WHAT:	Olympic Experience Exhibition – free and open to the public
WHEN:	February 1 – 29, 2012
WHERE:	J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Reading Room, level 4

 

 

January 23, 2012 – Let the games begin! Believe it or not, it’s been 10 years since Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympic Games. The Utah Ski Archives, part of the Special Collections Department at the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, will be hosting the Olympic Experience Exhibition February 1-29 in the George S. Eccles Reading Room on level 4 of the library. This exhibition, which is free and open to the public, will highlight the many Utah residents – volunteers, athletes, and staff – who participated in the Olympic Games and the events on the University of Utah campus.

During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the University of Utah was the epicenter of the Games. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Rice-Eccles Stadium on campus and the Olympic Village lodged athletes (and now serves as the University dorms). To document this central role, the Special Collections Department asked that anyone in the University community who had anything to do with the Olympics – those who volunteered, attended an event, or just took photos of the campus and the city – donate their photos to the Special Collections Department. More than 4,000 photographs have been archived, creating the Olympic Experience collection. “We’d love to see more donations from the public,” comments Roy Webb, Multimedia Archivist at the J. Willard Marriott Library. “It is through individuals that we are able to archive historic collections for future generations.”  The collection can be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/Oly-Exp-ML .

Olympic History Resources at the J. Willard Marriott Library

The Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, is the official repository for all records, photographs, films, video and other documentation for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympics held in Utah. This includes records from early attempts to secure the Games (including the bid scandal), through the formation of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) and the lead-in to the Olympics and the Games themselves. The collection contains thousands of documents, tens of thousands of photographs, and hours of video that document this historic event. In addition, Special Collections has a wide array of books that have been written about the Olympics in general and the Salt Lake Winter Olympics in particular, many magazines and other publication clippings related to the Olympics.

Additional Olympic Exhibitions Taking Place in February:

Alf Engen Ski Museum, Park City: Photo and multimedia display all month
Kimball Arts Center, Park City: photograph display all month
Gateway Center Grand Hall, Salt Lake City, February 18: One-day display