The Governor's Mansion: Maw Years

Last week I was able to meet Joan Maw, a daughter-in-law of Herbert Maw, Governor of Utah from 1941-49. Governor Maw was the second governor to live in the Governor's Mansion and Joan let me look through a few family scrapbooks at her home in Salt Lake City. 

While we looked the photos she shared a few fun stories she had heard over the years from her husband and in-laws. 

While in the Mansion, oldest daughter La Rue complained to her father that none of her friends dared swing by the house to pick her up. Her parents tried to compensate for their fame by hosting parties for their children and keeping an open door policy for friends.

One day five year old Ralph decided to explore the home’s steep roof, “Just to see if I could do it,” he later recalled. But he soon found himself stuck three and a half stories in the air until the governor himself came on to the roof to rescue him.

Here are a few of the photos from the Maw family scrapbooks. They will be used a in a documentary I am producing for PBS station KUED7 on the Utah Governor's Mansion.

One unique event that happened at the Mansion during the Maw years was a wedding.

Each Governor family enjoyed hosting formal birthday parties for their children in the Mansion's dinning room. 

An example of the Maw's "open door policy." Images courtesy Joan Maw and the Utah State Historical Society. 

The Governor's Mansion: Lee Years

I recently had the opportunity to interview Jon Lee Taylor, a daughter of J. Bracken Lee who served as governor of Utah from 1949-1957. In our interview Jon shared her memories of living in the Governor's Mansion in Salt Lake City - a big change from the town of Price she grew up in.

“I loved living here. There wasn’t any home in our hometown of Price this big. So it was amazing. In fact it was bigger than some of the public buildings in the town!”

— Jon Lee Taylor

While living at the Mansion, Jon attended West High School. On several occasions she and her mother hosted "Teas." All the girls from West High School were invited to the Mansion for a tour and refreshments. 

Here are a few photographs Jon shared with me from her scrapbook that show her family's time in the Governor's Mansion.

“My mother absolutely adored it. I mean she grew up in a log cabin. So living in a mansion was wonderful and she loved the teas and the parties. She just thrived on it.”

— Jon Lee Taylor

Images courtesy Utah State Historical Society, Jon Lee Taylor, Salt Lake Tribune.

The Governor's Mansion: Utah State Historical Society Years

While doing research for a documentery on the Utah Governors Mansion, I learned that for nearly 25 years, the Mansion housed the Utah State Historical Society. In the late 1950's Governor J. Bracken Lee decided the Mansion was unfit to serve at the Governor's official residence. The building was 55 years old and hadn't seen many updates over the years. In 1973, the Mansion was used as a set for a horror film titled "The House of Seven Corpses."

The Utah State Historical Society has a number of great images showing the Mansion in use during those years. Archival documents were stored in the basement and bedrooms were used for offices and reading areas. 

The House of Seven Corpses promotional photo and artwork for a VHS release. 

Archival images courtesy Utah State Historical Society. 

The Governor's Mansion

The last few months I've been working on a documentary for PBS Station KUED7 on the history of the Utah Governor's Mansion. The Mansion was originally built by Thomas and Jennie Kearns in 1902 and was later donated to the State of Utah by Jennie Kearns in 1937. Three Governors and their families lived in the Mansion until the 1950's, when Governor J. Bracken Lee decided to build a new Governors Mansion in the Federal Heights neighborhood. The old Mansion was then used by the Utah Historical Society. From 1977 to 1980 extensive restoration work was done on the Mansion and it became the official Governors residence again. 

An interview with Gary Herbert, the current Governor of Utah

During production we've had the opportunity to interview a handful and Governors and individuals who lived and worked in the Mansion over the years. This month we will begin editing the program and it will air on KUED7 this fall. Here are a few images of the Mansion's history. 

Governor J. Bracken Lee celebrating his mother's birthday in the Mansion. 

Christmas at the Mansion.

Interior photos of the Mansion during the Kearns years. Archival images courtesy Utah State Historical Society. 

Be One

This weekend I helped Mormon Newsroom document an event the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah called "Be One." It shared the history of the African American heritage in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and celebrated the Church’s June 1978 revelation that extended "the blessings of the priesthood and the temple to all of God's children everywhere in the world." 

Guest performers Gladys Knight, Alex Boyé and the Saints Unified Voices performed musical arrangements that got the audience on their feet and singing along. Here are a few photos and a video we put together about the evening.

Images courtesy Mormon Newsroom.

The Rights of Nature at DOK.fest 2018

On May 7th and 10th, a film I have been working on for the last year and half will be having a team screening at DOK.fest in Munich, Germany. The documentary is titled The Rights of Nature: A Global Movement and tells the story of a growing environmental initiative in which natural areas are given legal status. For the film our team traveled to Ecuador, New Zealand and Santa Monica, California to learn how each of these locations have changed laws and mindsets to recognize the rights of nature. Here is a short clip from the film.

The Global Ministry Tour

The last couple of weeks I had the opportunity to document part of the Global Ministry Tour by Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a newly installed leader of the church, Nelson visited a number of nations across the globe, meeting with church members and speaking at devotionals attended by thousands. I was asked to record stories for Mormon Newsroom in Harare, Zimbabwe, Bangkok, Thailand and Laie, Hawaii. It was an exhausting trip, but also a special experience. Here are some of the stories we produced. 

In each location, attendees traveled from far distances and arrived several hours early to get in line for the devotional. Images courtesy Mormon Newsroom. 

Eyes Toward the Past

I just completed a second volume of short documentaries for the Weber State University Storytelling Festival. Last year we produced 20 videos that told the stories of historical people, places and events in northern Utah. The ideas for the stories came from a series of paintings done by Utah artists commissioned in 1976. 

One story I enjoyed puting together in this volume was of a prisoner of war camp that operated in Ogden during World War II. Many Italian POWs were sent there, but after Italy announced its surrender, the men were made part of the Ogden community before returning home.

The Prisoner of War Camp at the Ogden Depot. Images courtesy Weber State University Special Collections.

I also enjoyed learning about the Moench Building that was built on the original Weber Stake Academy campus in Ogden, Utah. It was named at the founder of the school, Louis F. Moench.

The Moench Building as it appeared in the early 1900s. The building was part of the Weber Stake Academy campus which, prior to becoming a state college in 1933, was a church school run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you look closely at this image of the Moench Building reading room you will notice a painting portraying an angelic figure visiting the young Joseph Smith. Images courtesy Weber State University Archives.

An exhibit featuring the short videos and the paintings they are based on will be on display during the Storytelling Festival on February 26 and 27 in the Hetzel-Hoellein Room of the Weber State University Stewart Library. 

Artist Farrell Collett paints "Mount Fort." The completed image is below. Image courtesy Weber State University Archives.

The Making of "Come Dream with Me"

My mom, Jeannine Goeckeritz, recently recorded a solo flute album titled "Come Dream with Me." The music is classical crossover with arrangements and an original song from several composers. During the production of the album my mom asked me to create a few social media videos and shoot the photography for the album artwork. Here is a behind the scenes video I recently finished, plus a few raw video clips showing the rehearsals and recording at HUGEsound in Salt Lake City.

You can listen to and purchase the album on my mom's website www.jeanninegoeckeritz.com or on iTunes. 

Jeannine Goeckeritz and Stephen Nelson rehearse an arrangement of "Within."

Studio recording of "For the Love of the Princess" arranged by Stephen Nelson.

The album features arrangements from five composers: Ryan Murphy, Chance Thomas, Stephen Nelson, J. Scott Rakozy and Sam Cardon. I enjoyed being able to record interviews with each and learn about their music.

Worldwide Devotional

On Sunday I helped Mormon Newsroom cover a story on a Worldwide Devotional held for Young Adults at the Conference Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Speaking at the event were Dieter F. and Harriet Uchtdorf. Elder Uchtdorf is an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both he and Sister Uchtdorf shared messages telling those in attendance that God has an active interest in their well being and challenged everyone trust in God and he "will make more of you than you can make our yourself." Here is a short video I worked on about the event.

“My purpose today is to offer my certain witness that your Father in Heaven knows you, He hears you, and He will never abandon you.””

— Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Images courtesy Mormon Newsroom.

Thomas S. Monson

This past week I have been assisting Mormon Newsroom with media content related to the death of Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Monson served as a General Authority in the church for several decades and was loved by many individuals around the world.

In the course of putting together several stories this week I enjoyed learning about the life of President Monson. One of the his quotes that I inspired me was "Never let a problem to be solved, become more important than a person to be loved." In the few instances where I was asked to film President Monson he preached that sermon by example. 

“Never let a problem to be solved, become more important than a person to be loved.”

— Thomas S. Monson

I remember several years ago when I covered the dedication of the Mormon temple in Phoenix, Arizona and President Monson took part in a cornerstone ceremony. It took several extra minutes for the ceremony to begin because President Monson left his post on the podium and started introducing himself to all the little children in the audience. "What's your name?" he'd ask them. "I am Tommy." It was inspiring to see someone who was always concerned about the well being of everyone around him.

Here are two stories we produced and a few photographs from the funeral services.

"Hoping all your dreams happen this holiday season"

Last week I was able to create a Holiday E-Card for Weber State University. This year the University wanted to do a story that showed their mascot "Waldo" baking sugar cookies. For the shoot, we used Weber State University themed cookies created by my sister, Keisha Goeckeritz. The cookies were shaped as Weber State University logos, wildcats and campus architecture. They were incredible.... and edible! I was able to take a few home to enjoy later.