The Deseret Museum was a museum in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. It was originally opened as the "Salt Lake City Museum and Menagerie" by

John Willard Young John Willard Young (October 1, 1844 – February 12, 1924) was a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He is one of the few individuals to have been an LDS Church apostle and member of the First Presidency wit ...

, with

Guglielmo Giosue Rosetti Sangiovanni Guglielmo () is the Italian form of the masculine name William. It may refer to: People with the given name Guglielmo: * Guglielmo I Gonzaga (1538–1587), Duke of Mantua and Montferrat * Guglielmo Achille Cavellini (1914–1990), influential I ...

as curator, in 1869.Sangiovanni, G. G. R
"Overland Trips Across the American Desert".
''

Young Woman's Journal ''The Young Woman's Journal'' was an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association (YLMIA), then the LDS Church's organization for adolescent females. Hi ...

''. August 1912. Pp. 429–30. Ownership was transferred to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

in 1878 and Joseph L. Barfoot became curator until his death in 1882. In 1885, the Salt Lake Literary and Scientific Association acquired the property and renamed it the "Deseret Museum". In 1891

James E. Talmage James Edward Talmage (21 September 1862 – 27 July 1933) was an English chemist, geologist, and religious leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) fro ...

became curator and was assisted by J. Reuben Clark Jr. until 1903. When Talmage was called to the

Quorum of the Twelve In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies or ( quorums) of the church hie ...

in 1911 his son, Sterling B. Talmage, became curator. In 1919, the museum was taken over by the Temple Square Bureau of Information and ceased its existence as a separate institution. The collections not displayed at Temple Square were dispersed among institutions around the world, including the LDS University museum and the

Daughters of Utah Pioneers The International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers (ISDUP, DUP) is a women's organization dedicated to preserving the history of the original settlers of the geographic area covered by the State of Deseret and Utah Territory, including Mormon pio ...

museum.

Footnotes

Sources

* Jenson, Andrew. ''Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 186 *Eubanks, Lila Carpenter. "The Deseret Museum". ''Utah Historical Quarterly'' 50, no. 4 (Fall 1982): 361–76. * *Talmage, James E. "The Deseret Museum". '' Improvement Era''. September 1911. Pages 952+. {{Authority control Temple Square Defunct museums in Utah Museums in Salt Lake City 1869 establishments in Utah Territory