Record, March 12, 2011.

In 1945, with the end of the bloody chaos across the world, Obata was released and allowed to return to his beloved old home. Soon after he returned to the campus of the University of California as an art professor, three water paintings drawn by Obata, while he was interned in Topaz, were exhibited in the University of Utah. This University of Utah Japanese art exhibition sponsored by the War Relocation Authority was reported by the Utah Chronicle on November 15.

Obata left his teaching job in 1954. Upon his retirement, he got word from Clark Kerr, the first Chancellor of the University of California, who said, “You have been able not only to exercise your own creative gifts to the fullest extent, but also to help develop and guide the talent of students. In addition, your exhibits, lectures and demonstrations have given pleasure and instruction to countless people throughout California and in many parts of the United States.” (In Memoriam, p. 137)

In the midst of turbulent times, Obata was acknowledged to be one of the best artists in spite of his Japanese ancestry. His dedication to arts and his contribution of teaching arts have been outstanding, even now. At the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Obata’s new exhibition named “Chiura Obata: An American Modern” was held in 2018. Through his experiences under the restraint and the patience, he created the arts which carry the strong message: “Who gets to be called American?” (Mann) This message can be sympathetic and relevant with today’s society as well.

Sayaka Kochi is a senior at the University of Utah. She is majoring in communication with an emphasis in journalism.

Sources

“Chiura Obata, Art: Berkeley,” University of California: In Memoriam (September 1978): 137

Cirrus Wood, “Artist Interned: A Berkeley Legend Found Beauty in “Enormous Bleakness of War Camp,” California Magazine, March 15, 2016.

Court Mann, “UMFA’s new Chiura Obata exhibit asks: ‘Who gets to be called American?’” Deseret News, June 1, 2018.

“Governor Maw Visits Topaz,” Utah Nippo, January 25, 1943, 4.

Hal Johnson, “So We’re Told,” Berkeley Daily Gazette, April 20, 1942, 6.

“Jap Internees’ Art Displayed,” Utah Chronicle, November 15, 1945, 1.

“Pres. Roosevelt to Be Presented Silk Paintings,” Utah Nippo, January 15, 1943, 4.

Taylor, Sandra C. “Book Reviews of Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata’s Art of the Internment,” Utah Historical Quarterly 69, no. 1-4 (2001): 72-73.

Dec 17

Coon Chicken Inn: A Stain on Utah History

By Noelani Blueford

“Coon Chicken Inn: Nationally Famous, Coast to Coast.” That was the tagline used in advertisements for the restaurant chain, which could be found throughout the Pacific Northwest and originated in Salt Lake City, Utah. Opened by couple Adelaide Burt and Maxon Lester Graham in 1925, hungry patrons entered the restaurant through the red-lipped, white-toothed mouth of a 12-foot caricature of a winking black face wearing a porter’s cap. The chain even had a delivery fleet, wherein a car emblazoned with laughing minstrel faces would drive up to consumers homes, according to a January 2015 retrospective article by The Salt Lake Tribune. The restaurant saw great success.

The restaurant advertised regularly in the Utah Chronicle.

A memoir written by a grandson of the original owners, which is available from the Jim Crow Museum of Memorabilia, describes Burt and Graham’s business practices as normal for the time. They had enjoyed fried chicken from a local business and decided to open a restaurant of their own serving the same food in Sugar House, which was then only a small suburb of the city. The famous logo was added to the storefront, eventually spreading to a large variety of other items nearly five years after the successful opening and growth of the business.

The “coon head” logo and memorabilia was a gimmick to attract customers, claims an article on the restaurant at BlackPast.org. The organization describes the logo as “[saturating] the restaurant’s interior…. Plates, forks, menus, and placemats featured the caricature, as did menu items such as the ‘Baby Coon Special’ and the ‘Coon Fried Steak.’” The logo additionally appeared on a variety of items such as “postcards, newspaper advertisements, matchboxes, children’s fans, and spare tire covers.” African-American communities and organizations near the Seattle location quickly took action against the restaurant. The NAACP and African American newspaper The Northwest Enterprise threatened to take legal action against Graham for libel and defamation of race, pushing for a change in advertising. There was no reactionary movement at the Salt Lake City location, but at the time the 681 Black citizens of Salt Lake City who might take issue with the business comprised only .5 percent of the populace, as recorded in the 1930 census.

Ads like this appeared in the Utah Chronicle.

Utah’s Coon Chicken Inn closed in 1957, the last location of the chain to close by nearly a decade, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor Department at the University of Washington argues that the presence of this restaurant more than a century after the height of the minstrel era underscores the lasting power of this caricature and the underlying stigmas about race and Black people that continue to exist in the Pacific Northwest.

In Utah, racial tensions were relatively unspoken but persisted in force. The installment of Black troops at Fort Douglas in 1896 and 1899 was met by strong protest from the media and local government, according to “Blacks and the Military In American History” by Jack D. Foner. In 1925, the same year that Coon Chicken Inn opened, a Black Utahn by the name of Robert Marshall was tortured and lynched to the cheers of a crowd in Price. A thousand Utahns petitioned with partial success in 1939 to restrict black citizens to a designated neighborhood away from the city center, and blacks were refused full access to local amusement park Lagoon until the late 1940s, reports Utah History To Go.

Advertisements for Coon Chicken Inn featuring minstrel art were posted in many issues of the Utah Chronicle in the early 20th century; today they provide a rare and important look into an obscured facet of the area’s culture. In its discussion of Coon Chicken Inn’s novelties and other minstrel products, “African American visual representation: from repression to resistance” by Paul Von Blum perhaps sums up the issue best: “All of these [advertising caricatures] were designed for a white population that rarely encountered contrary images of African American dignity. They were fully part of a racist visual culture, viewing such imagery as nothing more than humorous depictions of obvious racial truths. These racist pictures and objects confirmed what most white audiences already believed. Any suggestion that these posters, postcards, toys, figures, film clips, and other objects, had repressive political consequences would likely have led to puzzled or even incredulous responses.”

Noelani Blueford graduated in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism.

Sources

Advertisement, Coon Chicken Inn, Utah Chronicle, January 18, 1940, 4.

Advertisement, Coon Chicken Inn, Utah Chronicle, January 25, 1940, 4.

Coleman, Ronald G. “Blacks in Utah History: An Unknown Legacy,” Utah History To Go.

Foner, Jack D. Blacks and the Military in American History. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1974.

Gibson, Campbell and Kay Jung. “Historical Census Statistics On Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For Large Cities And Other Urban Places In The United States,” U.S. Census Bureau Population Division (February 2005): 106.

Macfarland, Sheena. “Whatever happened to … the chicken restaurant with the racially charged name?” The Salt Lake Tribune, January 13, 2015.

Roth, Catherine. “Coon Chicken Inn,” BlackPast.org.

Roth, Catherine. “The Coon Chicken Inn: North Seattle’s Beacon of Bigotry.” The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project at the University of Washington.

Von Blum, Paul. “African American Visual Representation: From Repression to Resistance,” Journal of Pan African Studies 5 no. 8 (December 2012): 41.

“The History of Coon Chicken Inn.” Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University.

Dec 14

Utah Sugar Beets: A Struggling Industry

By Andres-Alcantar Castro

During World War II, President LeRoy E. Cowles encouraged University of Utah students to help struggling sugar beet farmers. Ads were placed in the Utah Chronicle to increase participation. The Chronicle reported that only 24 students had participated. Utah farmers continued looking for workers in the coming years but the industry fought to keep crops plentiful despite the shortage.

Sugar beets supplied half of the nation’s sugar by then. The U.S. military relied on sugar and foodstuffs for energy. In 45 years, Americans went from consuming 45 to 109 pounds of sugar per capita, making the U.S. the world’s largest sugar consumer. The sugar beet became a viable option because it grew where sugar cane couldn’t. Sugar beets, however, yielded a maximum of 15 percent sugar and thus required research to yield more. (Weeks, p. 370)

Beets at loading station.
Used by permission, Utah State Historical Society.

As early as June 1942, the North Cache News printed an article emphasizing the struggles that farmers faced in finding labor to thin their sugar beets. The locals suggested that farmers use children to help in the fields. While farmers were first reluctant, the crisis changed their minds. White-collar workers from Bingham City also helped the farmers of Cache Valley. The article points out that the labor shortage wasn’t only because of men turned soldiers, but also men working in the industries conducive to the war.

The Rich County Reaper reported on January 2, 1942, that 1.5 million workers would be needed by 1943 to produce sugar and other products. In addition, 12.7 million tons of sugar would be needed in 1943. This amount was twice as much as that needed in World War I.

University students might’ve thought the work was not worth doing because they were paid $1 per ton harvested. This amount translates to only $15 today, adjusted for inflation. The university, however, claimed it was patriotic to work in the beet fields and even offered transportation to and from the university to encourage students to do so. A Chronicle article published in the October 15, 1942, issue reported, “Even though it is difficult for students who are busy with defense jobs and activities …, they may, in a few spare hours after classes, do a job which to them might seem minute and unimportant, but which in reality will greatly aid in our war program.”

Layton Sugar Factory, wagon dumping beets into hopper.
Used by permission, Utah State Historical Society.

During this time, the Japanese relocation program had begun. The Topaz internment camp housed many of the displaced Japanese-Americans. On October 14, 1942, the Topaz Times printed a job announcement for topping sugar beets for $16 monthly pay. This work was attractive to Japanese men because they had little freedom. Fifty-six other Japanese men left for Cache County, while some went as far as Preston, Idaho, to work. Even Topaz only had 250 of the 400 workers needed there. Also, Mexican miners had started immigrating to Utah since the 1930s but by the 1940s about 60 families settled in Garland, Utah, to work in the sugar beet fields. Mexican immigrants were able to take advantage of the pay from the sugar beet industry and work toward building a community. (Solórzano, p. 18)

The new labor force helped the beet farmers harvest crops but they still required advancements in technology to reach their goals. Luckily, groups like the American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists were researching new ways to increase yields and were optimistic for the future of the industry. The Salt Lake Telegram reported on January 5, 1942, that a new method, tested in 326 beet fields, controlled irrigation and produced a higher sugar content within beets. Naphthalene acid amide was also a chemical being tested that could eliminate the leaf hopper, a type of fly that attacked the leaves on beet plants. The acid was reported to cause plant growth in some cases but damage in other cases.

The sugar beet industry suffered from a wide labor shortage, particularly because of the war. The university students’ reluctance to help was only part of a bigger problem. Farmers had to rely on immigrants and community members for their farms to survive. Small sugar yields helped win the war but more research needed to be done to make it successful.

Originally from the Columbia River Gorge area of Oregon, Andres Alcantar-Castro is a senior at the University of Utah. He will graduate in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication with an emphasis in journalism.

Sources

“Working in Beet Fields Is Patriotic and Fun,” Utah Chronicle, October 15, 1942, 5.

“Chairman Issues New Appeal for Student Labor,” Utah Chronicle, October 15, 1942, 1.

“Questions,” Topaz Times, October 14, 1942, 2-3.

“Farmers Accept Boys and Girls in Beet Fields” North Cache News, June 19, 1942, 4.

“Sugar Experts See Big Future for Industry” Salt Lake Telegram, January 5, 1942, 13.

“U. S. Farmers with Less Labor, Supplies, Machinery, Must Double the Production Shown in World War I,” Rich County Reaper, January 2, 1942, 3.

Solórzano, Armando. “The Making of Latino Families in Utah,” Beehive History 25 (August 31, 2009): 18.

Weeks, Michael. “Sugar State: Industry, Science, and the Nation in Colorado’s Sugar Beet Fields,” Western Historical Quarterly 48, no. 4 (October 2017): 367–391.

Dec 6

Spirit of the Beehive: Coon Chicken Inn an Unfortunate Utah Original

By Devon Alexander Brown

Coon Chicken Inn logo. Image courtesy of Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

When Brigham Young and a vanguard company of Latter-day Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 they knew they’d finally found their home in the Rockies. (Griffiths) And as their community in the desert quietly blossomed they declared it Deseret, a term for honeybee lifted from the Book of Mormon, and adopted the beehive as their state emblem. This simple emblem not only referenced their Christian roots, but it also symbolized a unified commitment to industriousness that has remained a hallmark of Utah’s culture. (Malouf)

In modern times that industrious spirit has led to a boom in the beehive state’s tech and creative sectors, but in 1925 it drove Maxon Lester Graham and his wife Adelaide Burt to create a fast-food restaurant legacy built on a foundation of racist imagery with a name to match: Coon Chicken Inn.

Utah, like much of America, has a complicated history with race. Much of the population is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has always allowed Blacks into its ranks although they’ve held a lower status. A demonstration of this fact is that three Black members of the church were present in the vanguard company of 1847, but they were used as servants The most controversial aspect of this attitude is that Black members — as well as suspected Black members according to a racial “one drop” policy — were denied priesthood privileges essential to the faith until the 1970s. (Reeve) Yet these complications reach far beyond faith. An attitude of separation trickled into Utah’s secular psyche as well, with Blacks receiving second-class treatment inside and outside of the church. While the creation of Coon Chicken Inn is perhaps the most blatant example of this attitude, it is not an isolated example.

To grasp the severity of the logo’s use, one must understand the racist history behind the “coon” caricature. The term came into prominence during 19th-century minstrel shows through a character named Zip Coon. As a part of his act, Zip Coon would act uppity with a braggart’s swagger while employing malapropisms in a nod to his lack of education. This would elicit laughter and intrigue while also reinforcing White supremacy and animosity toward Blacks. The slur itself became popular in the late 1800s after Black entertainer Ernest Hogan released a song called, “All Coons Look Alike to Me.” Subsequent derogatory imitation “coon songs” were released shortly after and remained popular until the 1920s. Eventually the “coon” caricature became a nostalgic device for certain northerners and southerners to rekindle revisionist memories of life in the American South. (Strausbaugh)

Advertisement for Coon Chicken Inn. Utah Chronicle, February 1, 1940, p. 4.

The first Coon Chicken Inn opened in 1925 after the Grahams bought and renovated a small building in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City. Their take on southern fried chicken was a hit and by 1930 they opened two additional sites (in Washington and Oregon). To stir up additional business they incorporated the smiling blackface logo as they believed it would entice young families. The logo, an abrasive caricature with exaggerated lips, would reflect the owners’ racial disconnection, especially in Seattle and Portland where more Blacks were present.

Black residents did not accept the imagery, however, and Joseph Staton, a Black resident of Seattle, was arrested, booked, and fined $3 for cutting the caricature out of a Coon Chicken Inn spare tire cover. (The Seattle Times) Also, Clarence R. Anderson, a Black attorney, launched a two-year lawsuit against the inn with the NAACP, although Graham dodged the lawsuit by painting the Black porter’s face blue. (Northwest Enterprise) Nonetheless, the logo would later appear on paper products, plates, and menus that are now considered collectible. Eventually, 12-foot constructions of the logo would beckon patrons at the restaurants’ front doors.

Coon Chicken Inn locations. Image courtesy of Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Protests by angry Black citizens of Seattle and Portland would ultimately yield few changes to the franchise, but the locations finally closed in 1949. (Seattle Post Intelligencer) However, in December 1949, Graham opened G.I. Joe’s New Country Store in the same Seattle location and continued using the coon logo in advertisements that reached Salt Lake City. (Lake City Citizen) The Salt Lake City location remained open until 1957.

Undoubtedly, Coon Chicken Inn is an ugly reminder of the past, but an unnamed grandson of the Grahams has since written an essay about the restaurant’s legacy for the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. (McFarland) “I preface this essay by saying that I do not condone the ‘Jim Crow’ attitudes of the past. I and ALL of my siblings believe in full equality for all races, creeds, and skin colors. My grandparents were entrepreneurs engaging in what were normal business practices,” he penned in the essay. “They left behind artifacts, popularly called ‘Black Memorabilia,’ that serve as reminders that this particular part of history must never, and will never, be repeated.” (The History of Coon Chicken Inn)

Utahns of Salt Lake City must ensure this sentiment rings true.

Devon Alexander Brown is a senior at The University of Utah and is majoring in journalism. He is pursuing a career in writing and photojournalism and is primarily interested in art and culture. Devon is also interested in documentary films and the tiny house movement.

Sources

Sadie McIver, “Files Protest Against ‘Coon Chicken’ Advertisement,” Northwest Enterprise, July 16, 1931, 8.

Candace Black, “Chicken Inn Dodges Suit with Blue Paint,“ Northwest Enterprise, March 17, 1932, 6.

“Big Crowd — Little Profit,” Seattle Post Intelligencer, March 8, 1937.

“C. of C. Helps to End Dispute,“ The Seattle Times, March 18, 1937.

Advertisement for Coon Chicken Inn, Utah Chronicle, February 1, 1940, 4.

“Joe’s Country Store,” Lake City Citizen, December 8, 1949.

“The History of Coon Chicken Inn.” Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University.

Strausbaugh, John. Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Reeve, W. Paul. Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

McFarland, Sheena. “Whatever happened to … the chicken restaurant with the racially charged name?” The Salt Lake Tribune, January 13, 2015.

Malouf, Mary Brown. “Behind the Beehive,” Salt Lake Magazine, May 2, 2016.

Griffiths, Casey Paul, et al. “The myth about Brigham Young’s ‘this is the place’ quote,” LDS Living, July 25, 2017.

Dec 6

Auerbach’s: The Department Store That Advertised Customer Service and Quality Products

By Diana Rubio

In May 1943, The Utah Chronicle featured ads from Auerbach’s Department Store, a family-owned business that gained name recognition in the Western United States. (Auerbach, end page)

In 1864, Jewish brothers Frederick H. Auerbach and Samuel H. Auerbach gave rise to what would become a 113-year legacy of quality products and services. (Rudd, 234) Auerbach’s was initially named “The People’s Store: Auerbach & Brothers” and began welcoming customers in downtown Salt Lake City after the Auerbach brothers came to an agreement with former LDS leader Brigham Young. (Williams)

The difference in culture the Auerbach’s introduced to the business landscape in Utah connected non-Mormons and Mormons. When the store first opened on Main Street, the south end, where Auerbach’s was located, became a hub for non-Mormon shoppers, whereas the north end was known for catering to Mormon shoppers. (Stone, Introduction)

Interior of Auerbach’s department store in Salt Lake City. Image courtesy of Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah.

Auerbach’s began as a small shop, but as time progressed the business gained popularity due to its merchandise and customer service that touched its customers. (Auerbach, end page) These two characteristics were not only experienced in the store, but also promoted in advertisements. It is due to Auerbach’s advertising efforts and positioning that the family business distinguished itself from other retailers. (Auerbach’s, Folder 5, 7)

“You can count on the fingers of one hand the stores in Utah that have had a continuous life of eighty years,” said Herbert S. Auerbach, one of the successors of the company. (Auerbach, end page)

When the company observed its eightieth anniversary, the celebration was a testament to the company’s integrity, customers service, and its progress, despite the changes in the political atmosphere. (Auerbach, end page) Auerbach’s advertisements positioned the store as a retailer that carried high-quality goods and provided retail prices for consumers with various budgets. (Auerbach’s, Folder 5)

Auerbach’s store display in Salt Lake City. Image courtesy of Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah.

The first advertisement spanned two inches and appeared in the issues of the Daily Telegraph and described the merchandise as “Staple and fancy.” The advertisements promoted the following merchandise: dry goods, shoes, groceries, notions, clothing, and home accessories. An example of how merchandise was initially promoted advertised blankets imported from California as “the finest quality … offered at little over original cost.” (Auerbach’s, Folder 5)

In an ad published by Goodwin’s Weekly, the ad expressed that Auerbach’s had gained confidence and courage from experiencing success over the years. Such accomplishments had encouraged the company to import 100,000 handkerchiefs for the holidays that were packaged with care. In addition to providing details about “the world’s greatest production of handkerchiefs,” the ad was a cordial invitation for customers to experience these handkerchiefs for themselves. At the bottom, the ad read, “We invite you to make yourself at home among these new handkerchiefs of ours.” (Auerbach’s, Folder 7)

While Auerbach’s advertisements focused on the quality of products, other advertisements highlighted customer service, such as an ad that featured a sketch of the Auerbach store in Salt Lake City. The ad promised to deliver products within five days. If not, customers could return the items in store. Another ad with the sketch of a woman wearing a hat guaranteed a free purchase once customers had made fifty-seven purchases. Exceptions to this offer included: groceries, meats, phonographs, candy, and patterns. (Auerbach’s, Folder 5)

The Auerbach’s company recognized it had built a reputable name over the years and believed the store had become an inspiration to Utah history. (Auerbach’s, Folder 7) Although Auerbach’s reached its end in 1977, it was a Salt Lake City landmark for over 100 years. (Williams) The company’s focus on service and merchandise are marketing tactics still used today by marketers who position companies to increase revenue and eventually build strong brands.

Diana Rubio is a senior at the University of Utah. She is majoring in communication with a focus in strategic communication.

Sources

Auerbach, Herbert S. Auerbach Co.: 80 years of service, 1864-1944. Salt Lake City, UT, 1944.

Advertisement, Auerbach’s Man’s Shop Advertisement, The Utah Chronicle, May 20, 1943, 6.

Rudd, Hynda. “Auerbach’s: One of the West’s Oldest Department Stores.” Western States Jewish History 11, no.3: 234-38.

Stone, Eileen Hallet. Auerbach’s: The Store that Performed What It Promises. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2018.

Various advertisements, Herbert S. Auerbach papers, Box 10, Folder 5, Special Collections and Archives, University of Utah, J. Willard Marriott Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Various Advertisements, Herbert S. Auerbach papers, Box 16, Folder 7, Special Collections and Archives, University of Utah, J. Willard Marriott Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Williams, Carter. “Auerbach’s to ZCMI: 4 historic Utah businesses that no longer exist,” ksl.com, November 16, 2017,

Apr 30

Lucin Cutoff Tragedy: Greek Contribution and Sacrifice in the Mountain West

by JONO MARTINEZ

Greek immigrants were among the last Europeans to make their way into the United States during the late 1800s. Toward the turn of the twentieth century, thousands of young Greeks fled to Utah to live what they would consider their first years of exile. Facing continued Turkish control in their own country, many of these people, young men and boys mostly, sought to live a life elsewhere with hopes of returning to a more promising Greece. (Papanikolas, 45)

Finding solace in the American West, Greek immigrants quickly took to labor on railroads and mines as a means to survive. These men endured long, isolated seasons of strenuous labor with payment as low as $20 for a single month. Although California and Nevada would provide bountiful labor for immigrants, the railroads of Utah would be of special interest to them and would also tragically cost some of their lives. Among the places where extensive Greek contributions took place are the Carbon County mines, Murray-Midvale smelters, Bingham Canyon mines, Magna mill, Garfield smelter, and north of Ogden for railroad-gang work on the Oregon Short Line (later Union Pacific). (Papanikolas, 46-48)

On February 19, 1904, 24 men—16 of whom were Greek immigrant railroad workers—died in a train collision near the Lucin Cutoff crossing the Great Salt Lake. The Lucin Cutoff is a 102-mile railroad line in Utah that runs from Ogden to its namesake in Lucin. (“With Dead”) News reports at the time provided varying numbers of victims and gave inconsistent details regarding the details of the crash. By most accounts, the air brake system failed on the eastbound train, which contained a boxcar of black powder, and the locomotive collided with a dynamite-laden westbound train attempting to clear the mainline. (“Air Brakes”) The magnitude of the explosion was such that the adjacent small town of Jackson was destroyed and 1,000 feet of track were blown up, leaving an excavation 30 feet deep. One engine was blown over in the flat and almost buried in the salt earth; one of the drive wheels was found nearly a half-mile away. (“Dynamite Wrecks”)

An unidentified group watches a woman shaking hands with a railroad worker. Greek Archives photograph collection, 1900-1967, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

The disaster would quickly gain the attention of local newspapers, with Ogden’s own Standard dedicating at least one piece a day of coverage for the weeks following the event. Accounts in the paper were graphic, with descriptions of decapitated bodies and scattered limbs. (“Dynamite Explosion”) Even the hailed New York Times would mention the half-mile radius of damage in its February 20 issue. The article listed by name the three American victims, but the immigrant workers were lumped into a single group with little to no recognition. While the tragedy was indeed covered in the news, the loss of the eight Utahns would ultimately overshadow the loss of Greek immigrant life. As The Salt Lake Tribune would make sure to mention on February 20, 1904, “A majority of those killed were Greek laborers, although many of the victims were English-speaking people.” The emphasis on “American” life over immigrant casualties in news accounts of the 1904 wreck ultimately reflected views that foreign laborers were expendable. (“Memorial Honors”)

Misfortune for the victims’ families only grew in the days following the accident. The designated coroner charged various undertakers, including Larkin & Sons, with handling the 24 bodies. Larkin opted to remove the bodies under his care to his own establishment in order to better prepare them for burial. This raised a protest from the assembled multitude of Greeks, many of whom had cousins and other relatives under the coverings inside the improvised morgue. They declared the bodies should not be moved. Richey, the other undertaker, later burned the blankets in which their bodies had been wrapped for transportation to the city. The Greek community had their own blankets that they wished to use instead, which were traditionally used for bedding. These were often hand-woven of superior material by them in Greece and brought to America with them. (“Dead are Brought”)

It was clear that there would be a long process in both identifying and treating the bodies, yet unique issues arose with regard to the extant language barrier between immigrants and local authorities who hoped to discover the cause of the accident. Two Americanized Greeks, John McCart and Arthur Mitchell, were sworn in as interpreters. Even so, they were unable to communicate much information to the authorities due to the conditions survivors were in. According to a story published in The Salt Lake Tribune on February, 26, 1904, “very little information concerning the accident could be elicited from the wounded Greeks.”

Other obstacles in the investigation came in the form of English-speaking witnesses who refused to give their full testimony. For example, Sam Courtney, the conductor of the water train, was questioned to no avail. Courtney’s hips and back were badly injured in the accident; yet, when he was asked who, in his opinion, was responsible for the makeup of the train and for the accident, he refused to make any statement. Ultimately, no blame would be placed on a single party and all persons interviewed would be absolved. (“Verdict of Jury”)

George N. Tsolomite, vice-consular agent for the Kingdom of Greece, arrived two weeks after the accident in Ogden. He then decided to contest each of the probate proceedings, which had just begun in Weber and Box Elder counties for the appointment of administrators in the estates of the Greeks who were killed in the recent railroad disaster at Jackson. (“Verdict of the Jury”) For many people at the time and now, it was evident that immigrants were misused as employees, especially those who could not speak English. Tsolomite’s involvement was to lessen aggravations felt by the families. Yet it was disasters like the one at Jackson and countless others that eventually energized immigrants to force employers to improve working conditions through labor unions. (“Memorial Honors”)

On October 22, 2000, nearly a century after the Lucin Cutoff tragedy, members of Utah’s ever-growing Greek community gathered in Ogden to witness the installation of a granite monument in memory of the deceased workers. (“Memorial Honors”) The tragedy and suggestion for the memorial were brought to the attention of the Utah Hellenic Cultural Association by Stella Kapetan of Chicago, who discovered the episode while researching her family history. (“Memorial”) This commemoration was seen by many as long overdue, considering that the majority of the men were buried without a headstone. For many, those Greek railroad workers who lost their lives are an example of the undervalued efforts and sacrifices undergone by immigrants in the United States of America. The memorial now serves as a reminder to both Greeks and non-Greeks of an otherwise downplayed moment in Utah history. Furthermore, their contribution as immigrants to help build the American West now receives the credit it has deserved.

Jono Martinez graduated in May 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism.

Sources

“Action of Greek Counsul,” Standard, March 1, 1904.

“Verdict of the Jury Judge Pritchard in Cut-off Disaster,” Standard, March 1, 1904.

“Coroner’s Inquest Continued to Thursday,” Standard, February 26, 1904.

“Inquest in Jackson Explosion,” The Salt Lake Tribune, February 26, 1904.

“Verdict of Jury in Cut-off Disaster,” Standard, February 26, 1904.

“Air Brakes Failed,” The Salt Lake Tribune, February 24, 1904.

“Dynamite Explosion Brings Havoc and Death,” Standard, February 23, 1904.

“Dead are Brought to Ogden Sunday,” Standard, February 22, 1904.

“With Dead of the Jackson Explosion,” The Salt Lake Tribune, February 22, 1904.

“Dynamite Wrecks Town,” The New York Times, February 20, 1904

“Memorial Honors Forgotten Victims of 1904 Railroad Tragedy,” The Salt Lake Tribune, October 23, 2000.

“Memorial,” Deseret News, May 29, 2000.

Papanikolas, Helen Zeeze. Toil and Rage in a New Land: The Greek Immigrants in Utah. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Historical Society, 1970.

Apr 27

The Media’s Role in Citizens’ Perceptions of Topaz, the Japanese Internment Camp in Utah

by Elizabeth Fields

The media have always played a role in our history. More than simply relaying the news, media dictate which stories deserve our attention, whether or not we are aware of it. Sometimes subtle and sometimes not, the media mold our values and opinions through careful choice of language and selection of which stories to tell. In the case of the Japanese internment facility located in Delta, Utah, the media’s influence over the public proved to be no different. Through the alienation of Japanese-American citizens and normalization of internment facilities, Utah media placated its citizens and prevented them from being able to recognize Topaz as being inhumane and unjust.

Internees began arriving at the Central Utah Relocation Center, known as Topaz, on September 11, 1942. This article from the August 27, 1942, issue of the Millard County Chronicle, was typical of the coverage.

Described as being “one of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties in American history,” the upheaval and relocation of many Japanese-American citizens during World War II was set in motion on February 19, 1942, when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. (history.com) This order authorized the creation of military zones along the West Coast and stipulated that individuals who were considered a threat to national security could be relocated to internment facilities located farther inland. The order soon was used to justify the removal of Japanese-Americans who were suspected of having an allegiance to Japan. Forced to put their jobs and education on hold and to give up their homes and most of their possessions, more than 120,000 citizens were sent to internment camps in states including Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado, where they were closely monitored to ensure that they could not assist the enemy. The Central Utah Relocation Center, more commonly known as Topaz for the mountain to the west, officially opened on September 11, 1942. By the time it closed, it had housed more than 11,000 detainees. (topazmuseum.org)

American citizens who did not have ties to Japan had been primed by the media to distrust and dislike Japanese culture, both domestic and abroad, since the beginning of America’s involvement in WW II. In the months leading up to the opening of Topaz, Utah citizens were exposed to hateful, racist terminology degrading their perception of the Japanese. On January 6, 1942, the Salt Lake Telegram reported that American soldiers were “killing the cocky little invaders like flies,” quite literally dehumanizing the foreign enemy. On January 5, 1942, the Salt Lake Telegram relished the thought of American allies writing “in rivers of Japanese blood.” This violent rhetoric set the stage for internment camps to open without question or opposition from the American public. It is important to note that Utah media consistently referred to the Japanese enemy as “Japs” in nearly any article written about the progress of the war.

In September 1942, when Japanese-American citizens began arriving at Topaz, the media also referred to these camp residents as “Japs.” On August 27, the Millard County Chronicle published an article under the headline, “WRA Officials Arrive to Take Over Jap Camp.” In the same issue, a separate article advertised cheap labor provided by internees and provided details about “how the Japs can be got, the regulations, and other information.” In this particular story, the language is eerily reminiscent of historical articles advertising slave labor. Utah media did not even bother to differentiate between the Japanese enemy and the Japanese-American citizen. Instead, the media lumped the two populations together using the same racial slur. Immediately, citizens living outside of internment camps differentiated the Japanese-American citizens as being in a separate category from themselves and associated them with the enemy. In some cases, citizens may not have even made a distinction between citizens and the enemy because the two shared the same epithet.

To further Utah’s ignorance to the injustice at play, Utah media completely normalized the Topaz internment camp by publishing mundane, day-to-day happenings at the camp, none of which included any of the harsh realities of life at Topaz. One of the most insulting articles was published in the Salt Lake Telegram on December 30, 1942, with the headline, “You Wouldn’t Trade Places.” It suggested that those living outside internment camps were actually experiencing some kind of envy. The article observed: “There are all sorts of rumors—that the Japanese evacuees from California live there in style, that they are being fed far better than most Americans.” The article described the minimalistic lifestyle of internment camp, but then assured readers, “Certainly they are being treated decently … the food is wholesome…. Although not being pampered, they are being very fairly treated.” It even claimed that the Japanese-American citizens enjoyed the work they did at the camp, saying, “Work becomes desirable as a pastime.” In reality, life at Topaz was anything but fair. According to the Densho Encyclopedia,

“Many of the apartments were not finished when inmates arrived. The prisoners had to endure especially cold conditions until gypsum board was installed on the walls and ceilings… Ill health was common at Topaz… Several prisoners reported how this … traumatized them and prevented them from ever feeling fully secure in camp.”

On December 17, 1942, the Millard County Chronicle published an article detailing the plans for a Christmas party to be held at Topaz: “This will be a large scale operation, purposed by the WRA [War Relocation Authority] to promote good will, [and] to show the proper Christian spirit.” The brief article clearly applauded the righteousness of the WRA and completely dismissed the fact that internees could not be in their own home with their friends and extended family to celebrate. Many of the internees were not Christian and did not even observe Christmas as a holiday. This article reinforced the concept that they they were comfortable and happy, perhaps even lucky. This complete misconception of the reality of living in an internment camp prevented Utahns from recognizing the injustice of the situation.

The last and perhaps one of the most significant elements in keeping Utah citizens silent was the Espionage Act. This act prevented anyone from publishing material conveying “anti-patriotic” sentiments. More than an act of censorship, the Espionage Act reflected a deep-rooted fear that citizens of Japanese descent felt a stronger alliance to Japan than to America that would cause them to betray their country. On May 28, 1942, the Millard County Chronicle wrote,

“What shall we do with Japanese aliens to prevent possible espionage and sabotage?… Many of the Japanese, especially those of American birth, were loyal to the United States. But their fathers and mothers were aliens. It was to be expected that a considerable number of these would be tied to Japan by bonds of race and nationality.”

The Espionage Act only encouraged feelings of distrust toward the Japanese and furthered the media’s contempt for them. To write in opposition of Topaz would be to risk interrogation or even detainment. Simply put, it was unsafe to openly protest Topaz. Had it not been for the Espionage Act, perhaps Utah media would have exposed the truth about Topaz and the public would have had the ability to resist.

As Americans when we think of World War II, we think of bravery and sacrifice. We think of the grainy, black and white footage of victorious soldiers raising the flag at Iwo Jima. We think of Rosie in her red bandana, proudly pulling her denim sleeve across her flexed arm and proclaiming, “We Can Do It!” We think of the famous photograph of a young soldier home from war, in the streets of New York kissing a stranger out of pure elation. We do not think of an American Japanese family leaving their home in San Francisco to be locked away in an internment camp in Utah. We do not think of a young American Japanese student, forced to halt his education to be unjustifiably imprisoned. We do not think of thousands of people uprooted from their homes, careers, and aspirations to satiate the racism of a fearful country. We do not think of it, but we should. Through alienation, false justification, and writing within the boundaries of the Espionage Act, Utah media placated citizens and manipulated them to believe that Topaz and facilities like it were just and necessary.

Today still, our country faces prejudice every day that is perpetuated by our media. With the understanding of the injustice of Topaz, we are better able to critically analyze the sources we rely upon and protect those who our media would wrongfully have us fear.

Elizabeth Fields is studying strategic communication at The University of Utah.

Sources

“They Fought Like Demons,” Salt Lake Telegram, January 5, 1942, 8.

“The Japs Take a Beating,” Salt Lake Telegram, January 6, 1942, 6.

“The Story of 112,000 Japanese in America,” Millard County Chronicle, May 28, 1942, 8.

“WRA Officials Arrive to Take over Jap Camp,” Millard County Chronicle, August 27, 1942, 1.

“Utah County Wants Topaz Jap Laborers,” Millard County Chronicle, September 27, 1942, 8.

“To Hold Xmas Festivities at Topaz,” Millard County Chronicle, December 17, 1942, 1.

“You Wouldn’t Trade Places,” Salt Lake Telegram, December 30, 1942, 6.

“Japanese-American Relocation.” History.com, http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation.

“Topaz.” Densho Encyclopedia, http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Topaz.

“Topaz Camp.” Topaz Museum, http://www.topazmuseum.org/topaz-camp.

Apr 26

The 1965-66 Runnin’ Utes

by STEPHEN LINDSEY

If Disney’s 2006 major motion picture Glory Road had had the time to tell the whole story, there would’ve been a team in red getting a pretty fair amount of screen time. The NCAA’s 1966 storybook championship game between little-known, mostly Black Texas Western and widely celebrated and all-white Kentucky was preceded by an equally enthralling Final Four, featuring head coach Jack Gardner and his University of Utah varsity squad.

Before the NBA’s 1980’s Bird versus Magic, Celtics versus Lakers golden age, college basketball was king, and in 1965-66, the University of Utah found itself very near the throne. Behind the strong showing of a 23-8 season and a Western Athletic Conference title, the Utes managed to make it all the way to the NCAA semifinal game, losing to Texas Western in a thriller, bookending a season that, though it ended in disappointment, was indeed, as the Daily Herald said in March 1966, “a campaign that won’t soon be forgotten.”

Jack Gardner and Jerry Chambers

To truly understand the magic of that season, one must understand the preceding few years in Utah basketball, and more importantly, that of the coach, James “Jack” Gardner. Recruited to become the Utes’ new coach in 1953, in 18 seasons at the university Gardner would compile a 339-154 overall record good for second all-time in Utes’ coaching history. After varying degrees of success for seven seasons, Gardner helped the Utes climb to the apex of college basketball’s proverbial mountain, getting them to the famed “Final Four” in 1961, behind the strength of All-American and future No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Billy “the Hill” McGill. Though that tournament too would end in another fourth-place finish for the pride of Salt Lake City, the Utes had discovered a key element of success, one that would help them years down the road: recruiting and signing to scholarship Black players, a habit not widely practiced in those days. (Sports-Reference)

Basketball was a burgeoning sport in the 1960s. Riding the waves of the somewhat recently created National Basketball Association (NBA) and the success of college programs like Kentucky and UCLA, the game was especially noteworthy for the number of Black athletes found in its ranks, as compared to other sports. McGill’s recruitment and subsequent acceptance of scholarship to the university, though not the first such incident of a Black man coming to play on “the Hill,” signaled the dawning of a new era for the Utes. Gardner, along with several other coaching counterparts, including Don Haskins, against whom he would coach in the 1966 semifinal, didn’t necessarily pioneer the signing of Black players, but they were some of its larger and more well-known champions. For the University of Utah’s part, Gardner was absolutely instrumental. “Bud” Jack, an employee in the athletic department during Gardner’s tenure and a future athletic director at the school, reminisced on his early days at the University of Utah in an interview with Everett Cooley. He reported that there was some level of worry concerning what was deemed “the black issue.” “We were very concerned,” he said then. “[But] I think Jack Gardner had all this planned very well. And we had very little problem. That’s where you have to give Jack Gardner credit.”

Gardner’s reputation as a man willing to be fair and sign anyone with talent was evident to everyone. In an interview granted to the Los Angeles Times in 1995, retired Black coach and Washington, D.C., resident Bill Butler said he was impressed by the Utes coach, whom he met in 1968 at a practice for an all-Black all-star game he had organized and invited Gardner to attend. After watching the practice, Gardner was noticeably impressed with the quality of play on the court, and went to work offering scholarships to a few of those present. “Those kids had D averages,” Butler was quoted as saying in the Times article. “They couldn’t have gone to Utah right away, so Jack Gardner arranged for them to attend junior colleges before they went on to play at Utah.” With a whole demographic of players available to him that many other coaches had never considered, Gardner and the Utes went to work on winning.

The seasons immediately following 1961 proved more difficult than to be expected, and the Utes were a middling team. The arrival of Jerry Chambers to the University of Utah in 1964, however, proved a steppingstone to the grand achievements that awaited in 1966. Chambers, a 6-foot-4 athletic guard, terrorized defenses during his time at the “U.” No season of his would prove more special than 1965-66.

“Smooth-shooting and lanky,” as he was described by the June 16, 1966, edition of the Daily Herald, the college transfer from Trinidad, Colorado, was voted Western Athletic Conference (WAC) player of the year after averaging around 28.8 points a game. According to the February 4, 1966, edition of the Daily Herald, “the guy, percentage wise, is the finest shooter in Ute history.”

The Start of Something Special

Utah’s schedule that season was fantastic, even by today’s standards: the Utes would play most games in their home gym, the Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse, seemingly avoiding road trips to better their record. The few road trips they did make, however, would find them playing in some of the more prestigious gyms in the world, against some of the more prestigious teams. Not including the NCAA tournament, the Utes would play away games against Arizona, Arizona State in conference, as well as against Cincinnati, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Miami (Florida) on their lone East Coast road trip. Though the Utes would only manage one victory in that four-game stretch, against NC State, their play dazzled local newspapers. Of their sole victory, the New Years’ day 1966 edition of the Ogden Standard Examiner would report, “The fast-breaking Utes, amazingly quick for their size and their height, dominated State as few teams ever do.” Chambers would manage 30 points, key to postseason recognition and accolades, as national press got to see the Utes star.

The cover of the 1965-66 Runnin’ Utes men’s basketball team guide. Pictured are George Fisher (top) and guard Jerry Chambers. Courtesy of Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

As the regular season wound down and the Utes were crowned WAC champions over the likes of nemesis Brigham Young University, the “Redskins,” as they were frequently called in those days, had astounded even the local pundits. A March 21, 1966, edition of the Provo Daily Herald reported, “In gaining the title, the surprising Utes [had] lifted themselves from last place to first place in a year.” Their status as WAC champions would afford them an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, where they would face off with the “underrated” Pacific University Tigers.

The Utes, though, had been dealt a blow in the conference clincher. Starting forward George Fisher, one of the team’s best players, was lost to a broken femur against New Mexico. There was doubt surrounding the Utes, who, despite having already been guaranteed the conference title, had lost to BYU in their regular season finale. The lone bright spot, according to the March 9, 1966, Daily Herald, was Chambers, who had torched the Cougars for 48 points. Luckily for the Utes, his hot play would continue, and he rang up 40 points against the Pacific University Tigers, spurring his team to a nine-point, 83-74 victory in round 1 of the tournament. Chambers’ good play continued, and after a 70-64 win over Oregon State University, the Utes were headed to the Final Four. Battling injuries (Lyndon Mackay, another Ute starter, hurt his knee in the OSU game), a lack of national respect, and constant fatigue due to lack of reserves, the Utes had made it to the big time. “This is a hungry basketball team and they’ve suddenly developed a lot of pride in themselves,” Gardner told local papers. “They think they can get the job done.” (Smilanich)

The Final Four

“The rag-tag Redskins,” observed the March 15, 1966, edition of the Standard Examiner, would “find themselves in the familiar role of underdog against tough and talented Texas Western, and that’s just the way the Utes like it.”

The Utes and Miners, though separated by what many considered a talent gap, shared a unique history, one begun by their coaches. In the fall of 1965, and less than six months away from a fateful matchup in the NCAA semifinals, Gardner and Texas Western head coach Don Haskins shared a weekend of basketball discussion and philosophy when the Miners football team traveled to Salt Lake to face the Utes. Haskins made the trip, and during his three-day stay with Gardner, picked his brain. “Jack was very nice to me. He couldn’t have been nicer,” Haskins told Deseret News sports editor Lee Benson in 1993. “I’d always been so impressed with him growing up. Back then, we weren’t in the same league. Utah was in the WAC and we were independent. Anyway, I came up to meet him and learn something about the fast break. He took me to dinner the night before the football game and we talked for hours. The next morning I went to (basketball) practice. Jack took me in his office, he showed me all kinds of break films, he showed me his drills.” As Benson so cheekily wrote in his 1993 article about the story: “Basketball historians know where this is going.”

Fate had now guided the two teams back together, and armed with a heavy scouting report on the Utes and their tactics, Texas Western managed to squeak out a victory over the underdog Utes. Chambers opened the game with a 24-point first half, and the Utes were in it as they headed to the locker. The second half would prove more difficult, though. Chambers cooled down, the officiating tightened, and the Utes just couldn’t stay with the bigger, stronger Miners. The team lost 85-78. A total of 47 fouls were called, none of them more critical, according to Gardner, than the technical foul called on him by official Lenny Wirtz late in the first half, something he would lament in his post-game press conference. “The little guy, Lenny Wirtz, has rabbit ears and big ones,” Gardner told the Daily Press after the game. “The technical foul he called … I didn’t get off the bench … I didn’t swear. I don’t swear. He has big ears to call a tech on me for saying you missed that one.” Said Haskins, “I can’t believe they would call the game that tight.”

Nonetheless, the Utes had lost. The team would get a chance at consolation glory facing off with Duke in the third-place game, but still couldn’t manage a victory. Chambers was yet again fantastic, scoring 32 points, but it wasn’t enough, as the Utes lost 79-77. Still, the senior collegian had established what was then the all-time tournament scoring mark, posting 143 points in four games, good enough for a 35.8 average and the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. (“Utes Return”) In addition, the Daily Herald reported on March 29, 1966, that Chambers had been recognized by Texas Western as the best player they had faced all season, even after the Miners’ win over Kentucky.

Filled with accolades and boasting a tremendous individual repertoire, Chambers would go on to the NBA. The Utes, meanwhile, had performed admirably. Said the March 21, 1966, Daily Herald, “The Utes returned home with the satisfaction of a job well done since no one expected the running Redskins to get as far as they did.” Unfortunately, they would never again, at least during Gardner’s tenure, make it to the top of the mountain.

The Squad’s Legacy

Gardner would remain at the University for five more seasons before retiring, none of them as successful as that of 1965-66. Though his 1967-68 squad would attain an AP ranking of 5 during the season, even it couldn’t match the success of the previous team. (Sports-Reference) Chambers’s 1965-66 campaign was dubbed by local press as the best shooting exhibit in Utes history to that point. The March 10, 1966, Daily Herald reported that Chambers had broken at least five standing WAC records, including leading the league in scoring, rebounding, and field goal percentage. Though not officially listed by the Associated Press, he was also considered by many outlets an All-American, and invited to several All-Star games before being drafted No. 7 overall by the Lakers in the 1966 NBA Draft. The Utes had surprised many, but not themselves.

For Haskins’s part, he would name Gardner one of the best he’d ever coached against. “I still put Jack Gardner in the top five coaches all-time,” he would tell Benson in 1993 (Gardner was scheduled to be inducted into the WAC’s Hall of Fame days later). “He deserves everything they’re giving him.” Gardner remains the only coach to ever lead a WAC school to a final four. (Benson) He died in 2000 at the age of 90.

Strangely enough, the 1966 Utes were largely forgotten, until just recently. Fifty-one years after their historic run, they were honored at the halftime of Utah’s March 4, 2017, game against Stanford (the Utes won 67-59). Honorees included assistant coaches, among them Jerry Pimm and Morris Buckwalter, and players such as Chambers, Mackay, Fisher, and others. (Facer)

Nearly half a century later, the 1965-66 Runnin’ Utes legacy still stands, enduring through the ages. A few of the members of that famed squad have died, yet those who remain continue to impress all, especially those employed in continuing the fine tradition of Utah basketball. “Pretty neat,” Utah Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak said of the honored squad in his post-game remarks. “We got a good dose of all those parts of some Utah basketball tradition.” (Facer)

Stephen Lindsey is a junior at The University of Utah. He is majoring in journalism.

Sources

Steve Smilanich, “Jerry Chambers Named WAC Athlete of the Year,” The Provo Daily Herald, June 16, 1966, 11.

“Chambers Gains Another Honor,” The Provo Daily Herald, March 29, 1966, 9.

“Utes Return from NCAA Test,” The Provo Daily Herald, March 21, 1966, 6.

Tommy Seward, “Texas Western Conquers Utah, 85-78, Despite 38 by Chambers,” Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia), March 19, 1966, 15.

Steve Smilanich, “Utes, Miners vie in semis,” The Ogden Standard-Examiner, March 15, 1966, 9.

“Utes Advance in Western Cage Tourney,” The Ogden Standard-Examiner, March 12, 1966, 4.

“Chambers Breaks 5 WAC Records,” The Provo Daily Herald, March 10, 1966, 8.

“Redskins’ Hope Lies with Gangly Center,” The Ogden Standard-Examiner, March 9, 1966, 13.

“Utes, Cougars Poise for Big Cage Tilt,” The Provo Daily Herald, February 4, 1966, 6.

“Running Utes Upset North Carolina State,” The Ogden Standard-Examiner, January 1, 1966, 4.

Sports-Reference. “1965-66 Utah Roster and Stats,” http://bit.ly/2oA1TYn.

Benson, Lee. “Haskins Learned Well from Gardner.” Deseret News, March 14, 1993, http://bit.ly/2ooVih9.

Fulwood III, Sam. “Blacks Find Support in Sports but Not as Scholars.” Los Angeles Times, July 25, 1995, http://lat.ms/2opabQD.

Jack, James R. (Bud). Interview by Everett L. Cooley, August 13, 1984. Everett L. Cooley Oral History Project. J. Willard Marriott Library Manuscripts Division. The University of Utah. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=822251

Facer, Dirk. “Utah notes: 1966 Final Four team honored at halftime,” Deseret News, March 4, 2017, http://bit.ly/2o79cCQ.

May 1

Iraqi Refugees Flee to Utah: The Human Consequences of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq

by BONNIE ADAMSSON-VORWALLER

Introduction:

On March 19, 2003, U.S. troops invaded Iraq. The initial siege lasted only 41 days, but it marked the beginning of a protracted and acrimonious struggle that would come to be referred to by military analysts as a “quagmire,” (Warnick) and by some journalists around the world as “Viet Nam-like.” (Dalleck) The comparisons were unavoidable. Urged on by U.S. President George W. Bush, who insisted “God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq,” U.S. troops invaded a country that had not made a single military strike against the U.S. (MacAskill) The Iraqi people also had not requested any humanitarian intervention. As armed U.S. troops rushed into Iraq to “bring them Freedom” (Artyukov) in what Bush called a “preventive war,” (Klein) an internal crisis and then collapse resulted, forcing nearly 2 million Iraqis from their homes and, ultimately, from their country. This event in the Middle East was about to have significant consequences for the people of the State of Utah.

Findings:

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees flooded into neighboring Jordan in 2004. (Amos) Forty percent of Iraq’s middle class fled their homes and their businesses at the rate of nearly 3,000 Iraqi refugees per day seeking safety in Jordan and Syria through December 2006. (Lockhead) In Syria alone, some 50,000 Iraqi girls and women, many of them widows, were forced into prostitution just to survive. (Hassan)

Most Utahns remained unaware of the massive upheaval occurring on the other side of the world. The Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City, Utah, first began to track the building pressure in the January 3, 2007, issue. In the editorial “Allow more Iraqis into U.S.,” the newspaper reported that, according to the New York Times, 8,100 Iraqi refugees had asked for asylum in western nations in 2006. According to the editorial, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts was preparing to take over the subcommittee for immigration, border security and refugees. The Deseret Morning News editor suggested that Kennedy focus first not on Mexico, but on the Middle East and particularly Iraq. The editorial pointed out that immigrants historically have brought diversity as well as economic benefits to the U.S.

The Deseret Morning News continued its coverage of the Iraqi refugee problem in the February 15, 2007, edition. Middle Eastern countries bordering Iraq, especially Syria and Jordan, were being overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi war refugees flooding across their borders.

U.S. government and State Department officials announced on February 14 that up to 7,000 Iraqi war refugees would be allowed into the U.S. effective immediately. The U.S. decision was in response to the proposal of the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007. In an effort to stabilize the region, the United States Senate would later pass the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007 into law on June 19, 2007. The brief Deseret Morning News story, headlined “Iraqis in the U.S. cheer war-refugee clearance,” was picked up from the AP newswire and featured interviews with Iraqis in Nashville and Chicago. One paragraph, consisting of a single sentence, offered an almost prophetic glimpse: “In several cities with Iraqi communities, officials promised to welcome the newcomers.”

On April 17-18, 2007, an international conference on Iraqi displacement took place in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference approved a Strategic Framework for Humanitarian Action in Iraq. The Salt Lake Tribune had still not picked up the story when the Deseret Morning News ran its first feature-length article on the Iraqi refugee issue on May 15, 2007. The article, bylined by Elaine Jarvik, was headlined “Dozens of refugees Utah-bound in fall.” Jarvik wrote, “Several dozen of the estimated 2 million Iraqis who have fled to neighboring countries since the U.S. invasion will probably begin arriving in Utah some time next fall, according to local refugee resettlement workers.” Jarvik interviewed local refugee coordinators including Aden Batar, director of immigration and resettlement at Catholic Community Services, and Patrick Poulin, resettlement director of the International Rescue Committee. She also quoted Cassandra Champion of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services headquartered in Maryland, underscoring the local, national and international aspects of the developing story.

The Salt Lake Tribune ran its first article about the Iraqi refugee issue May 16, 2007. In her article, “Iraq war refugees heading to Utah,” reporter Jennifer W. Sanchez wrote, “The UNHCR [United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees] also estimated that 40,000 to 50,000 Iraqis are fleeing their homes each month.” Of those, only a few dozen were expected to make their way to Utah. Sanchez interviewed Poulin and Batar. Poulin described the refugee relocation process as “very slow” and said the Iraqi refugee problem was “getting worse and worse.” He said many Middle Eastern countries that were dealing with the refugees couldn’t afford or handle the population influx. And Batar told Sanchez that his agency was going to work on informing the whole Salt Lake City community about respecting the new refugees. “We need to educate the community because we don’t need any backlash,” Batar said. “They need to start a new life here because of the Iraq war. It’s not safe for them to go back home.”

At that point, the “tipping point,” the debate began. A series of feature articles, opinion editorials and letters to the editor followed in both the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News. Many Utahns were in favor of this new group of “immigrants.” Some were cautious. A few were vehemently opposed.

As the specter of Iraqi refugees fleeing to Utah loomed, support for the war in Iraq began to wane. On November 2, 2007, the Salt Lake Tribune ran a news feature headlined: “Even in Republican Utah, support for Iraq War and Bush fading.” On November 9, the Tribune ran an article announcing: “Utah to open office to aid refugees.” Tribune writer Sheena McFarland reported, “A new Refugee Service Office will open in the Department of Workforce Services by the time the Legislature begins.” The Refugee Working Group, convened by Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, announced that the new Refugee Service Office would open by January 2008. Huntsman said refugees would continue to come to the United States and to Utah “because we are a land of opportunity and hope, and that will always attract those fleeing oppression.”

Newly appointed Utah Refugee Service Office Director Gerald Brown wrote in Refugees 101, “The Utah Refugee Service Office was created as a result of the community’s demand for better support and services for refugees resettled in Utah.” Brown pointed out that refugees are survivors who deserve our help and support. “Giving refugees assistance in the beginning of their new lives in the U.S. ensures productive, contributing citizens for the future,” Brown wrote. “The best thing that a person can do for refugees is to befriend them.” Huntsman described the office as “a clearinghouse of information for the 20,000 refugees currently living in Utah and specifically for newly arrived refugees.”

Conclusions:

United States foreign policy resulted in nearly 2 million Iraqis being forced to flee from their homes. While at first the conflict in the Middle East did not directly affect most of the residents of Utah, over time more and more Iraqi refugees sought asylum in the United States and, in some cases, in Utah. The forward-thinking of former Huntsman and Corroon resulted in the establishment of a new Utah State government agency, the Utah Refugee Service Office, which aimed to help Iraqi war and other refugees arriving in Utah to adjust and thrive. As turmoil around the world increases, Utahns can expect that more and more refugees will find their way to Utah and seek assistance from the Utah Refugee Service Office.

Bonnie Adamsson-Vorwaller is a nontraditional student at The University of Utah. She is majoring in mass communication with an emphasis in documentary studies. Ms. Adamsson-Vorwaller has worked professionally with refugees since 1989. She worked with Christian refugees from Russia and Buddhist refugees from Cambodia and Viet Nam while living in Portland, Oregon. She worked with refugee survivors of domestic violence while living in Chicago, Illinois. And she worked with Muslim refugees from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Iraq while living in Austin, Texas. As a young woman, she studied International Relations at BYU for five years. Adamsson-Vorwaller has been a resident of Utah off and on since 1966. She is a widow and a single mother of an “absolutely beautiful” teenage daughter. Adamsson-Vorwaller and her daughter actively and publicly protested the Iraq War while living in Austin.

Sources

Sheena McFarland, “Utah to open office to aid refugees,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 9, 2007.

Matthew D. LaPlante, “Even in Republican Utah, support for Iraq War and Bush fading,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 2, 2007.

“530 Iraqis admitted, but pledge may fall short,” Deseret Morning News, September 5, 2007.

Richard Warnick,“Strategic Reset,” OneUtah.org, June 25, 2007.

Nihal Hassan, “‘50,000 Iraqi refugees’ forced into prostitution: Women and girls, many alarmingly young, who fled the chaos at home are being further betrayed after reaching ‘safety’ in Syria,” The Independent, June 24, 2007.

Laura Hancock, “UVSC prof has mission in Mideast,” Deseret Morning News, June 2, 2007.

Robert Dallek, “Robert Dallek: Iraq and Vietnam: Inevitable comparisons,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 21, 2007.

“Welcoming Iraqis: Refugees deserve our compassion, help,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 17, 2007.

Jennifer W. Sanchez, “Iraq war refugees heading to Utah,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 16, 2007.

Elaine Jarvik, “Dozens of refugees Utah-bound in fall,” Deseret Morning News, May 15, 2007.

“Iraqis in the U.S. cheer war-refugee clearance,” Deseret Morning News, February 15, 2007.

Carolyn Lochhead, “Conflict in Iraq: Iraq refugee crisis exploding, 40% of middle class believed to have fled crumbling nation,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 16, 2007.

“Allow more Iraqis into U.S.,” Deseret Morning News, January 3, 2007.

Rick Klein, “Kennedy book blasts Bush, ‘preventive war,’” Boston Globe, April 5, 2006.

Ewen MacAskill, “George Bush: ‘God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq,’” The Guardian, October 7, 2005.

Deborah Amos, “Flood of Iraqi Refugees Strains Jordan,” National Public Radio broadcast, July 16, 2004.

Oleg Artyukov, “George W. Bush: We Bring Freedom to the Iraqi People,” Pravda, January 4, 2003.

Gerald Brown, “Refugees 101,” Utah Refugee Services Offices, Utah Department of Workforce Services, April 10, 2012.

Rhoda Margesson, Andorra Bruno, Jeremy M. Sharp, “Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis?” Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, Report No. 7-5700, February 13, 2009.

“Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007: House Bill S.1651-IS,” June 17, 2007.

“Refugee Resettlement in Utah: 2000-2009,” Utah Refugee Services Offices, January 2010.

“Status of U.S. Refugee Resettlement Processing for Iraqi Nationals,” Middle East Regional Office, United States Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Office of Inspector General, Unclassified Report, Report Number MERO-IQO-08-02, July 2008.

“2008 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons,” United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), Field Information and Coordination Support Section (FICSS), Division of Operational Services, Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2009.

Utah Communication History Encyclopedia

Utah Communication History is an ongoing encyclopedia project designed to showcase student-written articles about Utah's rich history of journalism and communication.

Category Archives: Race, Ethnicity

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The 1965-66 Runnin’ Utes

Jack Gardner and Jerry Chambers

The Start of Something Special

The Final Four

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Iraqi Refugees Flee to Utah: The Human Consequences of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq

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Jack Gardner and Jerry Chambers

The Start of Something Special

The Final Four

The Squad’s Legacy

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