By the Moab Museum, originally published in the Moab Sun News

Uranium Days 1956: The celebration

For several years beginning in 1956, Moab hosted an annual festival dubbed “Uranium Days,” which celebrated the town’s booming wealth and growth on account of uranium mining. This short-lived celebration was established to compete with events like the Green River Melon Fest and various other festivals occurring around the state. The first event was held on August 17 and 18 in Moab.

The Times-Independent reported on August 23, 1956, “Uranium days hit Moab in full force on Friday morning and were there very much in evidence until late Saturday night. It was two full days of parades, programs, dances, and merchandising events for Moab’s residents and visitors from out of town, and judging from the large crowds, and feeling of excitement from people on the street, the first of what is hoped to be an annual event was a huge success.” Uranium Days, however, would sadly be held for only four years, with the last court serving in 1960.

The inaugural Uranium Court
One of the highlights of the event was the naming of the Uranium Queen and her court. Eight contestants, each sponsored by an independent mining company, vied for the “honor of reigning over the two-day celebration,” according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on August 16, 1956.

“Friday evening the festivities got underway with the crowning of the Queen,” the Times-Independent reported on August 23. The contestants would compete later in the State Dairy Princess contest at the State Fairgrounds later in September of that year.

Marjorie “Mardy” Dawn Thomson (b. 1936), Miss Standard Uranium, was named the inaugural Uranium Queen in 1956. She later married William H. Lewis in Moab. Nancy Elizabeth Nault (b. 1939), Miss Federal Uranium, was named Mardy’s attendant (left in the image) and later married Moab’s Garry Joe Day. Hallene “Hally” Thorne (b. 1939), Miss Utex Exploration, was named Mardy’s second attendant (right in the image) and later married Olin T. Glover in Moab. All three attended Grand County High School; the two attendants graduated in 1958 and the queen graduated a year earlier.

The 2023 mural
In October 2023, Dr. Chip Thomas, a photographer, public artist, activist, and physician who has been working on the Navajo Nation since 1987, installed a mural supported by the Moab Arts and Recreation Center on the Moab Museum building on Center St. The photo, a selection from the Moab Museum Collection, displays the 1956 Uranium Queen and her attendants riding a vehicle riding down Center Street in the Uranium Days Parade.

Pictured in the image are the 1st place float by Hecla Mining Co., the New Cooper Martin Building (where the Spoke currently resides), First Security Bank (at the current Wells Fargo site), the Fletcher-Robertson Building (now home to The T-Shirt Shop), and the Times-Independent building, where Desert Threads currently resides.

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Explore Moab’s uranium history through the new U92 exhibit!

U92 Moab’s Uranium Legacy opens FREE to the public on Saturday, February 15th, with programming from our partners from 11 am to 3 pm. Visitors are invited to explore a transformed Museum space and immersive exhibition following the boom and bust of our town which found itself at the center of the Cold War. Activities and community history opportunities with the Department of Energy, Utah Historical Society, the MARC, and Moab Museum staff will be hosted on the lawn.

Moab Museum Uranium Memories Project:
Share your uranium story, and join us in kicking off a year-long effort to tell a more complete uranium story with the Uranium Memories Project! Visitors are invited to share their own memories, or memories of loved ones involved in uranium mining or milling, to help us tell the story of Moab and add new perspectives to the Moab Museum’s Oral History Collection. At this table, participants may share a short story or schedule time to conduct a full oral history interview. This program has received funding from Utah Humanities and Utah Historical Society.

Utah Historical Society Scan & Share: (registration)
Visit with the Utah Historical Society to preserve and share your historical materials related to your connection with Moab’s uranium history. Bring up to ten of your photos, documents, letters, art, and other items to be scanned, digitized, and added to the Peoples of Utah Revisited online collection. These items can be historical or contemporary: from long ago to yesterday! *All of your items will be returned to you after they are scanned on the day of the event.

Department of Energy:
Environmental Management: Representatives from the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management and Moab’s Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project will be present. Visitors will also make and decorate seed balls using native seeds from the region.

Legacy Management:
Radiation is all around us, all the time, from natural and human-made sources. With the Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management, visitors will have the chance to learn what radiation is, the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and the different types of radiation by safely exploring everyday items and examples of radiation.

MARC:
Join the staff of the Moab Arts and Recreation Center in a paint-a-square mural project! Visitors are invited to paint a small watercolor square to contribute to a larger recreation of a historic photograph from the Museum’s collection.

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