Zula Nelson: The Life of a Miner’s Wife in Park City 1937-1952 lecture given by Mike Nelson

Park City Museum and Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History will host a lecture called Zula Nelson: The Life of a Miner’s Wife in Park City given by Mike Nelson on Wednesday, December 10, 2025 from 5-6 p.m. held at the Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. More information can be found at www.parkcityhistory.org.

Zula Floyd Gordon Nelson lived from December 14, 1909, to December 17, 1997. Her early life was among three close families—the Nelsons, the Gordons, and the Orgills—all of whom lived in Wasatch County. She finished the eighth grade, and then went to work, first in the Railroad Inn, a boarding house for railroad workers, and later at Keeley’s Soda Fountain, both in Provo.

Zula married Carl Henry Nelson in July of 1927, while he was working at the Ontario mine. Over the next 25 years they survived the Depression and World War II, and they raised four kids. For most of that time, they lived in Park City. Zulu helped support her family by working as a “cleaner and spotter” at Butler’s dry cleaning in Park City, and during the war she commuted every day to the Remington arms plant in Salt Lake. This presentation will provide a glimpse into Zula’s life as a miner’s wife in Park City, from 1937 to 1952. Zula is Mike Nelson’s grandmother.

Mike Nelson is a senior mining consultant at Stantec Engineering. He previously taught mining engineering at the University of Utah, and worked in the mining industry for Kennecott Copper, Consolidation Coal, and EIMCO Process Equipment Co. Mike’s dad grew up on Ontario Avenue in Park City, and worked at the Silver King mine while he went to college. His grandfather worked in the Park City mines for over 30 years, whenever he wasn’t “…laid off or on strike.” Mike is a Distinguished Member and Fellow of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), and in 2020 he received the General Patrick E. Connor Award for Service to Utah’s Mining Industry from the Utah Mining Association.