A newly digitized collection, the Eleanor McIlhenny papers, provides researchers with a glimpse into the keen reporting of of woman journalist working in the Panama Canal zone from the pre- to post-WWII era. The University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center (AHC) has digitized and made accessible online 180 photographs, printed materials, and subject files from the collection; the majority of the collection is now digitized.

McIlhenny’s photos aren’t all work and no play! Here is a photograph of a wedding, shedding additional light on the social life and customs of the Panama Canal Zone. Eleanor McIlhenny papers , #7704, Box 3. University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center.
Eleanor McIlhenny was a reporter living and working in the Panama Canal Zone from the 1940s to the 1960s. She covered life and work in the Canal Zone during World War II for a variety of papers. The collection contains drafts of stories on the Canal Zone by Eleanor McIlhenny (1940s-1960s); printed materials; photographs, including original canal construction, a 1906 visit by President Theodore Roosevelt, and the Third Locks Project (1941); and bound newspapers.

A ship in the Canal. Eleanor McIlhenny papers , #7704, Box 3. University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center.
Links to digitized items and additional information about the Eleanor McIlhenny papers can be found in the on-line finding aid at: https://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=wyu-ah07704.xml or directly through the digital collections website at: https://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu/luna/servlet/uwydbuwy~131~131
–Jamie Greene, Digital Programs Department
Thank you so much for this glimpse into the past. Eleanor McIlhenny was my grandmother. It is wonderful to see that her articles still live via internet.
Kathleen McIlhenny Turk
Eleanor McIlhenny was a close friend of my grandmother’s, Mary Taylor Sullivan McCaslin. I still have a small stuffed horse toy that she gave me as an infant. I am so excited to see her legacy documented.