In downtown Provo,
unrelated to BYU, is the private McCurdy Historical Doll Museum, established
in 1979. To the north of Provo in Lehi is the private Hutchings Museum
of Natural History, an eclectic collection established in 1955.
The Ogden Union
Station Museum opened in 1978; its holdings include railroad memorabilia
as well as the significant Browning firearms collection and the Browning-Kimball
Car Museum. The Eccles Community Art Center, housed in one of Ogden's
historic mansions, focuses on local and Utah art. At nearby Roy, the
new Hill Air Force Base Museum has an outstanding collection of aircraft
and artifacts. The Brigham City Museum-Gallery, north of Ogden, was
founded in 1970 and focuses its exhibits on art, handicrafts, and local
pioneer history.
Space limitations
prevent listing the many worthwhile Utah organizations that provide
historic, cultural, aesthetic, or natural history experiences. In the
Salt Lake Valley and environs the Wheeler Historic Farm, the Hansen
Planetarium, the Children's Museum of Utah, Tracy Aviary, Red Butte
Gardens and Arboretum, and Hogle Zoo should be mentioned. In Park City,
the Kimball Art Center and the Park City Museum are also worth visiting.
Utah's museums
have developed because of the desire of its citizens, educators, and
community leaders to preserve the state's heritage of diverse culture,
art, and unique natural history. This has been accomplished with minimal
public resources. The movement has been enhanced and facilitated by
a strong Utah Museums Association, founded in 1972.
See: James E.
Talmage, "The Deseret Museum," Improvement Era 11 (1911); Ralph V. Chamberlain,
Life Sciences at the University of Utah (1950); Lila Carpenter Eubanks,
"The Deseret Museum," Utah Historical Quarterly 50 (1982); Robert S.
Olpin, Dictionary of Utah Art (1980); Directory of Utah Museums and
Galleries (1986); Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Daughters of Utah Pioneers
Through the Years (1990).
Donald V. Hague