KRCL Radio is a local Utah radio station based in Salt Lake City. Stephen Holbrook founded the community radio station in 1979 with a few of his friends. Wanting to find community and a place “to promote local cultural and social happenings. To enhance the relevance of the platform, and give a nod to the increasing importance of music and the spoken word in youth culture, they thought to embed this town square in a body of music from around the country and around the globe,” (krcl.org). The scanned image of the t-shirt to the left was donated by Brian Kelm, who has  been a host for the Red White and Blues show on KRCL since the station started in 1979.

KRCL broadcasted for the first time on December 3rd, 1979 above the Blue Mouse Theater (now closed) near downtown Salt Lake City. Not only did KRCL share its content through radio, they also began hosting public events, sponsoring live-shows, and were also recognized for their great achievements through awards and community recognition.

Alison Einerson, donor of the scanned image to the left, started volunteering at the radio station when she was 19 years old. She had been listening to KRCL since she was 13 years old, which inspired her to start volunteering at the station. Einerson was a fan of new wave music, and recalls that the only station playing new wave was KRCL. Mark Jackman was the DJ at the time who would play goth, synth, and new wave music.

The station was run by volunteers until 2009 when they hired a weekday staff–controversial among community listeners at the time, but in the long run it helped to stabilize the station financially. The magnet above shows the weekly schedule of the radio station, which has changed over time. Paul Hefti, who donated the scan image of the magnet, is a big fan of KRCL and became actively involved with the station as a volunteer and programmer. Hefti became friends with a lot of the radio DJs and on-air hosts, and he has helped with raising money and doing events. He believes the programming is always so interesting and unique.

KRCL started publishing “Voices” in 1980, a free quarterly program guide for its listeners. The newsprint magazine format was a way for the radio station to share updates, events, and staff highlights. Every program guide included a letter from the General Manager and the weekly radio program.

KRCL's annual Day in the Park celebration, which began in 1994, is a community event featuring live music, local artists, food trucks, and family activities. Created by KRCL volunteers, it was a way to celebrate local music and the Salt Lake community. A notable feature of the event was a poster contest, which offered a $100 prize and the opportunity for the winning local artist's work to be featured on the cover of "Voices." The cover image to the right shows the winning poster from Day in the Park 1999. While KRCL stopped hosting the event in the 2000s, Day in the Park was successfully revived in 2024 to mark the station's 45th anniversary.

From 2023 to 2025, the Utah Historical Society (UHS) hosted over 30 Scan-and-Share events across Utah. During these events, community members were invited to digitize their personal photos and share their stories, effectively preserving their individual histories.

To view more digital items from this project, please visit the Peoples of Utah Revisited online collection.