Friends of USU's Merrill-Cazier Library Presents Lecture by Kenneth Godfrey

The group Friends of the Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State University invites the campus and Cache Valley communities to its fall lecture Sept. 28. Kenneth W. Godfrey will discuss the book A History of Cache County: Towns, Families, Commerce and Organizations, published by Everton Publishers (2006). The lecture is free and open to all.

Godfrey authored the city history section of the volume, the preface, “Cache Valley Before the Mormons,” and “The Mormons Come to Cache Valley” portions of the book. A History of Cache County also features business histories and more than 250 family histories.

 

The lecture is Thursday, Sept. 28, and begins at 7 p.m. in the Merrill-Cazier Library’s Auditorium, room 101.

 

Godfrey will take a cue from the lecture title, “An Identity All Its Own: 25 Pivotal Events that Changed Cache Valley’s History,” and highlight important elements of Cache Valley’s past.

 

“I’ll talk about patterns of settlement, the invention of the milking maching, Anthon H. Lund sitting on a hill in Denmark, pushing a railroad train up the Mendon summit and the libraries of our lives,” said Godfrey.

 

Important historical events, including the Bear River Massacre, will be included, as well as businesses of note, newspapers, famous fires, hospitals, the Free School Act of 1888, sports, drama and Road Shows.

 

Godfrey was an administrator and teacher in the LDS Church Educational system for 37 years. He is past president of the Mormon History Association, past president of the Cache Valley Historical Society and has published a number of works detailing local history. Additionally, he authored articles for the Cache Citizen and a column for the religion page in “The Herald Journal” for more than six years. He serves on the board of directors of the Leonard J. Arrington Foundation and the Friends of the Merrill-Cazier Library. He has delivered papers at more than 60 professional meetings and is the author or has contributed to 30 books and more than 200 articles related to Latter-day Saint history.

 

The Friends of the Merrill-Cazier Library is an organization that recognizes the central role of the university’s library in the education of students. The group provides financial and program support for the libraries, and organizes a lecture series on the Utah State campus. The Friends organization will hold its annual business meeting in conjunction with the Sept. 28 lecture.

 

Contact: Trina Shelton (435) 797-2631