Behind the Mountain: The Story of the Centennial Complex

Posted on March 9, 2026 by ahcadmin

When you approach the University of Wyoming’s Centennial Complex, you’re met with an imposing sight: a massive cone rising from the earth, its dark metal skin catching the Wyoming light. It’s unlike any other building on campus—or frankly, anywhere else. This is exactly what architect Antoine Predock intended.

A Building for Wyoming’s Second Century

The Centennial Complex, which opened in 1993, houses both the American Heritage Center and the University Art Museum. The building’s name commemorates the University of Wyoming’s 100th anniversary in 1986, when planning for this ambitious project began. At 137,000 square feet, it represented the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the university’s history to that point, with goals to raise $19 million for construction plus an additional $6 million for endowments.

Drone footage of the Centennial Complex commissioned by the UW Art Museum to celebrate the structure’s 25th anniversary in 2018.

The campaign marked a significant shift in how UW approached building projects. As Dr. Terry Roark, who served as university president during the complex’s development, recalled in a 2021 oral history interview, the Wyoming Legislature had traditionally been the major source of university funding. This new initiative “began a trend of substantial private contributions, bolstered by matching state funds, that kicked off a new era of growth around campus.”

Predock’s Vision: An Archival Mountain

New Mexico-based architect Antoine Predock (1936-2024) won the commission for what would become one of his most distinctive works. Predock, who has described his approach as rooted in landscape and cultural memory, saw the building as emerging from Wyoming’s dramatic geography.

Antoine Predock discussing the schematics of the Centennial Complex using a scaled dissected model in 1989.
Antoine Predock, left, discussing the schematics of the Centennial Complex using a scaled dissected model, 1989. AHC Photo Files.

“Throughout Wyoming there is a sense of landscape in formation,” Predock explained.
The appearance of this ‘archival’ mountain can be thought of as parallel to the slow but certain geologic upheaval.” The cone—which contains the American Heritage Center’s collections and offices—was deliberately aligned with Medicine Bow Peak to the west and Pilot’s Knob to the east, anchoring the building into both campus and landscape.

At the core of this “mountain” is a hearth with timber framing that guides a central flue up through the building to a skylight. This space, known as the Mary Storer Loggia, serves as the building’s spiritual center. Floor levels wind around this hearth in a spiral, rotating as they ascend toward the sky-lit upper reaches.

Early sketch of interior, forest area (now the Loggia) of the American Heritage Center, undated.
Early sketch of interior, forest area (now the Loggia) of the American Heritage Center, undated. AHC Photo Files

The Art Museum, by contrast, resembles “a village at the foot of a mountain,” with galleries arranged in a more horizontal fashion adjacent to the cone. Predock described the overall design as recalling “the gathering of Native Americans, French trappers, and early European settlers. Now it is a place of intellectual and social rendezvous.”

The Road to Completion

The path to opening day was not without challenges. When Dr. Roark arrived as president, the American Heritage Center was housed in Coe Library, while the Art Museum occupied cramped quarters in the basement of the Fine Arts Building. Both institutions desperately needed space and proper facilities.

This was another, much for traditional, design for the Centennial Complex, ca. 1980.
This was another, much for traditional, design for the Centennial Complex, ca. 1980. AHC Photo Files.

The campaign to fund the complex proceeded even as the AHC faced internal turmoil with the controversial dismissal of a longtime director. As Roark recalled, “My main concern was there were good people out there who supported the American Heritage Center and what it wanted to do, what its mission was, but they got tied up in [this director]. Despite this challenge, major donors came forward. The AHC portion of the building was named for Eleanor Chatterton Kennedy, daughter of former Wyoming Governor Fenimore Chatterton, and for Joe and Arlene Watt, cattle ranchers and descendants of Wyoming pioneers.

Roark remembered Kennedy’s substantial gift of Colorado land, though development restrictions limited its ultimate value. He also recalled the memorable moment when Joe and Eleanor Watt gave a million-dollar contribution: “It’s the only time I have ever held in my hand a check for a million dollars, but Joe and Eleanor Watt wrote, just like you’d write a check to the grocery store. Nothing fancy about it. Handwritten and just an ordinary check and for a million dollars.”

At one critical juncture, the UW Foundation considered withdrawing from the project. Roark recalled telling them firmly: “No, you can’t do that, or we don’t have the Foundation.”

Opening Day

Ground was broken on October 6, 1990, with Governor Mike Sullivan and President Roark each holding a side of an old-fashioned dirt scoop hitched to a horse. The Wyoming wind blew Sullivan’s signature hat away during the ceremony—an appropriately Western moment.

Three years later, on September 10, 1993, Sullivan and Roark cut the ribbon to officially open the facility. The dedication ceremony included traditional elements: an elder from either the Arapaho or Shoshone tribe conducted a peace pipe ceremony with the governor, president, and museum and AHC directors seated on a cloth on the ground. Roark, a lifelong non-smoker, took his ceremonial puff and spent the rest of the day trying unsuccessfully to rinse the taste from his mouth.

UW President Terry Roark (middle left with glasses) and Wyoming governor Mike Sullivan (wearing hat) cut the ribbon to officially open the Centennial Complex.
UW President Terry Roark (middle left with glasses) and Wyoming governor Mike Sullivan (wearing hat) cut the ribbon to officially open the Centennial Complex. AHC Photo Files.

A Building That Teaches

Today, the Centennial Complex stands as one of the most distinctive buildings in Wyoming and a landmark of 1990s American architecture. The AHC has become one of the largest and most heavily used non-governmental archives in the United States, drawing approximately 5,000 researchers annually from all 50 states and numerous countries. Its collections have grown to 75,000 cubic feet—the equivalent of 18 miles of material—covering Wyoming and Western history, the petroleum and mining industries, politics, conservation, journalism, transportation, and 20th-century entertainment.

The Toppan Rare Books Library, located within the complex, houses more than 60,000 rare books and manuscripts, serving as an active teaching site unlike most rare book collections. The building’s galleries, classrooms, and reading rooms regularly host UW classes learning to conduct archival research.

Toppan Library book showing fore-edge decoration. This practice is rooted in the 10th century when books were displayed with their edges facing outward rather than inward. One identified a book on the shelf by its unique fore-edge patterns. Book of Common Prayer, Coe Pre-1850 Collection, Toppan Rare Books Library.

The “archival mountain” Predock designed continues to serve its purpose: gathering people together around the stories and materials that illuminate our past and inform our future, all while standing as a striking architectural statement anchored firmly in the Wyoming landscape.

Post contributed by AHC Simpson Archivist Leslie Waggener

Posted in American Heritage Center, Architecture, Centennial Complex, Uncategorized, University Architecture, University of Wyoming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Edith “Jackie” Ronne – Antarctica’s First Lady

Posted on March 2, 2026 by ahcadmin

Edith “Jackie” Ronne didn’t plan to spend fifteen months on an Antarctic research expedition. But when her husband Finn Ronne mounted a privately financed exploration of the southern continent, Jackie found herself drawn steadily—and then decisively—into the venture.

Insignia of the 1947-1948 Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition. Box 28, C.O. Fiske papers, Collection No. 9458, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Born in Maryland and a graduate of George Washington University with a degree in history, Jackie had worked for the National Geographic Society and the U.S. State Department before marrying Finn in 1944. The newlyweds spent much of their free time reading and talking about Antarctica, a place that loomed large in Finn’s life. His father had made multiple Arctic voyages and accompanied the First Byrd Expedition, and Finn himself had served on the 1939–1941 U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition.

Jackie later reflected, “When a woman marries a man with such a background, she may as well adapt herself to a life of exploration.” And adapt, she did.

In January 1947, Jackie left home with a small suitcase containing two silk dresses, two suits, one pair of slacks, some nylon stockings, and two pair of shoes with heels. The plan was for her to travel only as far as Texas to help the expedition with last minute details and paperwork.

Yet when it was time for the expedition to depart Texas, there were considerable details yet to be finalized. Finn persuaded Jackie to join the voyage as far as Panama to help with recordkeeping, correspondence, and final checkoffs. By the time they reached Panama, Jackie’s help on the expedition was becoming indispensable, so it was agreed that she would continue onwards to Chile. Then in Chile, Finn convinced her to join the next leg of the journey—to Antarctica—as the expedition’s historian and recorder.

The expedition operated on a shoestring budget of $50,000 along with government-supplied equipment, which included a 183-foot wooden-hulled Navy tugboat that could transport three small Air Force-supplied planes—two were loaded on deck with their wings removed, and one was added later in Panama. This would be the last privately funded U.S. Antarctic expedition.

Photograph of the ship used for the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition. Box 29, C.O. Fiske papers, Collection No. 9458, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

The expedition launched from the port of Beaumont, Texas, on January 25, 1947. The ship was loaded down with everything the polar explorers might need for a year and a half. That included a rooster and five hens, to provide the expedition with fresh eggs, and forty-three huskies outfitted to pull sleds. Among the rations on board were 6,500 pounds of frozen filet mignon.

As they departed, Jackie noted, “We watched the home shores of the United States disappear on the horizon with feelings of very mixed emotions. First was concern, because our venture was a somewhat hazardous one…then there was the feeling of anticipation as to what this almost unknown continent held in store.”

When their ship arrived off Stonington Island in the Antarctic’s Palmer Peninsula in March 1947, Jackie was dazzled by the spectacle of mountain after mountain, covered in snow and ice, with glaciers winding their way down between mountain passes. She and the other twenty-two members of the expedition set to work establishing a base camp in buildings that had been left behind by the 1939-1941 Byrd Expedition. Camp consisted of a bunkhouse and mess hall, a machine shop, and a science building, all connected by a series of tunnels. A small shack—twelve-foot square—became the Ronnes’ headquarters. Heating came from a temperamental coal stove.

Edith “Jackie” Ronne next to the stove that warmed their Antarctic hut. Box 29, C.O. Fiske papers, Collection No. 9458, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Inside the shack was a bunk topped with five heavy blankets and a table with a typewriter, where Jackie spent a great deal of time. Bathing and washing were done using a small basin in the shack. Jackie wrote, “cleanliness…was a big hurdle to overcome.” On windy days, she sometimes hung wet garments outside. They froze solid, but within twenty-four hours the wind blew off the ice crystals, leaving the clothes soft and dry.

Daily life at the camp demanded constant adaptation, beginning with how the men—and Jackie—dressed for the cold. Indoor clothes were all made of wool, and dressing in layers was critical. Fur parkas were used outdoors when temperatures were lower than minus twenty. It was the wind rather than the cold that Jackie found most taxing. Wind speeds sometimes reached one hundred miles per hour. At mealtime, she took her place in the chow line along with the many bearded men. They ate well, although the nightly dinner of filet mignon, intended to prevent scurvy, eventually proved tedious.

Jackie authored most of the expedition’s press releases, assisted with reports and memoranda and kept the daily history of the of the expedition’s progress. She wrote regular articles which were transmitted by radio to The New York Times. Beyond her official responsibilities, Jackie also became an informal anchor for the emotional life of the camp. She and Finn hosted a coffee and cookies hour in their shack each afternoon for men who wanted to talk over problems. Tensions sometimes mounted. Jackie observed, “Men of varied backgrounds and temperaments are forced to live closely together in isolation with little out-of-door exercise to use up their energy. Dispositions often become frayed and minor incidents take on major proportions.” In the confined quarters of their polar camp, quiet and solitude for concentration were rare.

By May, winter had settled over the camp and buildings disappeared in the snow. Most of the expedition’s activities shifted inside. Even when the winds blew fiercely for days on end, the huskies still had to be fed. Jackie was grateful that work fell to the men. Despite the monotony and strain of the Antarctic winter, the expedition was not without moments of levity. Movie nights and games of bridge provided welcome distractions, as did husky puppies born during the long winter. When the sun returned in the Antarctic springtime, outdoor activities resumed. Jackie and Finn took skiing trips on the glaciers near camp and helped exercise the sled dogs, which were essential for conducting research away from the main base.

Commander Finn Ronne and Jackie Ronne on skis in the Antarctic. Box 29, C.O. Fiske papers, Collection No. 9458, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

When summer finally came, some scientists gathered geological samples while others took meteorological observations. A series of aerial mapping flights was completed. Jackie assisted with tidal observations and seismograph readings. The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition made several important scientific discoveries. It explored previously unknown parts of the coastline along the Weddell Sea, from Palmer Land to Coats Land, and concluded that Antarctica was a single continent. The expedition also discovered 250,000 square miles of previously unknown territory, which Finn Ronne named Edith Ronne Land.

Map of the Palmer Peninsula in the Antarctic, showing the location of Stonington Island, Marguerite Bay, and Edith Ronne Land, November 1, 1948. Box 29, C.O. Fiske papers, Collection No. 9458, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

While the expedition was life-changing for Jackie, she later recalled feeling nothing but relief when it finally ended in the spring of 1948. Yet her time in Antarctica left a legacy far greater than personal endurance. As one of the first women to overwinter on the continent, Jackie helped normalize the presence of women in polar science and exploration. Through her writing, recordkeeping, and steadying influence on camp life, she shaped how the expedition was documented and remembered.

What began as a temporary logistical role became an indispensable contribution to a significant twentieth century Antarctic expedition—proof that exploration history is often made not only by those who lead, but by those who adapt, persist, and record the story as it unfolds.

For further glimpses into the Antarctic expedition of Finn and Jackie Ronne, see the papers of C.O. Fiske, who was a climatologist on the expedition.

Post contributed by AHC Writer Kathryn Billington.

Posted in Explorers, Uncategorized, Women Adventurers, Women in History | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Field Notes from Wyoming’s Roving Archivist

Posted on February 23, 2026 by ahcadmin

Since starting my position in August 2025, I have been to 19 of the 23 counties, meeting with cultural heritage institutions along the way. Each meeting ranges from a simple “Hi, I’m the Roving Archivist,” to a tour of the site. At each meeting, I always ask one question: “What do you feel are areas of concern for your organization?” The answers vary from place to place, but break down to the same three things: funding, storage, and object preservation.

Wyoming Roving Archivist Morgan Stence. Photo courtesy Morgan Stence.

To help Wyoming’s cultural institutions address challenges in staffing, funding, and storage, the Wyoming State Historic Records and Advisory Board, with the American Heritage Center and the Wyoming State Archives, created the Wyoming Roving Archivist Program (RAP). The program is funded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Launched in 2020 after an NHPRC grant-funded assessment survey, the RAP connects cultural institutions with trained archival professionals to improve collections stewardship statewide. As the Roving Archivist, I travel to various repositories providing advice, sharing best practices, and offering encouragement for the management, arrangement, preservation, acquisition, and access of archival collections.

My job begins where data ends. In 2023, a previous Roving Archivist published the Wyoming Cultural Heritage Needs Assessment Survey Report (WCHNA). While this data tells me that 44.25% of Wyoming’s institutions struggle with staffing, funding, and storage, the only way to shift those numbers is to see them for myself.

From the Tetons to the high plains, Wyoming’s cultural heritage institutions have individuals who need advice or support to continue their collecting practices, including on:

  • Technical Guidance: Providing resources on indexing, archival processing, and policy development.
  • Specialized Conservation: Advising on basic object cleaning, and deferring to an objects conservator when necessary.
  • Grant Support: Identifying funding opportunities for institutions to help bridge the gap in staffing and resources.

Whether through a comprehensive site visit report or a monthly “Quick Tips” webinar, my goal is to provide the professional support needed to lighten the load for Wyoming’s cultural heritage institutions.

Is your organization ready to tackle a collection challenge? The RAP is now accepting site visit applications for 2026. Join the institutions already participating in RAP and let’s work together to preserve your community’s unique story.

Apply for a 2026 Site Visit: rovingarchivist.wyo.gov/site-visits

Contact Me: spcr.rovingarchivist@wyo.gov

Post contributed by Wyoming Roving Archivist Morgan Stence.

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Vera Marshe and the Lucky ‘E’

Posted on February 16, 2026 by ahcadmin

Few performers can claim they’ve danced with Fred Astaire, acted alongside the voice of Winnie the Pooh, and collected autographs from Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Vera Marshe did all three.

Vera Marshe. Box 4, Vera Marshe papers, Coll. No. 08731, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

She was a Minnesota native, and an early performer. She was a vaudevillian, trained by prominent teacher Helen Noble. A mix of music, comedy, and performance, vaudeville provided a strong start for Vera. Due to her beauty, it was often thought that she would do well in romantic roles, but she preferred comedy roles. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Vera began her film career with small roles in productions such as Good News (1930) and Way Out West (1930).

One of Vera’s earliest notable roles offered a return to her vaudeville roots. In 1932, one half of the renowned sibling dance duo, Adele Astaire, left her position in the show The Band Wagon to marry Lord Charles Cavendish. This left her brother Fred without a dance partner. Adele’s understudy just happened to be Vera, who stepped in for the remainder of the shows, capturing the hearts of many and surpassing expectations. Vera gained many fans from this endeavor, evidenced by the fan mail in her collection.

Several letters from fans of The Band Wagon. Box 1, Folder 10, Vera Marshe papers, Coll. No. 08731, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that early reports of Marshe’s work spelled her name differently: “Marsh.” This was no mistake. In fact, that was her name for the beginning of her career. In May 1930, Vera had a professional astrology reading done. The results of this were clear: the name “Marsh” was unlucky and was sure to bring nothing but disaster. Adding an “e” to the end, however, made the name quite lucky. With a name like Marshe, Vera was sure to find success.

Whether or not one would believe this, there is no denying that Vera evidently did, officially changing her name to Vera Marshe several years later in 1932. Newspaper clippings indicate that the change happened sometime between May and November of that year.

While looking through the history of Vera’s work, one name shows up as a costar more often than any other: Sterling Holloway, the comedian and original voice actor for the beloved Winnie the Pooh. Together, Vera and Sterling made a very reliable comedy duo and starred in several shows together. They were reportedly close friends off the stage as well, forming a bond that lasted several decades.

Newspaper comic strip showing Vera Marshe and Sterling Holloway. Box 1, Folder 1, Vera Marshe papers, Coll. No. 08731, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

As Vera’s career neared its third decade, she began to do more television work. Notably, she was in over 20 episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, playing various characters. This earned her annual Christmas cards from the Nelson family.

A hobby Vera seemingly kept throughout her career was collecting the autographs of her costars. Throughout her decades-long career, she managed to amass quite a collection. Some of the most notable pieces include autographs from Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and the entire Nelson family.

Fred Astaire’s autograph, Box 1, Marshe papers
Bing Crosby’s autograph, Box 1, Marshe papers

The papers of Vera Marshe (1905-1984) are open to the public and available for research at the American Heritage Center. The collection includes newspaper clippings, photographs, correspondence, scrapbooks, memorabilia, and papers related to her work including contracts, scripts, and call sheets. It is a five-box collection that spans the years 1927 to 1973.

Post contributed by Reference Department Archives Aide Julia Wells.

Posted in Collections Highlights, Hollywood history, Performing Arts, Uncategorized, Women in Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Whirlwind Romance of Will and Lulu

Posted on February 9, 2026 by ahcadmin

Louisa’s mad,
And I am glad,
And I know how to please her!

A bottle of wine
To make her fine
And her handsome beau to squeeze her!

So taunted the children on the sidewalk by the home of Louisa Frederici, in the Old Frenchtown community of St. Louis, Missouri, in the spring of 1865. Her suitor, William F. Cody, a young private of the US Army, had come to court her favor.1

The two had been introduced only a few days before by Louisa’s cousin, William McDonald.  The particular circumstances of their first meeting is now in the realm of legend, whereby Will McDonald played a practical joke on his cousin when he found she had nodded off while reading a magazine, perched upon a chair.  Discovering  her chair being pulled out from under her, Louisa managed to whirl about and furiously slap her jokester on the face, only to then realize she had assaulted a stranger rather than her prankster cousin! Despite her cousin’s laughter, he managed to formally introduce Private William Cody to Louisa, only to have him respond:

“I believe—I believe Miss Frederici and I have met before.”

“Where?” I [Louisa] innocently asked.

“In battle,” came the answer, and I flounced out of the room.2

Louisa later recounted her first impression of William Cody, that he was about the most handsome man she had ever seen. She must have been immediately infatuated with him, as she then devised a plan by the three of them to play an additional joke on another of her suitors, Louis Reiber, who had arranged to visit her that very afternoon. She and Cody were to play that they had known one another for a long time, and she began calling him “Will” as a familiar name. When Reiber arrived, he found the three of them acting like old friends, with Will and Louisa seeming quite close. At some point the “joke” went so far as to represent that Louisa was Will Cody’s fiancée. Eventually Reiber departed in exasperation.

Louisa Frederici Cody later in life in 1881. Portrait by Mosher Studios, Chicago. P.69.0795. Courtesy McCracken Research Library, Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Cody returned several times. His pet name for her was Lulu, or sometimes just Lou. She kept a love poem from him, after he had spied her out on a walk, her face covered in veils to avoid sunburn:

The blazing sun of brilliant day
        May veil the light of stars above,
But no amount of heavy veils
        Can e’er deceive the eyes of love.

William F. Cody, in his own autobiography, later stated that while he was a soldier in 1865 he had met Louisa Frederici while stationed briefly in St. Louis. After his discharge at close of the Civil War later that year, he returned to St. Louis on a mission: “…to capture the heart of Miss Frederici, whom I now adored above any other young lady I had ever seen.” Louisa had been raised in a comfortable economic class, attended a Catholic convent for schooling, and was skilled in sewing. She was fully prepared to be a traditional housewife and mother. That she was at least two years older than William Cody did not seem to bother her.

On March 6, 1866, the two were wed at her father’s home. A mere hour after their wedding, the newlyweds embarked on a steamboat on the Missouri River, headed to Kansas. Cody’s reputation as an abolitionist Kansas jay-hawker in the early years of the Civil War caught up with him almost immediately, leading his new bride to wonder just how dangerous her new husband might actually be. At one riverboat landing there was a scuffle and gunshot, which caused Louisa to faint into her husband’s arms. Yet that did not seem to dampen their ardor, as their daughter Arta was born nine months later in December.4

William F. Cody with his wife Lousia and their daughter Arta, c. 1875. P.69.0239. Courtesy McCracken Research Library, Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Lulu very quickly learned that life on the frontier West was not what she had prepared for, and that her new husband did not have the kind of regular employment folks in Old Frenchtown were accustomed to. Eventually, William F. Cody found personal and economic success as Buffalo Bill—scout, hunter, and showman extraordinaire. But Louisa did not shine on the world stage, being much more comfortable in her own home raising her family and managing her household and, eventually, ranches and other properties in both Nebraska and Wyoming.

She did try to adapt to the West, and her husband taught her to shoot and how to ride. Perhaps her greatest effort was when she described her own buffalo hunt in Kansas, just days after Buffalo Bill’s much heralded hunting contest against William Comstock:

I gave the word to Brigham [Cody’s experienced buffalo hunting horse] and while Arta, strapped to my lap, laughed and gurgled and clapped her little hands, we galloped forward. One great, heavy humped buffalo had moved out a few yards from the rest of the stragglers, and Will waved an arm to me to indicate that this was the one I should shoot down. I turned Brigham toward him, and the chase began…. Only a few rods separated us, and I raised my revolver as though to fire. But Will anxiously waved me down.

“Closer!” I could not hear the word, but I could see his lips as he framed it. Even old Brigham seemed to understand that I was about to make a mistake, for he suddenly plunged forward with a new speed, cutting the distance between the speeding bison and me. Soon the distance was cut in two. Now to a third. Again I raised my revolver, and this time Will did not object. There was a puff of smoke, the booming of the heavy gun, and then— Then, with a thrill I never again shall know, I saw the buffalo stumble, stagger a second, and fall headlong….5

Alas, the early charm of their courtship and marriage did not long survive the wear and tear of everyday frontier life in the West, nor of extended separations necessitated by a life of worldwide showmanship. Both Will and Lulu later wrote their biographies, not as simple memoirs, but as carefully constructed public images designed to immortalize what they wished to be their own best qualities. Accepted as such, their stories rank among the early legendary tales of the West.6

Contributed by Nathan E. Bender, Research Assistant, McCracken Research Library, Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Co-published with WyoHistory.org, where this post will appear on February 13, 2026.

Sources:

  1. Louisa Frederici Cody and Courtney Ryley Cooper, Memories of Buffalo Bill by His Wife (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1919), 31. See also Louisa Frederici Cody, Courtney Ryley Cooper, and Sherry L. Smith, Memories of Buffalo Bill (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2025), 18.
  2. Cody and Cooper, Memories of Buffalo Bill, 3-4.
  3. Cody and Cooper, Memories of Buffalo Bill, 12.
  4. William F. Cody and Frank Christianson, The Life of Hon. William F. Cody, Known As Buffalo Bill (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011), 161-65, 175; Cody and Cooper, Memories of Buffalo Bill, 40-41.
  5. Cody and Cooper, Memories of Buffalo Bill, 142-143.
  6. See, for example, comments by Louis S. Warren, Buffalo Bill’s America: William Cody and the Wild West Show (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 80-81.

Posted in American West, Biography and profiles, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The American Heritage Center Provides Original Image for the State’s New Rodeo License Plate

Posted on February 2, 2026 by ahcadmin

One of the most iconic rodeo photographs ever taken is now featured on Wyoming’s new rodeo specialty license plate. The scene depicted on the license plate comes from an original image by Burt C. Buffum, whose collection of photographs and other documents is preserved at the American Heritage Center, the archive of the University of Wyoming.

A Cowboy, a Horse, and a Photographer Come Together to Create a Lasting Moment

The cowboy was Guy Holt; the horse’s name was Steamboat; and the photographer was Burt C. Buffum. They came together for one brief but lasting moment that led to an iconic scene captured on film more than a century ago. Buffum titled the image “Guy Holt Pulling Leather on Steamboat.”1

That spectacular moment occurred at the Albany County Fairgrounds in Laramie on the afternoon of September 23, 1903 (the fairgrounds later became the site of the Washington Park neighborhood). Guy Holt was the reigning world champion in bronc riding. A few weeks earlier, he rode Young Steamboat, the younger half-brother of Steamboat, to capture the title at Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Photograph of Guy Holt on Steamboat taken by B.C. Buffum at the Albany County Fairgrounds on September 23, 1903. Box 35, B. C. Buffum papers, Coll. No. 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

On that late fall afternoon in Laramie, University of Wyoming Professor Burt Buffum wanted to capture the action in the arena on his large-format camera. An agriculture professor and horticulturist by training, he considered himself an amateur photographer, though to operate a large-format camera and develop glass plate negatives in the early 1900s hardly could have been considered an amateur hobby. Taking photographs, developing glass plate negatives, and creating photographic prints required tremendous skill and time.

Portrait of Burt C. Buffum photographed on February 25, 1898. Box 17A, Aven Nelson papers, Coll. No. 400013, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Soon after arriving at the University of Wyoming in 1891, Buffum took an interest in photography and set up a darkroom in the corner of his office on campus where he could develop negatives and produce photographic prints.2 His primary interest in photography was for agricultural field work as part of his position at UW, which included visiting the experiment stations across the state and meeting with farmers to inspect crops. Buffum was instrumental in creating a camera club on campus in 1897 for university students and employees.3

University of Wyoming’s Camera Club on the step of Old Main, October 21, 1897. Box 12, B. C. Buffum papers, Coll. No. 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Holt and Steamboat both entered the rodeo scene just after the turn of the century. They were recent arrivals to the growing sport. Guy Holt was born on December 5, 1883, on a ranch outside  Cheyenne. He worked at several cattle operations in the Cheyenne area and quickly earned recognition as a top rodeo cowboy. In 1903, he was working on a ranch at Hecla west of Cheyenne.

Steamboat was foaled on the Frank Foss Ranch near Chugwater in 1896. Foss sold a group of horses that included Steamboat to the Swan Cattle Company. Steamboat’s eventual owner, John Coble, began entering the horse in rodeo competitions. Coble is steeped in frontier history. As a rancher in the Iron Mountain area northwest of Cheyenne, Coble used the services of stock detective Tom Horn. Legend has it that Coble also shot a painting of a cattle scene with his .45 revolver at the Cheyenne Club, a private social club for cattlemen, in 1895. The painting survived and is displayed in the Wyoming State Capitol where the bullet hole is visible in the lower left corner of the painting. Coble eventually operated a ranch north of Laramie near Bosler when he purchased Steamboat.

On September 23, 1903, Steamboat, Guy Holt, and Burt Buffum descended on the rodeo grounds for the annual Albany County and Inter-Mountain Fair. A reporter from the Laramie Boomerang described Steamboat as looking “fat and saucy.”4 Steamboat’s unique bucking style that day was described as one that did “…not rise far from the ground, in as much as he twists every time when in the air, and gives a jerk that few horses ever learn.”5 As for Holt, “He lost his right stirrup the second jump” and had to contend with a problematic saddle.6 Though Holt still held on for a spectacular ride, the saddle no doubt affected his overall performance. When the scores of the rides were tallied, Guy Holt had earned a respectable second place.

Holt’s popularity in the rodeo circuit led him to being named the state’s most popular cowboy in 1905.7 Eventually, Holt moved to Sublette County where he operated a ranch near Pinedale. He passed away in Jackson on June 26, 1946. In 2014, Holt was honored again when he was inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class.

When the Holt family learned about their ancestor appearing on the new license plate, they were thrilled. Robert Holt, the great grandson of Guy, said of his great grandfather’s appearance on the new rodeo plate, “It is very cool that they [WYDOT] used the actual original Buffum image on the plate…Our family is thrilled to see both horse and rider honored in this way.”8

New license plate issued by the State of Wyoming in January 2026. Image courtesy Wyoming Department of Transportation.

Steamboat became part of the C. B. Irwin Show and traveled around the nation performing in front of crowds, making him one of the most famous bucking horses in the nation. He continued bucking until 1914, when he died in Cheyenne on October 14. In 1975, Steamboat was honored as the first bucking horse to be inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.9

For the state to have a rodeo license plate made sense to Wyoming Senator Brian Boner of Douglas. The scene depicted on the plate recognizes rodeo as Wyoming’s official sport while also creating a revenue source for the rodeo teams across the state (UW along with most of the community colleges have a rodeo team). Boner sponsored legislation to approve the new plate during the 2025 legislative session.

After the bill was approved authorizing the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to issue the new plate, the effort began to design the plate. The final image and design was selected in July by a committee that included representatives from Laramie County Community College, University of Wyoming Media Relations and the UW Rodeo Team, a member of the public, and a representative from law enforcement (to approve design for readability).10 The plate was released on January 2, 2026.

The image that Buffum took of Holt riding Steamboat has an element that few other rodeo scenes have—one that shows the Western prairie rising to meet rugged foothills. It is the entire scene with horse and rider framed in a classic Western landscape that sets the image apart. The landscape format of the image with the horse and rider positioned to the left instead of being centered, is ideal for use on a rectangular license plate. No doubt this was a factor WYDOT considered when selecting images.

Buffum’s image also served as the basis for the university’s use of a bucking bronco logo on an athletic uniform. The horse and rider first appeared on a baseball uniform in the spring of 1920. The idea came from UW alum and former athlete E. Deane Hunton, who returned to UW to become a professor of commerce. He was familiar with the image and worked with the Athletic Department to place the image on the uniform. Hunton traced a modified version of Buffum’s image that eventually was used on the uniform. Hunton may also have been the inspiration for the bucking horse and rider that appears on the Wyoming license plate.

University of Wyoming Baseball Team, 1920 (detail from panoramic photograph). E. Deane Hunton (wearing a suit), head of the Commerce Department and business manager, stands next to coach and athletic director John Corbett (far left). Hunton was a 1911 UW graduate who served as class president, played football and basketball, and was secretary of the athletic association. Box 517, Ludwig & Svenson Studio Photographs, Coll. No. 167, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

According to a newspaper article, as the year 1936 approached, Hunton wanted to recognize the University of Wyoming’s 50th anniversary and contacted Secretary of State Lester Hunt to pitch the idea. What better way to commemorate the milestone than to include the logo on the state’s license plate. Though many rodeo images would have been consulted for the artist’s final rendering, Buffum’s image of Guy Holt on Steamboat no doubt was one that artist Allen True would have referenced.11

In addition to appearing on athletic uniforms, the theme for the University of Wyoming’s 1923-1924 WYO yearbook was based on Buffum’s photograph. The image appears on the cover of the yearbook as well as on numerous pages throughout the yearbook. The tribute that appears in the WYO perhaps sums up best why the State of Wyoming has issued a license plate featuring a bucking horse and cowboy. The foreword includes the following passage:

It is the aim of the 1924 “WYO” to incorporate and perpetuate our most valuable heritage – the tradition of the cowboy. As the frontier and the open range become things of the past, the cowboy becomes more and more of a memory, but it is the memory which we should cherish, which will mean more to each succeeding generation.

Buffum left the university in 1908 but not before capturing another popular image of a horse and rider. Several months before he photographed Guy Holt on Steamboat, he also took an image of President Theodore Roosevelt. The president was in Laramie on May 30, 1903. After delivering an address on campus, Roosevelt joined a group on horseback and rode east over the hills to Cheyenne. Buffum captured the president and group in the hills between Laramie and Cheyenne.

President Theodore Roosevelt (center, with glasses) in a photograph taken by B.C. Buffum during his famous 65-mile horseback ride from Laramie to Cheyenne. On May 30, 1903, Roosevelt made the journey, changing horses four times, and riding with Wyoming prominent citizens. Box 5, B. C. Buffum papers, Coll. No. 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Buffum, who grew up in Buffum Canyon near Fort Collins, Colorado, eventually started his own company to patent grains, first in Worland and later in Denver. He passed away on March 25, 1944. Around the time of his death, his original glass plate negatives were donated to the American Heritage Center. Many of them have been scanned and are available for viewing on the AHC’s digital website.

Post contributed by University of Wyoming Archivist John Waggener.

Sources:

  1. Eduma Buffum Boyne, unpublished biography of Burt Buffum, June 1964, B. C. Buffum Papers, box 1, folder 1, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie.
  2. Ibid.
  3. “University,” Laramie Boomerang, May 25, 1897, 2.
  4. “Champion Holt Dethroned,” Laramie Boomerang, September 24, 1903, 1.
  5. Ibid.
  6. Ibid.
  7. “Guy Holt the High Man,” Wyoming Tribune (Cheyenne), September 5, 1905, 1.
  8. Robert Holt, email message to author, January 15, 2026.
  9. “Hall of Fame Will Honor Steamboat,” United Press International, Laramie Daily Boomerang, December 10, 1975, 2 (also published in other newspapers).
  10. Wyoming Department of Transportation, email message to author, January 14, 2026.
  11. Details on E. Deane Hunton’s logo design for UW Baseball and Wyoming license plates: Branding Iron (University of Wyoming), January 17, 1946, 2, corroborated by author’s research.

Posted in Photography, Uncategorized, University of Wyoming history, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

125 Years of Yokohama Development

Posted on January 26, 2026 by ahcadmin

Yokohama is a historic seaport of the Kanto region of Japan, historically serving as a port city for receiving foreign visitors and dignitaries. While today the city’s fame pales in comparison to its neighbor, Tokyo, Yokohama was many visitors’ first glimpse of Japan. 

The Sallie Sharpe Collection at the American Heritage Center contains the travel journal of Ms. Sharpe’s visit to Japan in 1900. She landed in the city of Yokohama in late April, staying at the famed Grand Hotel Yokohama under a welcoming canopy of cherry blossoms. In her brief time there, she captured two pictures of the port city, photographing the harbor and the bund immediately in front of the Grand Hotel.

Renowned as the Grand Hotel and its city were, the harbor meets a humble, rocky beach, filled with diligent workers on small, wooden boats scattered on the water. The photograph of the bund, although damaged along the right side, shows a line of workers pulling goods with carts along a paved road underneath power lines. 

My visit to Yokohama occurred on May 5th, 2025, 125 years following Ms. Sharpe’s visit to the city. Although I was dedicated to recreating Ms. Sharpe’s photos exactly, the one-and-a-quarter centuries between our visits saw the area’s total redevelopment. Ms. Sharpe’s Grand Hotel was demolished in the Great Kanto Earthquake 23 years after her visit, being rebuilt as the Hotel New Grand in 1927.

Although completely redeveloped, I decided to travel to the equivalent areas of those pictured and take photos of the city in their modern state, 125 years later. 

The harbor, as pictured, is no longer a rocky shore, but is covered with extensive metal and concrete docks built out to accommodate colossal ships. An industrial city as ever, smokestacks and factories are still visible across the harbor as they once were at the turn of the 20th century. 

In place of the Yokohama bund is Yamashita Park, built on the waterfront and bustling with visitors. Although intending to capture the waterfront and the bund’s modern likeness, the background of the photo is filled with towering hotels and a Ferris wheel. 

Despite its development and being overshadowed by cities like Tokyo, the Yokohama Harbor visited by Ms. Sharpe bears a likeness to the one of today. With hotels to accommodate countless travelers and public parks bustling with diverse crowds of visitors, the harbor retains the welcoming spirit that it has met Ms. Sharpe and countless other visitors with for centuries.

Visit the American Heritage Center to see Sallie Sharpe’s journal for a view of turn-of-the-century Asia through the eyes of an American traveler!

Post contributed by Reference Department Archives Aide Briar Telkamp.

Posted in Collections Highlights, International Perspectives, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Excavating Fear: The Emotional History of the American West

Posted on January 19, 2026 by ahcadmin

“PRAY FOR ME. I AM ALONE.”

When Reverend Cyrus Byington penned these words in all capital letters from Indian Territory in 1841, he captured something often overlooked in the grand narrative of American westward expansion: terror. Surrounded by strangers, listening to prairie wolves howl outside his mission station, Byington feared not just for his physical safety, but for his sanity and his soul.

Reverend Cyrus Byington, Presbyterian missionary who worked among the Choctaw people for nearly 50 years, translating their language to English in Mississippi and later in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Image from Choctaw Language Dictionary, 1800s, public domain.

In June 2025, Abby Gibson spent a month at the American Heritage Center as the 2024 George A. Rentschler Fellow, searching for more voices like Byington’s—voices that spoke of dread rather than destiny when they looked West. Her dissertation, “Fearful Land: Managing Terror in the American West, 1820–1920,” challenges the conventional story of westward expansion by asking: what if fear, not hope, was central to how Americans experienced the West?

Beyond Manifest Destiny

We’ve all heard the triumphant narrative of Manifest Destiny—the idea that Americans were destined to spread across the continent. But this story, Gibson argues, obscures a darker emotional reality. Many Americans viewed the West as a landscape that inspired terror, brought on madness, and provided refuge for sinners and deviants. By bringing insights from the history of emotions to Western history for the first time, Gibson is working to recover the felt dimensions of this historic process.

Her dissertation explores how the United States didn’t just materially conquer the West’s peoples, land, and resources—it also had to emotionally conquer a settler nation’s fears about both itself and this place. When did the West finally “feel” like it belonged within the territorial and emotional boundaries of the United States? How did terrifying western landscapes eventually feel like home to American colonizers?

Finding Fear in the Archives

At the AHC, Gibson focused on materials related to the Indian Wars in the northern plains and the deserts of the Southwest during the second half of the nineteenth century, particularly the Black Hills War of 1876–1877 and the Apache Wars of 1872–1873. These regions—Dakota Territory and Arizona Territory—were what she calls “fearful hotspots” in the post-Civil War West because of the severity of Indigenous resistance to American expansion in these sites.

Two collections particularly stood out. Oliver Perry Hanna’s 1926 reminiscence provides extensive documentation of emotional context from the Indian Wars. Hanna, who volunteered for civilian expeditions in Wyoming and Montana territories hoping to gain experience “fighting Indians” like his favorite dime novel characters, offers brutal descriptions of fear used as a weapon of war. He recalls how expedition leaders deliberately sought “to create a fear and awe among the Indians” by desecrating Lakota burial scaffolds—dismembering and scattering their dead to disrupt their journey to the next life. In turn, Hanna describes how the Lakotas responded with a steady sonic barrage of drums and singing that unnerved and destabilized the emotional equilibrium of the expedition’s men.

Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), chromolithograph by Kurz & Allison, 1889. Over 260 U.S. soldiers were killed in this battle. Oliver Perry Hanna, who fought at the Little Bighorn, later wrote about fear as a deliberate weapon used by both sides during the Indian Wars. Image from Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Equally revealing were U.S. Army physician Henry R. Porter’s morose letters home from Arizona Territory during General George Crook’s 1872 campaigns against Yavapais and Chiricahua Apaches in the Tonto Basin. Porter hated Arizona, expressing anxiety that the longer he stayed, the more likely he was to, in his words, “become some sort of maniac.” He even worried—perhaps metaphorically—that as his skin darkened under the Arizona sun, he was somehow becoming less white. Porter’s letters confirmed white anxieties about existing in the West in more visceral language than Gibson had encountered in other archives.

Henry Rinaldo Porter, Assistant Surgeon with the 7th Cavalry, circa 1875. In addition to the Crook’s 1872 Apache campaign, Porter also served at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. Photograph by David Francis Barry. Image from Denver Public Library.

The Emotional Apparatus of Empire

These materials are helping Gibson flesh out her dissertation’s fifth and final chapter, which examines what she calls the “emotional apparatus of American empire.” Fear functioned not only as something settlers experienced, but as a deliberate weapon of conquest. At the same time, she is interested in how Indigenous peoples and others targeted by the settler colonial project managed and survived the terrors at the heart of westward expansion.

One function of fear that emerges clearly from these materials is how settler and state interpretations of Indigenous people’s fear racialized them as “childlike” and in turn justified their extermination and removal in the eyes of expansionists. Hanna, for instance, chalks up Native resistance to expansion as “vengeance brewing in the hearts of these Indians”—a deliberate attempt to obscure the political and territorial logic of that resistance by interpreting it as merely emotional.

Moving Forward

The Rentschler Fellowship was her last residential research fellowship of her doctorate, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Before arriving in Laramie, she was anxious about having enough material for her final chapter. Now she has both rich sources and a clearer sense of direction. She notes that she is deeply grateful for this opportunity and for the kindness and generous assistance from the AHC Reference staff—particularly Jess LaBozetta, Mary Beth Brown, Vicki Glantz, and Ginny Kilander.

As for what comes next: this work will appear first in Gibson’s dissertation, but she hopes to publish a journal article from it and eventually turn the dissertation into a book. Because the history of the American West isn’t just about where Americans went and the continent they claimed—it’s also about what they felt, what they feared, and how they learned to call a once-terrifying landscape home.

Post contributed AHC Archivist Leslie Waggener in cooperation with Abby Gibson, 2024 George A. Rentschler Fellow and PhD candidate in U.S. History at the University of Southern California.

Posted in American Heritage Center, Research grants, Uncategorized, Western history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Walter J. Levy and the 1953 Iranian Oil Crisis: How an Oil Economist Shaped a Global Turning Point

Posted on January 12, 2026 by ahcadmin

The 1953 Iranian oil crisis is often remembered for its political intrigue and Cold War implications. Yet one of the most influential figures shaping Western thinking about the crisis was not a statesman or intelligence officer, but a petroleum economist: Walter J. Levy. His analysis of the global oil industry was integral to how the United States and Great Britain handled the crisis. His papers, housed at the American Heritage Center, are a treasure trove of knowledge in the political, economic, and social interests of the United States in the Middle East.

Walter J Levy, photographed for the Journal of Petroleum Technology. October 1952. Box 3, Folder 3, Walter J. Levy papers, Coll. No. 08428, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Who Was Walter J. Levy?

Walter J. Levy (1911-1997) was one of the twentieth century’s most respected oil economists. He was born in Hamburg to middle class Orthodox Jewish parents, Moses and Betty Levy. He studied law and economics at Kiel University in northern Germany, receiving his doctorate in law in 1933.

That same year, the shifting political environment of Germany would reach a sinister turning point when Adolf Hitler ascended to the chancellorship of the country. Along with the Nazi seizure of power came the persecution of Germany’s Jewish population. Levy, fearing for his life and ability to work, went into exile in Great Britain. His sisters survived the Holocaust. His father, however, died in 1938 after several years of being prohibited to practice law. His mother was deported and murdered in the Auschwitz death camp in 1942.

In Britain, he worked as a petroleum journalist, gaining acclaim and trust from both the petroleum industry and government officials who turned to him for his expertise. This success in Britain was short lived. In 1939 he was interred for being an “enemy alien” due to his German citizenship.

He became a refugee once again, heading to the United States. Here, he built a career as a journalist and government advisor on global petroleum trends. In 1946, Levy founded his own consulting firm, Walter J. Levy & Associates, which became influential across Europe and the Middle East. His analyses were valued for their clarity and ability to translate complex global economic dynamics into practical guidance for policymakers.

By the early 1950s, Levy had earned a reputation for unmatched expertise on oil economics; expertise that carried significant power during a moment when oil had become an essential part of postwar recovery and Cold War strategy.

Iranian Oil Crisis

Commemorative medal marking Naser al-Din Shah Qajar’s 1873 visit to London. Naser al-Din’s visit was the start of Anglo-Persian relations, as he was the first Iranian monarch to visit England. Box 2, Sir John Cadman papers, Coll. No. 04247, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

The Iranian oil nationalization crisis emerged from decades of frustration over British dominance of Iran’s oil industry through the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (previously the Anglo-Persian Oil Company). The company was founded in 1909, and went through several concessions over its existence, but one constant remained: British shareholders held onto a significant share of the profits, while Iran only held onto just a fraction of the company’s profits. AIOC was staffed largely by Iranian workers, who felt shafted that their work was creating such a massive profit for foreign shareholders while their communities did not get to share in the wealth. Enter: National Front.

Mohammad Mossadegh, a veteran parliamentarian, anti-monarchy activist, and leader of the pro-democracy National Front political party, became Prime Minister of Iran in 1951. He won with a campaign centered on reclaiming control of Iran’s natural resources.

A constitutionalist and staunch advocate of Iranian sovereignty, Mossadegh viewed nationalization as not only an economic policy, but a moral and political imperative. Under his leadership, Iranian Parliament (Majlis) approved the nationalization of Iranian oil, asserting Iran’s right to manage its own wealth while sending the rest of the world into panic at the implications.

Levy’s Perspective on the Iranian Crisis

In response to the nationalization vote and Mossadegh’s leadership, Britain imposed a sweeping embargo, Iran’s oil exports collapsed, and diplomatic negotiations stalled. At this moment, Levy’s expertise became particularly valuable. His papers at the AHC feature several documents about the nationalization crisis in Iran, from speeches given to oil industry conferences to analysis documents given to the British and American governments on how to move forward with the crisis. The crisis, in his view, was not so much about Iran as an individual case of oil nationalization but rather the implication that any foreign country with resources could disrupt a global industry.

The Oil Forum February 1954. Box 4, Folder 1, Walter J. Levy papers, Coll. No. 08428, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Levy’s core argument was that the Iranian crisis was not an isolated political dispute but a structural challenge to the global oil system. If Iran succeeded in nationalizing a major foreign-owned oil operation without compromise, other oil-producing nations might follow suit, weakening the multinational framework that coordinated supply and investment.

This was not only economically vulnerable for western nations, but had major military and hard-power implications. Oil was central to NATO’s military readiness, and Levy worried that disruptions in Middle Eastern supply would directly affect Western security. This security was so crucial in the aftermath of a world war that saw entire nations turned to rubble, and the Cold War with the Soviet Union had leaders worried that it may happen again.

Levy was also concerned for Iran, a nation that he did not believe had the military power, economy, or infrastructure to sustain oil manufacturing in this way. He worried that Iran, in taking ownership of its own oil operations, was going to cripple themselves to maintain it.

Levy’s work was essential to helping governments and industries understand the depth of the crisis. In July 1951, Levy accompanied negotiators to a meeting with Mossadegh in Tehran, though no concession was achieved.

Program for the Middle East Institute’s 1953 meeting about the crisis, where Levy delivered potential solutions with Iranian, British and American Leaders. Box 3, Folder 9, Walter J. Levy papers, Coll. No. 08428, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Operation Ajax

In response to the crisis, the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Britain’s Secret Intelligence Agency (MI6) approved a plan to overthrow Mossadegh. Britain viewed Mossadegh’s leadership to be an economic threat, while the United States was worried that Mossadegh’s leadership could open the door to Soviet leadership.

The operation (which they called “Operation Ajax”) involved covert propaganda campaigns, political manipulation, and the bribing of Iranian officials and citizens to undermine Mossadegh’s leadership. Initial attempts failed; the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, refused to remove the Prime Minister as he supported nationalization. But the propaganda campaign was working. Iranians were outraged, taking to the streets en masse – some in support of the Shah’s leadership, and others in opposition to Mossadegh (though, historians debate the authenticity of these protests, with some believing that the protests were part of the broader operation).

Mossadegh, fearing civil unrest, issued a decree to dissolve Parliament, effectively stripping the Shah of his powers, and giving himself power to rule. This act proved devastating for his leadership. The Shah issued a declaration replacing Mossadegh with General Fazlollah Zahedi, a loyalist and a favorite of the United States and the U.K.

The Shah fled the country temporarily, and in his absence, a power struggle between Mossadegh and Zahedi unfolded. Ultimately, Mossadegh was deposed, arrested, and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to life in house arrest, under which he remained until his death in 1967. The United States denied all involvement with the operation until 2013, when the CIA released declassified documents.

Mohammad Mossadegh leaving court during his military tribunal. November 8, 1953. The Associated Press. (accessed through Wikimedia Commons).

The Legacy of Iran’s Oil Nationalization Crisis

The Iranian oil nationalization crisis left a complex legacy. For the West, it reinforced the idea that global energy security required tightly coordinated multinational management. For Iran, the crisis became a symbol of the struggle for sovereignty, a struggle frustrated by foreign intervention. The memory of 1953 shaped Iranian politics for generations and contributed to the anti-Western sentiment that culminated in the 1979 revolution.

Yet the nationalization movement also inspired a global wave of resource sovereignty. By the 1960s and 1970s, many oil-producing nations asserted greater control over their industries, exactly the trend Levy had feared but later analyzed with characteristic nuance.

Map identifying the web of players in Middle Eastern Oil. Box 3, Folder 3, Walter J. Levy papers, Coll. No. 08428, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

A Quiet Architect of Energy History

Walter J. Levy remains a lesser-known figure to the public, but his analyses profoundly shaped Western approaches to the Iranian crisis and the structure of the postwar oil order. Understanding 1953 through his lens reveals how expert knowledge, circulating in reports and briefings rather than headlines, can influence major geopolitical decisions and leave lasting marks on global history.

Post contributed by AHC Archives Aide Rhiannon Skye McLean

To learn more about Mossadegh, Levy, or the Iranian oil crisis, check out the Ottensen District Archive, Stephen Kinzer’s book All the Shah’s Men, and The Mossadegh Project.

Posted in International relations, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Legacy 101: How Wyoming Remembers Nellie Tayloe Ross

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ahcadmin

On December 20, 1977, The Wyoming Eagle marked Nellie Tayloe Ross’ death with a simple but powerful headline: “Nellie Tayloe Ross Dies at 101.” Beneath it, the paper summarized her lifetime of public service and listed her achievements as first woman governor in the United States, first woman director of the U.S. Mint, former vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, lecturer, and campaigner.

In a single opening sentence, the paper captured the scope of Ross’ career and underscored the national significance of a woman who began her public life in Wyoming and carried it onto a national stage.

The Wyoming Eagle December 20, 1977. Box 12, Folder 12, Nellie Tayloe Ross papers, Collection No. 00948, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

January 5, 2025, marks 101 years since Nellie Tayloe Ross took the oath of office as Wyoming’s and the nation’s first woman governor. This post explores how Wyoming remembers and honors Ross and her lasting legacy.

First some background:

After the sudden death of Wyoming Governor William Bradford Ross, voters elected his wife, Nellie Tayloe Ross, governor in a special election. When she took the oath of office on January 5, 1925, Ross became the first woman to serve as governor of a United States state.

While she didn’t win re-election in 1926, she remained active in the Democratic Party, later serving as the Democratic National Committee vice-chair and director of the DNC Women’s Division, two positions that brought her national attention once again.

In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Nellie Tayloe Ross as the first female director of the U.S. Mint, a position she held until 1953. To this day, she is still the longest serving director of the U.S. Mint.

Now, the legacy:

In Wyoming, Nellie Tayloe Ross is remembered in ways that extend beyond a single story or historical marker. Her legacy appears in both ordinary settings and formal commemorations, reflecting her continued presence in the state’s sense of itself and its long-standing identification as the Equality State. When Wyoming recalls its history of political firsts for women, Ross is frequently included, remembered as a figure whose public career began locally and reached national significance.

Ross’ presence is embedded in Wyoming’s physical landscape through buildings, monuments, and public art. At the University of Wyoming, Ross Hall was constructed in 1959 and opened the following year as a women’s dormitory, a naming choice intended to honor a woman whose public service had broken national barriers.

Although Ross did not attend the university, her connection to the campus is grounded in historical circumstance. In 1924, her husband, Governor William Bradford Ross, became ill while speaking in Old Main, an event that directly preceded his death and the special election that brought his wife into office.

  • Ross at construction of Ross Hall with UW President George Duke Humphrey. AHC Photo Files.
  • Ross at dedication of Ross Hall. AHC Photo Files.
  • Relief of Ross in Ross Hall. AHC Photo Files.

She later acknowledged the significance of the honor in a 1960 letter to University of Wyoming President Clifford P. Hansen, writing that the news that one of the new buildings would bear her name stirred in her “sentiments beyond [her] power of expression.” A brass plaque inside the building further marks Ross Hall as a site of remembrance.

  • Letter from Ross to Cliff Hansen dated September 27, 1960, found in her papers.

Public art also plays a role in sustaining Ross’ visibility. Bronze sculptures in downtown Cheyenne place her likeness in the civic landscape of the state capital. The sculpture titled Her Honor the Governor stands directly in front of the Historic Wyoming Governor’s Mansion, and Nellie Tayloe Ross stands down the block from the Wyoming Capitol, both placements appear intentional and visually associate Ross with executive authority. Rather than functioning only as ceremonial markers, these works are encountered in everyday settings, allowing her legacy to remain present through routine use of public space.

  • Ross statues in Cheyenne. Photo credit: Kail Moede, 2025.

Ross’ memory is also sustained through tradition. The Wyoming Democratic Party’s Nellie Tayloe Ross Award and Banquet, which date back to at least 1984, were established only a few years after her death in 1977. The timing reflects an early effort to formalize her contributions into an ongoing act of remembrance. Presented at selected moments rather than continuously, the award preserves Ross’ memory by recognizing women whose service reflects commitment to public life. Anniversaries, particularly milestone years, similarly return Ross to public attention and provide occasions for reflection.

An important part of Ross’ legacy in Wyoming is also shaped by how her papers came to the American Heritage Center. During the late 1950s, Ross received multiple requests from institutions interested in acquiring her personal and professional records, including the Library of Congress, Radcliffe College, and the Wyoming State Historical and Archives Building, now the Wyoming State Archives. These inquiries reflected growing recognition of the historical value of her career and the significance of her role in national and state politics.

  • Ross to Gene Gressley, January 13, 1958 from AHC correspondence files.

Ross ultimately chose to place her papers with the University of Wyoming, transferring them to what would become the American Heritage Center in either 1959 or 1960. Rather than dispersing her materials among national repositories, Ross anchored her legacy in Wyoming, where they could support research, interpretation, and public engagement over time.

The Nellie Tayloe Ross papers include correspondence, speeches, and other materials created and collected by Ross during her long career in public service. These preserved records provide insight not only into her political achievements but also into her working life and decision-making over several decades. Ross’ choice to place her papers at the University of Wyoming reflects an understanding of legacy as something actively shaped, ensuring that future generations would have access to the documentary record of her life and work.

Interpretation and preservation further shape how Ross is remembered. Through a series of blog posts published over time, the American Heritage Center has revisited different aspects of Ross’ life and career, drawing from her papers to highlight different facets of her work. By returning to her story more than once, the AHC avoids presenting a single, fixed narrative.

More than a century after she took the oath of office, Nellie Tayloe Ross remains a figure Wyoming returns to at meaningful moments. Her memory is sustained through continued reference and reinterpretation, shaped by where her name appears and how her story is told. Taken together, these acts of remembrance offer a kind of legacy lesson, showing how Wyoming teaches its history not all at once, but through repetition, place, and practice.

Be on the lookout for a Nellie Tayloe Ross exhibit, coming to the American Heritage Center April 2026!

Post contributed by AHC Historian Kail Moede.

Please see the following resources for more information on Nellie Tayloe Ross:

American Heritage Center blog posts:

 WyoHistory.org article:

Posted in Biography and profiles, Political history, Uncategorized, women's history, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment