Everett L. Cooley, the first Utah state archivist, died on Sunday, July 2, 2006, at the age of 88.
Mr. Cooley was hired as the archivist in 1954, and during the next six years he organized state records into the permanent archives collection. The work required gathering long-neglected documents from the attics and basements of public buildings, as well as cleaning and preserving them.
He left in 1960 to become an associate professor of history at Utah State University but returned to state service in 1961 as director of the Utah State Historical Society. While there, he edited the Utah Historical Quarterly, the third edition of the "Valley of the Great Salt Lake" and "On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1844-1861."
Along with his duties as director, Mr. Cooley hosted a weekly television program about Utah history and became the de facto caretaker — because of a lack of funding — of the Thomas Kearns Mansion, which then housed the society but is now the home for Utah's governor.
During his tenure as director of the historical society, local historical societies expanded their membership, while a new one in Sevier County was founded. He is also credited with protecting a number of historic buildings, most notably the Wasatch (Heber City) Stakehouse, and helping to establish the Utah Heritage Foundation.
In 1969, Mr. Cooley became the director of the Special Collections Department at the University of Utah. He held that position until his retirement in 1983, while also working as the general editor of 11 limited editions of historical texts about Utah, the Mormons and the West through the Tanner Trust Fund.
Funeral arrangements are pending.