In recognition of the complexity and change experienced by 20th century women in Utah and elsewhere, the mission of the Aileen H. Clyde 20th Century Women's Legacy Archive is to document and preserve the history of women whose lives and work helped create social and cultural change. 
 
The Clyde Archive is a significant repository designed to document the power of women in the 20th century US West and nation,” said Paul Reeve, chair of the Department of History. “Dr. Belnap’s lecture will highlight the archive even as it teaches us about the central role that women artists played in the development of Utah art history. 
 
One hundred years ago, women were at the forefront of the Utah art scene, founding institutions, leading organizations, authoring books and manuals, forming collections, and advocating for greater visual literacy. Together they developed one of the most robust art centers of the Intermountain West. Over time, memories of their contributions faded, and many important artifacts and records related to their cultural work appear to be lost, or at the very least, well hidden. In her lecture, Belnap will discuss her experiences conducting creative and resourceful research in the process of reconstructing this important history. 

 

About the Aileen H. Clyde 20th Century Women’s Legacy Archive

In 2014, the Aileen H. Clyde 20th Century Women’s Legacy Archive at the University of Utah was established to honor Aileen H. Clyde. The archive serves to document and preserve the history of women whose lives and work have had a social and cultural impact. The archive accomplishes this in many ways, including collecting and preserving life history interviews of women who represent social and cultural change, creating a collective account of women’s 20th century history that reflects the diversity of women and reveals the efforts of women of all religious, ethnic, and racial groups across all geographic areas and supports opportunities for scholarship and writing about the activities of women in the 20th century.  

 

About Heather Belnap

Belnap has presented and published widely in feminist art history, and particularly on women in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century French art and society. Recently, she turned her attention to the fields of Utah and Mormon studies. Belnap is the co-author, with Corry Cropper and Daryl Lee, of “Marianne Meets the Mormons: Representations of Mormonism in Nineteenth-century France,” winner of the John Witmer Historical Association’s 2023 Best Book Award. She has co-edited two books, “Interior Portraiture and Masculine Identity in France, 1789-1914” and “Women, Femininity, and Public Space in European Visual Culture, 1789-1914” and published numerous articles and essays in feminist art history and cultural studies.

 

---