Antelope Charlie’s West: The Digitized Photography of Charles Belden

Posted on March 22, 2011 by ahcadmin
Charles Belden holding camera

Charles Belden holding camera

The American Heritage Center has completed a project to digitize the Charles Belden photographs, one of the AHC’s more prominent collections of photographs and negatives.

Most of the photographs in the collection were take in the 1920s and 1930s on the legendary Pitchfork Ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming. Located at the base of the Absaroka Mountains, the 250,000-acre ranch provided fertile ground for Belden’s photography. By photographing cowboys and cattle against the dramatic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, he created some of the classic images of the American West. These photographs depict everyday life on the Pitchfork Ranch, Yellowstone National Park, raising antelope, dude ranching, rodeo, and landscapes of Wyoming and the American West.

While interest in (and digitization of) this collection has in the past focused on Belden’s Western images, the collection also contains photographs from Belden’s many travels including trips to Europe, Northern California, and Panama. Belden’s European photographs capture city scenes and landscapes from Germany, Russia, Belgium, and Switzerland, among many other countries. Of particular note in Belden’s photographs from Panama are images of the construction of the Panama Canal.

The collection also contains pleasant surprises, such as photographs of the German zeppelin Hindenberg, which transported antelope from Wyoming to zoos worldwide.

Links to digitized photographs can be found in the online inventory for the collection. To browse and search the collection in full, you can access the digital collection. For a curated selection showcasing Belden’s most iconic Western imagery, visit our Virmuze exhibit “Collection Spotlight: Charles J. Belden photographs.”

The digitization of this collection was partially funded by the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, which in 2010 awarded the AHC a $10,000 to digitize over 7,000 images from six of its premier photographic collections. The Charles Belden photographs were the first of the collections scanned from this grant.

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Hugo Janssen Photographs Digitized

Posted on March 14, 2011 by ahcadmin

The American Heritage Center has completed a project to digitize 914 negatives from Lovell, Wyoming, based photographer, Hugo Janssen.

Medicine Wheel Bar, Lovell, WY (undated)

Medicine Wheel Bar, Lovell, WY (undated)

Hugo Gerhard Janssen (1893-1960) was born in Germany on July 17, 1893, and arrived in Lovell just prior to World War I. He owned and operated Janssen Studio, established in 1917, until his death on November 28, 1960. The collection is comprised mostly of negatives of the town and people of Lovell, Wyoming, as well as the surrounding Bighorn Mountains.

Also included in the collection are photographs of Yellowstone National Park (undated), and images of the Grand Canyon and San Francisco from 1923.

Links to digitized photographs can be found in the online inventory for the collection. To browse and search the collection in full, please access the digital collection at: https://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu/luna/servlet/uwydbuwy~25~25.

The digitization of this collection was partially funded by the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, which in 2010 awarded the AHC a $10,000 to digitize over 7,000 images from six of its premier photographic collections. The Hugo Janssen photographs are the second collection digitized from this grant.

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O’Mahoney’s Wyoming: A Dive into the Political Landscape of a Stalwart Senator

Posted on February 23, 2011 by ahcadmin

Joseph C. O’Mahoney was a Wyoming Democratic senator for 25 years, 1934-1960. He was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on November 5, 1884. He moved to Cheyenne in 1916 where he worked at a newspaper owned by John Kendrick, then governor of Wyoming. Kendrick soon became senator, and employed O’Mahoney as his secretary in Washington. After his election to President in 1933, FDR appointed O’Mahoney First Assistant Postmaster General. Later that year, O’Mahoney assumed the Wyoming senatorial seat after the death of Kendrick. He held that senate seat until he was defeated in 1952, but was reelected in 1954 after a special election due to the death of Senator Lester C. Hunt. O’Mahoney remained senator until 1960, when he decided not to run for reelection due to failing health. He died in 1962.

O’Mahoney during a 1945 presentation before the Senate

While in the Senate, O’Mahoney served on many important committees, including Appropriations, Judiciary, Temporary National Economic Committee, and Irrigation and Reclamation. He was also the Chairman for many committees, including the Committee on Public Lands, Defense Appropriations, Interior and Insular Affairs, and Indian Affairs. He was an opponent of “Big Business” and monopolies, and was heavily involved with anti-trust legislation. Although O’Mahoney was a strong supporter of FDR and New Deal programs, he did split with Roosevelt over the Supreme Court packing issue. O’Mahoney consistently kept Wyoming residents’ interests in mind regarding issues such as oil, livestock, sugar, and use of land and water.

O’Mahoney at a Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, WPA work site

This collection has a wealth of information related to important issues of the period. It primarily contains files from O’Mahoney’s time as senator of Wyoming such as correspondence, legislative and committee files, speeches, news releases and clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, research files, and campaign materials. The collection does contain a few files from his time as First Assistant Postmaster General, as well as some files from his law career.  The inventory for the collection includes links to over 2,700 digitized documents from the collection!

The re-processing of the Joseph C. O’Mahoney collection was part of a grant project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The two-year project made 41 collections (totaling 2288 feet) relating to the Great Depression more accessible through electronic finding aids and enhanced organization. The collections included as part of this grant cover a range of areas relating to the Depression, including the New Deal, Journalism, Anti-Trust, Business, Entertainment, Public Works, and Agriculture and Ecology.

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Time-Traveling Through Toppan: A Peek into the Pages of Ancient Wisdom

Posted on February 18, 2011 by ahcadmin

Alexander of Hales (ca.1185 to 1245) was a Franciscan scholar from Gloucestershire, England, who taught theology and philosophy in Paris. He was obviously still popular in the fifteenth century when this book was printed in Germany by Anton Koberger: one of the most important international printer/publishers of the time. (Koberger is most well-known for producing what is known in English as the Nuremberg Chronicle, and was also the godfather of the great Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer.)

Donated by Dr. William F. Fitzhugh, this Koberger example is historically significant because it one of only four of the Toppan Library’s thirteen volumes of “incunabula” (i.e., books printed before 1500) which still retain their fifteenth-century bindings (although the metal center and corner pieces have been stripped off this one at some point). It is a good example of characteristic German binding of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: sturdy, alum-tawed pigskin over wooden boards; two brass clasps; and hand-tooled decorations covering both front and back covers with different designs. Although quite worn now, we need to remember that it would have looked a lot nicer when new (over five hundred years ago!), particularly with its metal fittings intact.

The outside of this book gives no clue as to the surprise waiting inside. As one carefully opens the heavy wooden cover, and proceeds to the first page of text, a stunning illumination glows from the page. Although this book was printed on a handpress in Gothic typefont, we see the love of gold embellishment continuing from the Medieval illuminated manuscript tradition. A skilled artist has painted (onto a space left on the printed page) a multi-colored frame around a foliated green initial letter, set on a gilt background. (Although it looks to us like a small a, it is actually a form of a manuscript-style capital C, and starts the word “Completis.”) The alternation of bands of color on the frame is intriguing; and the diapered pattern is exquisite, with lines created by a dotted roll tool, and filled in with a three-leaf hand tool pressed repeatedly into the gold.

The rest of the large book is filled with “rubrications” of red or blue initial letters, energetically hand-painted with calligraphic flourishes onto high-quality linen rag paper. Although we do not have the other three volumes of the set (it is just part two), we are proud to have it in the Toppan Library for people to enjoy.

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Mormon Handcart Pioneers

Posted on February 11, 2011 by ahcadmin
An Original Hand-Cart Member

“An Original Hand-Cart Member,” women who pushed hand carts when they came to Wyoming

Mid-19th Century Mormon handcart pioneers migrated from the midwest to Salt Lake City, pushing their belongings across the many miles in handcarts, an arduous and dangerous task. The Hugo G. Janssen Photographs (1918-1955) contain photographs of original hand-cart members from Lovell, WY.

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Cheramy Collection: Unveiling American Indian History at the Toppan Rare Books Library

Posted on February 10, 2011 by ahcadmin

The Toppan Rare Books Library is home to a remarkable piece of history – The Cheramy Collection. Donated in 2008 by Ed and Shirley Cheramy of Jackson, Wyoming, this collection comprises more than 150 books, articles, and government publications that explore American Indian history from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Focused primarily on the Plains Indians, with a spotlight on the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, it covers diverse subjects such as American Indian Photographs and Portraits, Religion, Music, Language, Art, American Indian Wars, and U.S. Government Relations.

The bulk of the materials not only narrate the historical events but also provide a nuanced understanding of the cultural nuances, traditions, and challenges faced by the communities during this period.

The Cheramy Collection is a standout component in the University of Wyoming’s rare book collection, which includes more than 60,000 items. Beyond American Indian history, the library’s holdings extend to cover the American West, British and American literature, early exploration of North America, religion, hunting and fishing, natural history, women authors, and the book arts.

The Toppan Library welcomes visitors, making it a hub of learning for scholars, undergraduates, and the curious public alike. To access the Cheramy Collection or any other items in the Toppan Rare Books Library, you’re invited to connect with the rare books curator, Dr. Mary Beth Brown, at mary.brown@uwyo.edu or (307) 766-2565.

Supporting Wyoming’s Indian Education for All

The Cheramy Collection, along with the AHC’s extensive archival holdings and its K-5 Teaching Resources – Indigenous Tribes of Wyoming exhibit, serve as valuable resources for educators implementing Wyoming’s Indian Education for All mandate.

These primary source materials—including photographs, documents, manuscripts, and more related to Wyoming’s Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes—are available through digitized resources, online exhibits, and with assistance from Reference Department staff to help teachers educate students about the cultural heritage, history, and contributions of Wyoming’s tribal nations while supporting Wyoming Social Studies Standards.

For more information about the Center’s resources, contact the AHC’s Reference Department at ahcref@uwyo.edu.

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Rockies Playground: Short and Sweet Snowshoeing Insights

Posted on January 14, 2011 by ahcadmin

ca. 1930, Stephen Leek papersCollection No. 3138, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

When it’s winter in the Rocky Mountains, one of the best ways to beat the doldrums that come with the season is to get outside for some exercise!  Snowshoes make it possible to do just that!  The style of snowshoe pictured here was most commonly constructed from white ash and rawhide but since the 1960s, outdoor recreation companies have been manufacturing them from diverse materials like aluminum and neoprene.  According to the United States Snowshoe Association, the technology of the snowshoe originated 6,000 years ago in what are now Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and virtually every American Indian tribe in North America developed its own version prior to European contact.  Originally intended to facilitate hunting and other work in winter conditions, the snowshoe is now used more often for recreation.

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Pop Culture Time Capsule: William Dozier’s Papers and The Green Hornet Legacy

Posted on January 11, 2011 by ahcadmin

 

William Dozier Papers, AHC

From comic books, radio, television and now the big screen, The Green Hornet has been fascinating audiences since the 1930s.  At the American Heritage Center, part of this amazing history is captured in the William Dozier papers. In the mid 1960s, William Dozier’s production company, Greenway Productions, created a television adaptation of The Green Hornet.

The show starred Van Williams as Britt Reid/The Green Hornet and Bruce Lee as his sidekick, Kato.  William Dozier, in addition to producing the show, also served as the show’s narrator. The show only aired for one season before being cancelled but still marked another important chapter in the history of The Green Hornet.

The Green Hornet and Kato alongside their car, Black Beauty. William Dozier Papers, AHC

Within Dozier’s collection you will find photographs, newspaper clippings, cast and production information, and many other archival materials related to the 1960’s television adaptation of The Green Hornet. In addition to this program, William Dozier also produced the mid-1960s Batman television series.  Information about these shows and many other aspects of Dozier’s career are documented in his collection.  For more information, a detailed finding aid of Dozier’s papers is available online.

In addition to William Dozier’s papers, the American Heritage Center also holds many other great collections related to pop culture and the entertainment industry, including several more related to 1960s television shows. Among the broader collections documenting the history of radio, television, film, and other aspects of popular entertainment are the papers of comic book legend, Stan Lee, and the papers and Oscar® award winning film legend Barbara Stanwyck.

Posted in Entertainment history, popular culture, resources, television history | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shattering Stereotypes: The Remarkable Story of Nellie Tayloe Ross

Posted on January 6, 2011 by ahcadmin

On January 5, 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross, a Democrat, was sworn-in as Governor of Wyoming, becoming the first woman in American history to serve as a state governor.  Mrs. Ross was elected through a special election on November 4th, 1924 to fill the remainder of the term for the previous governor, and her husband, William B. Ross, who died unexpectedly in office.

During the brief campaign, and subsequent election, many critics denounced the idea of a woman becoming the state’s highest elected official.  As the state’s chief executive, Governor Ross fought for farm aid, tax and banking reforms, increased educational funding, and worker protection laws.  Despite her best efforts, the Republican controlled state legislature defeated the majority of her legislative initiatives.  In an increasingly Republican leaning state, Governor Ross lost her 1926 reelection bid by less than fourteen hundred votes.  After her electoral defeat, Mrs. Ross remained active at the national level for the Democratic Party, including serving as the Democratic National Committee vice-chair and director of the DNC Women’s Division.  In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed her as the first female director of the U.S. Mint, a position she would hold until her retirement in 1953.

Papers relating to the political career and personal life of Nellie Tayloe Ross can be found at the American Heritage Center and at the Wyoming State Archives.  The AHC has digitized the correspondence, political papers, and photograph series of the Nellie Tayloe Ross papers, which represent approximately five and a half cubic feet of primary documents.  Additionally, Ms. Ross is featured in the AHC virtual exhibit, In Pursuit of Equality.

The images for this post were taken from the Nellie Tayloe Ross papers, Collection 948, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, and the text is a re-post from the blog, Women’s History Sources.

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Toppan Selection: James Atkinson, Esq., Sketches in Afghaunistan [London: Henry Graves & Co.], 1842

Posted on December 31, 2010 by ahcadmin

James Atkinson (1780-1852) was one of the first Europeans to explore Afghanistan, and served as an infantry surgeon there. The Belgian lithographers Louis and Charles Haghe reproduced his original watercolor drawings as twenty-six individual plates in this oversize portfolio (18 inches x 22 inches). The lithographs were double-tinted (beige and blue, using two different litho-stones) and the brighter details were hand-colored.

Atkinson’s description about the title page image says that it “represents a Den in the Mountains of the Bolan Pass, with a party of Beloochees ready to commence a cowardly and murderous attack on the British troops.” (The Bolan Pass is in the modern country of Pakistan.) The illustrations document the time of the first “Anglo-Afghan War,” when the British were in control of nearby India. Fortunately, Atkinson had just left Kabul in 1841, so narrowly escaped the 1842 massacre of thousands of British soldiers and camp followers. In fact, another of his plate descriptions (plate 21) refers to that almost total annihilation having just occurred, with some British commanders and ladies taken hostage taken by the ruffian Akhbar Khan. Atkinson concludes: “The result has not yet transpired.”

Some of the illustrations depict skirmishes as British troops move through towering mountain passes; but others show local people in tranquil landscapes or village scenes, engaged in activities such as trading. A few scenes include women who are concealed in long white “boorkas” (that head-to-toe cloak is now more commonly spelled burqa, burka, or burkha). The final plate illustrates how the young women looked at home in Caubel [Kabul] compared to how they dressed for going out in public.

To learn more about the collections and programs of the Toppan Library, click here.

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