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