Two organizations
have been instrumental in museum developments; they are the Daughters
of Utah Pioneers (DUP) and the Sons of Utah Pioneers (SUP). The DUP
was formally chartered in 1901 and sought to find a permanent home for
its pioneer collections, starting a fund-raising effort toward this
goal in 1911. With their own resources and additional state support,
construction of the Pioneer Memorial Museum near the State Capitol Building was completed in 1950. The state-owned building is occupied on a 99-year
lease. According to art historian Dr. Robert Olpin, "they own and maintain
one of the most extensive pioneer art collections in the nation." The
DUP is organized by counties, and is further divided into "camps," many
of which maintain small one-room relic halls in towns throughout the
state.
The Sons of Utah
Pioneers was organized in 1933. Its "collection" began in 1934 and was
actually attributable to the Horace Sorensen family, who provided substantial
funding and space. The Sorensens assembled an important collection of
pioneer vehicles, railroad stock, equestrian equipment, structures,
guns, etc., which was located in the East Millcreek area of Salt Lake
City, where it was known as Pioneer Village. The collection itself was
deeded to the SUP in 1955, and was later sold to the owners of Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, where it has remained since 1976 as a
commercial attraction.