Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-7948-804X

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

Local history and lore reports that the Vernal Public Library owed its inception to a performance of Queen Esther Opera in 1907. However, the Vernal Express makes no mention of such a performance (nor can any such opera be identified), while it does record multiple other community fundraising events held to benefit the public library. One such, a unique event in public library history, occurred in 1908 when the public library association held a benefit performance of a stage version of Owen Wister’s popular Western novel, The Virginian. This documented event, however, seems to have been lost to history, as has the contemporaneous benefit production of another popular play, The Spinsters’ Convention. This paper will attempt to uncover the mystery of Queen Esther Opera and discover why and how it came to replace these other events as a defining moment in the establishment of the public library and the creation of community identity.

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