POCATELLO — Eighteenth century tea sets, letters and photos lay in a glass display case on the second floor of the Marshall Public Library.

    The items are part of a display aimed to educate locals about pioneer history and culture. But For Jean Nisson, 85, they are much more than just memorabilia — the items are part of her family history.

    “These things were my grandmother’s,” she said. “She was a Mormon pioneer who settled in the Salt Lake Valley in the mid 1800s.”

    Nisson and other local members of the International Society of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, a women’s organization dedicated to preserving the history of settlers of the Utah Territory, met at the Marshall Public Library Tuesday — Pioneer Day — to educate the public on pioneer history and culture.

    And for members like Nisson, the history surrounding pioneer heritage is more than just stories and names from the past.

    “Understanding what the pioneers went through when they crossed the plains can help us today,” she said. “Their problems were surely different than ours, but we can still learn from them.”

    Clad in a long black eighteenth century dress, Nisson herself displayed a piece of pioneer history — a dress resembling the ones worn by the earliest Mormon settlers.

    “That dress is just beautiful,” said fellow member, Sharon Arden, 75, who also attended the event. “It’s modest and it’s beautiful.”

    Arden said the organization also seeks to help women research and write about pioneers who blazed the earliest trails into the west.

    “You don’t have to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ to join,” she said. “But all members do have to have ancestors who entered the Salt Lake Valley no later than May 10, 1869.”

    But Arden quickly added that women without pioneer ancestors can become associate members. In fact, she added, the group is in need of more members and associate members.

    “It’s hard to find women who don’t have kids at home and who don’t work who can devote time to helping with what we do,” Arden said. “We are in need of people interested in what we do, or who want to become interested.”

    For information on how to join the International Society of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, visit  www.dupinternational.org or Darlene Lott, the local group registrar, at (208) 237-1518.