The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1964, Blaðsíða 42

40
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Winter 196 i
sity of Utah where Paul received his
Ph.D. in 1955. The Carter home has al-
ways been open to anyone seeking help
with various personal problems. Dur-
ing the time Mrs. Carter was president
of the Second Ward Relief Society the
depression was at its height. There
were many times when as many as one
hundred families came to their home
seeking material aid—none were ever
turned away. She claims this was per-
haps the most soul-satisfying -period ol
her life.
Kate B. Carter was a charter mem-
ber of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers’
organization in Spanish Fork. She be-
came affiliated with Camp No. 2 in
Salt Lake City and soon became an of-
ficer in the organization. Realizing
that people cannot be fully informed
unless they have a thorough know-
ledge of the achievements, successes
and failures of their forebears, she
began researching into ithe records of
the pioneers of Utah. In 1930 she was
asked to prepare the first outline of
lessons for the Daughters of Utah
Pioneers. At that time the organiz-
ation could not afford typewritten
copies. She, her friends and children
typed them; later they were mimeo-
graphed and sold to various groups.
Then came the 8-16-32 page pamphlets.
Year by year she searched the pioneer
records, read diaries, traveled thou-
sands of miles to visit the living
pioneers or to hear the stories of those
who knew them. Each year, for thirty-
one years, she has written, edited and
compiled nine historical pamphlets
which are used as lesson work for over
thirty thousand women organized into
camps throughout the United States
and Hawaii. These pamphlets are
sought by colleges, high schools, grade
schools, churches, libraries, and indi-
viduals. They deal with definite
pioneer subjects and local, church and
state historians acclaim them as an
answer to hard questions concerning
Utah history. Mrs. Carter has on file
thousands of letters lauding her work
as outstanding among local historians.
Twelve Volumes of Heart Throbs
of the West, six volumes of Treasures
of Pioneer History and seven volumes
of Pioneer Heritage have been publish-
ed thus far. During the years it has
been her aim to publish the story of
two thousand pioneers in each volume,
which would give vital information
concerning his or her contribution to-
ward the building of this western com-
monwealth. Many other pamphlets
and booklets such as The Pony Ex-
press, Wives and Daughters of Brig-
ham Young, The Mormon Battalion,
Chase Mill, Mormondom’s First Wo-
man Missionary, Utah in Picture and
Story, The Mormons—Their Westward
Trek, numerous diaries and journals;
in fact, over 400 historical pamphlets
have been published. Some of her pam-
phlets and books have had three or
four editions printed, altogether thou-
sands and thousands of books have
been sold and the proceeds have gone
into the erection of the Pioneer Mem-
orial Museum, and, since 1950, have
provided the main source of income
or revenue towards its maintenance.
In 1946 Mrs. Carter asked the
Daughters of Utah Pioneers in the
various counties to compile and pub-
lish their own locality histories. She
gave freely of her time and efforts in
aiding this important project. To date
twenty-three locality histories in book
form have been published. For this
work Mrs. Carter received no monetary
remuneration but she has received
ample compensation in personal satis-
faction.
During this time of compiling and
editing materials there has seldom
been a week pass that Mrs. Carter has