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Recent Posts
- From Vision to Legacy: The Milward L. Simpson Fund’s Enduring Impact on UW Political Science
- The Nat King Cole They Knew
- Behind the Scenes at the Cone: Photo and Audio at the American Heritage Center
- “The Fayr Bryght Shynynge Scalyd Fysshes”: How to Fish with Dame Juliana Berners
- Confronting Difficult History: Blackface in Wyoming’s Photographic Past
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Author Archives: ahcadmin
The Nat King Cole They Knew
When Nat Cole was a teenager in Chicago, he couldn’t always afford to get into the clubs where the great jazz pianists played. So he found another way in. His first wife, Nadine, recalled that he would slip around to the alley behind the … Continue reading
Posted in Collections Highlights, Music History, Racism
Tagged 20th century music, African American history, Bobby Troup, Capitol Records, Chris Clark-Tidyman, Civil Rights, Ernest Tidyman, Ernest Tidyman papers, Jazz History, Music Biography, Nat King Cole, Nat King Cole Trio, Oral History, Popular music history, Route 66
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“The Fayr Bryght Shynynge Scalyd Fysshes”: How to Fish with Dame Juliana Berners
Izaak Walton’s 17th century book, The Complete Angler (1653), has gone down in history as one of the most famous treatises on fish and fishing. However, it was not the first of its kind. That honor goes to Dame Juliana … Continue reading
Confronting Difficult History: Blackface in Wyoming’s Photographic Past
When I first encountered these photographs in the American Heritage Center’s collections, I was genuinely jarred. As a white person researching these images from 1920s-30s Wyoming, I found myself uncomfortable and unsettled. My immediate reaction was emotional rather than academic … Continue reading
Posted in Collections Highlights, Racism, Uncategorized
Tagged 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, American Heritage Center, Bighorn Basin, blackface, Carbon County, CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps, difficult history, Encampment Wyoming, Hugo G. Janssen, Lora Webb Nichols, Lovell Wyoming, minstrelsy, New Deal, Photographic collections, race history, Wyoming history
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Krazy George and the Wave
This story expands on “‘From Sparti and His Spear to Pete and His Pistol,” a WyoHistory.org article by University Archivist John Waggener that tells the story of the first Pistol Pete mascot, Don Bogdan. When Don Bogdan handed his San … Continue reading
Behind the Mountain: The Story of the Centennial Complex
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. … Continue reading
Posted in American Heritage Center, Architecture, Centennial Complex, Uncategorized, University Architecture, University of Wyoming
Tagged American Heritage Center, Antoine Predock, Centennial Complex, Eleanor Chatterton Kennedy, Joe and Arlene Watt, Mike Sullivan, Terry Roark, Toppan Rare Books Library, University of Wyoming Art Museum, University of Wyoming Centennial, University of Wyoming history
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Edith “Jackie” Ronne – Antarctica’s First Lady
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. Born in … Continue reading
Field Notes from Wyoming’s Roving Archivist
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Programs & Services, Uncategorized, Wyoming history
Tagged archival best practices, archival preservation, collections stewardship, community archives, cultural heritage institutions, Morgan Stence, National Historic Publications and Records Commission, nhprc, RAP, Wyoming cultural heritage, Wyoming libraries, Wyoming museums, Wyoming Roving Archivist Program, Wyoming State Archives, Wyoming State Historic Records and Advisory Board
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Vera Marshe and the Lucky ‘E’
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. She was a Minnesota native, and an early performer. … Continue reading
Posted in Collections Highlights, Hollywood history, Performing Arts, Uncategorized, Women in Hollywood
Tagged 1930s Hollywood, Adele Astaire, astrology, Comedy performers, early television, Entertainment History, Fred Astaire, Golden Age of Hollywood, Minnesota performers, Ozzie and Harriet, Sterling Holloway, The Band Wagon, Vaudeville, Vera Marshe
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