Tuesday, December 22, 2009

U.S.S. Utah Silver

Okay - I wasn't going to do another blog post before Christmas, but I think this is pretty neat.


The Battleship U.S.S. Utah was christened on December 23, 1909 by Mary Alice Spry who was the daughter of Governor William Spry. It is tradition that the state donate the silver service for its namesake battleship. The cost of the silver was $10,000. Governor Spry asked for all the school children in the state to donate 10 cents each and they would have their names recorded in a book stored at the capitol. The book is still here with the who's who of Utah kids from 1909.


There was some controversery about the silver because one of the platters depicted Brigham Young who was a known polygamist. There were even congressional hearings.


It is also tradition that in time of war, the silver is sent back to the state for safekeeping. Had this not been the case, our silver service would be at the bottom of Pearl Harbor.


Monday night was the last holiday party, and the small group was served on our very own state silver.











Posted by Picasa
Posted by at

10 comments:

  1. dixon.mary22 December, 2009 16:16

    Wow -- that's lovely. How many settings are there?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ella22 December, 2009 17:01

    That is beautiful! Not to be an echo or anything, but I'm curious how many settings there are as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Suzie22 December, 2009 17:01

    I can't believe they actually use it!!!

    So a......how many setting are there?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gingyroo22 December, 2009 17:25

    What an awesome story! Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown22 December, 2009 19:51

    There were twenty settings laid out. I'm not sure how many place settings there are.

    A good portion of the silver is on display on the south side of the third floor of the capitol building.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jim23 December, 2009 16:43

    My question is, who got the famous controversial plate with Brigham Young on it?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unknown24 December, 2009 09:30

    The plate ended up being used on the ship.

    http://history.utah.gov/experience_history/glimpses/ussutahsilver.html

    Oh - and just as a matter of irony - the tray with Brigham Young is a coffee server ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tricia G28 December, 2009 20:39

    That is such a neat story! Im laughing at the Brigham Young coffee platter side note!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Julie04 January, 2010 06:23

    Good history lesson. It has made me wonder just how much of our history is accurate. Think of all the things you have learned from this job. Thanks for sharing Scott.

    ReplyDelete
  10. patti06 January, 2010 11:15

    Your life is cooler than mine....:)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)