Pioneer Memorial Museum rededicated

Pioneer Memorial Museum, which has stood proudly at the head of Main Street and across from the state Capitol for 60 years, is all about history and heritage. It's about helping us remember those who came before us and helped make this state the great state it is today, said Gov. Gary Herbert, who spoke at a dedicatory program and helped cut the ribbon Friday, as the museum was reopened after an extensive renovation.

"Coming here gives us a chance to get to know our forebears as human beings," he said.

The rededication was a gala occasion, which drew community leaders, friends, supporters and Daughters of Utah Pioneers members from many parts of the state. Remarks were given by Bette F. Barton, president of the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, the group that started collecting pioneer artifacts in 1903 and is responsible for their care and keeping in the museum. The dedicatory prayer was given by Elder Marlin K. Jensen, historian and recorder for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lt. Gov. Gregory Bell spoke; the invocation was offered by the Most Rev. Bishop John C. Wester, Roman Catholic bishop of Salt Lake City; there was music and other entertainment throughout the day.

Brigham Young and his wife Mary Ann Angell Young (aka Michael and Mary Ann Barnard) were even on hand. Brother Brigham summed up the importance of the museum and the feelings of many, as he noted "if we lose the past, we lose everything. What will young folks even know? Those who don't know the story of our struggle across the plains — and it was not an easy journey, you know — and of what they did in the valley, lose a part of their heritage. I'm very much for heritage."

But the museum and its legacy is not just for those who descended from pioneers, said Bishop Wester. "It's very, very important for us all. This is a wonderful place of history to honor all ancestors who have come here before us. It's so important to appreciate that legacy, so we can build on what they did," he said. "It is also a humble thing to come here and realize that we have been given a lot by our forebears. We must now do our best to do our part to carry it on."

The Daughters of Utah Pioneers was organized in 1901, and early on recognized the importance of collecting relics and artifacts associated, at that time, with their fathers and mothers and grandparents. After years of moving the ever-growing collection from place to place — including the old Vermont Building and the basement of the state Capitol — they began to dream of a place of their own. Fundraising started in 1911 and carried on through times of Depression and war.