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Kate B. Carter (July 30, 1891 – September 8, 1976) was an editor, historian and long-time president of Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
| This article needs more citations. (October 2018) |
Kate B. Carter (July 30, 1891 – September 8, 1976) was an editor, historian and long-time president of Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
Carter was born Catherine Vigdis Bearnson in Spanish Fork, Utah, in 1891. Her father, Finnbogi Bearnson, was from Iceland and her mother, Mary Jenson Bearnson, was from Denmark. Carter reflected later in life that her father told her Viking-age sagas when she sat on his knee as a child. She also grew up next to two formerly enslaved Black Mormon pioneers, Alexander and Marinda Redd Bankhead, as a child in Spanish Fork.
Kate Carter married Austin Carter in 1917 in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They had three children.
Carter was a charter member of the Spanish Fork Daughters of Utah Pioneers before she moved to Salt Lake in 1926 and became a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers there.
In 1930, Carter was asked to prepare lessons for DUP meetings. This assignment began a four-decade-long career as a compiler and author of pioneer histories. Her writings were published in the twenty-volume collection, Our Pioneer Heritage, the twelve-volume collection Heart Throbs of the West, and six volumes of Treasures of Pioneer History. Carter dedicated the proceeds from her books to finance the Pioneer Memorial Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her work as a historian is notable for her attention to the details of everyday pioneer life, often featuring cultural aspects of Utah history previous not looked at, including pioneer holidays, food, humor, culture, and children.
Carter was President of Daughters of Utah Pioneers from April 1941 until her death in September 1976, serving the longest of any of its presidents. She served as President of the Days of '47 Parade from its start in 1947 until her death.
Carter was recognized for her work with a number of awards, including the Order of the Falcon, an honor from the government of Iceland (Stórriddarakross, May 18, 1955),[unreliable source?] the Mary Margaret McBride Award (1953), the Utah Women's Hall of Fame Award, and an honorary degree from Southern Utah State College.
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