Back to the Future in Wyoming: Addressing 1980s Energy Boom Impacts in Evanston

Posted on August 19, 2019 by ahcadmin

“I’ve got to see it to believe it” was Evanston mayor Dennis Ottley’s first reaction when he heard about the Overthrust Industrial Association (OIA). A 1983 issue of the Christian Science Monitor, reported that Ottley was incredulous that an industry-backed organization would assist his southwestern Wyoming town through the growing pains of an energy boom. “I made that statement, but I ate them words,” said Ottley, adding, “I think we proved to the world that industry and local government can work together.”

The Overthrust Industrial Association (OIA) was an organization of 36 oil and gas producers and service/supply firms founded in 1980 by Chevron, Amoco, and Champlin. The OIA’s mission was to help local governments in southwestern Wyoming, northeastern Utah, and southeastern Idaho manage socioeconomic and environmental impacts caused by the rapid development of oil and gas resources in the energy-rich geological formation known as the Overthrust Belt.

image with text - memo letter
Memo outlining the urgency to create the OIA as media outlets began reporting conditions in communities in the Overthrust Belt impacted by energy producing activities, Overthrust Industrial Association records, Box 1, Folder 5.
image with text page 2 of memo
Memo outlining the urgency to create the OIA as media outlets began reporting conditions in communities in the Overthrust Belt impacted by energy producing activities, Overthrust Industrial Association records, Box 1, Folder 5.

There was certainly an overflow of issues for the energy companies and Evanston to tackle. Schools were packed to the rafters; oil field workers were living in their cars; construction workers had set up “bachelor camps” on the edge of town; and crime rates soared. According to a Winter 1981 article in the magazine Wyoming Issues, Evanston had grown from a population of 4,862 in 1977 to 7000+ in 1981.

image with text; number projections
Employee projections for 1981 and 1982 contained in report issued by the Lincoln-Uinta Association of Governments. Overthrust Industrial Association records, Box 1, Folder 2.

The first step by the industry-community partnership of OIA was a series of meetings, beginning in February 1981, where Evanston residents could air their grievances. Next came the establishment of a committee to present community requests to the OIA, which, as of 1983, provided about $100 million for schools, roads, water lines, sewers, and other projects.

The Monitor’s article quotes Evanston city administrators regarding the OIA. City administrator Stephen Snyder explained to the Monitor that the OIA was pushed into existence partly because of pressure from county government, which had the power to deny the building permits the companies sought. According to Mayor Ottley, by the time the OIA was launched, the people of Evanston had long been in the dark as to how big a boom to expect. “The energy companies weren’t telling us much,” Ottley said.

“But the OIA has been very good,” Julie Lehman, director of the city housing authority, told the Monitor. ”And if it never did anything but facilitate communications between industry and governmental entities, it would be worth it.”

image with text; OIA newsletter
First issue of Overthrust News, a newsletter published the OIA, Overthrust Industrial Association records, Box 12, Folder 4
image with text
Last page of the first Overthrust News showing an attempt by OIA to address rumors, Overthrust Industrial Association, Box 12, Folder 4.

The Monitor was somewhat patronizing in concluding, “Evanston may not be your candidate for city beautiful, but Chuck McLean of the Denver Research Group gives the city high marks for the way it has coped.”  

Besides passing out funds, the OIA retained a consulting firm, the Denver Research Group, to develop a comprehensive plan for streets, utilities, and so on, and to help the city lobby for grant money from other sources. Out of these efforts came the seed of the Evanston Renewal Ball, which still exists and has grown from a community celebration involving a handful of volunteers to a major fundraising event. The primary purpose of the Ball has become the preservation and revitalization of the downtown and the rail yards.

image with text - memo from Denver Research Group, Inc.
The Denver Research Group closely monitored media coverage for industry partners in the OIA, Overthrust Industrial Association records, Box 11, Folder 5.

As the energy boom subsided in the mid-1980s, so did the OIA. By 1984, the OIA was publishing its last issues of Overthrust News. By 1985, an energy bust had already engulfed Wyoming.

image with text
One of the last issues of Overthrust News in 1984 addressed questions regarding the phase-down of the OIA in the wake of the energy production slowdown.
image with text
Overthrust Industrial Association records, Box 12, Folder 5.
image with text
Overthrust Industrial Association records, Box 12, Folder 5.

The OIA records at the UW American Heritage Center contain administrative files beginning with the development of the OIA concept in 1979 and ending with the practical shutdown of the organization in 1985. Files document interaction with local government agencies and oil and gas corporations and describe the assistance provided to impacted communities. Original order has been maintained and a printed guide to the files, written by the organization, is included.

Blog contribution by Leslie Waggener, Archivist, Arrangement and Description

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Posted in Economic Geology, Economic History, energy resources, Local history, Natural resources, Western history, western politics and leadership, Wyoming, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Foremost Fungi Authority: W.G. Solheim

Posted on July 29, 2019 by ahcadmin

Wilhelm G. Solheim was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin, in 1898. He earned his M.A. degree in 1926, followed by his Doctorate in 1928, from the University of Illinois. He came to UW that next year and worked as professor emeritus for over fifty years (Laramie Daily Boomerang, 1978). He headed the Botany department and later he became the dean of Arts and Sciences for a year.

He was known “as the foremost authority on the fungi of the Rocky Mountain region” (Laramie Daily Boomerang, 1978). He retired from UW in 1963 where he then traveled to Afghanistan. He passed away on May 18, 1978, just after his eightieth birthday.

newspaper with text -- transcribed in text
University of Wyoming Associated Students. “Solheim to Serve in Afghanistan Program,” Branding Iron (August 9, 1963) Accessed May 14, 2019: hdl.handle.net/10176/wyu:324065.

Transcription of Branding Iron Article:

Solheim to Serve in Afghanistan Program

W. G. Solheim, UW professor, left Laramie Saturday for Afghanistan where he will serve as chief administrator of the UW Afghanistan contract program at Kabul.

The program is being carried out by a 15-member team of professors under a contract between UW and the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), an agency of the U.S. Department of State. UW has been involved in various phases of the Afghan program over the past 11 years.

Solheim’s appointment became effective Aug. 1, following federal confirmation. His wife will accompany him during the two-year stint.

Enroute to Afghanistan via a western route, Solheim and his wife will stop in Bangkock, Thailand, to visit briefly with their son, W.G. Solheim, II, a 1947 graduate who holds a doctorate in anthropology and who is conducting field research there. They will also spend three days in New Delhi, India, where Solheim will address a meeting of the Indian Phytopathological Society.

Solheim was born in Stoughton, Wis., graduated from Augustana College and Normal School in 1920, received his bachelor’s degree in 1924 from Iowa State Teachers College and his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Illionois in 1926 and 1928, respectively.

He has served UW as professor of botany and as acting dean of the college of arts and sciences.

A member of Phi Beta Kappa and numerous other honoraries, including Sigma Xi, Phi Sigma Phi Eta and Kappa Delta Pi, he has also served on the executive committee of the Colorado-Wyoming Academy Research Foundation.

He was a field agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the summers of 1923-25 and taught at North Dakota Agricultural College before joining the UW faculty in 1929.

During World War I he served in England and France with the Army and has since traveled extensively in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Solheim has published actively in the field of botany since 1927 and has conducted numerous research projects including those on vitamins and the growth of fungi in pure culture, the effect of natural gases on the growth of plants and rust fungi of North Dakota. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, photography and stamp collecting.

person sitting at desk; person standing looking at person at desk
University of Wyoming Associated Students. “Wyo Senior class of 1950,” University of Wyoming (1950) Accessed May 14, 2019: hdl.handle.net/10176/wyu:78199.

Some little known facts about W. G. Solheim include that he served in World War I.

He earned an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree in 1978.

man sitting in graduation regalia with diploma and woman looking on
Newspaper photo of W.G. Solheim and his wife. W.G. Solheim I, AHC Bio File, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming

To learn more about W.G. Solheim I and his work in mycology, see the W.G. Solheim papers at the American Heritage Center.

Blog contribution by MaKayla Garnica, William D. Carlson Endowment Intern

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Posted in Agricultural history, Agriculture, environmental history, faculty/staff profiles, Interns' projects, Local history, University of Wyoming, University of Wyoming history, Wyoming, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tales and Traditions: Folklife in Wyoming

Posted on July 15, 2019 by ahcadmin

Folklife is a complex, important and large component of culture. It encompasses the art, traditions and knowledge that passes down among a group of people and can be seen through dance, music, artwork, storytelling, ceremonies and belief sharing. While sometimes thought of as something “old” or “old-fashioned,” folklife is instead fluid and changes as the community changes. The elements of folklife – doing, making, believing, speaking and teaching – create a shared sense of identity by connecting people to the past through actions of the present.

wooden box full of decorated eggs
Lisa McDonald, Ukrainian egg decorating

The Wyoming Folklife Archive collection at the American Heritage Center (AHC) documents the activities, artworks and traditions of the many diverse groups in the state. Within the collection you’ll find examples of folklife from Basque, cowboy, Eastern European, Hispanic and Shoshoni communities, among many others. Some elements of dances and craftwork might be familiar, while other elements of cuisine and architecture are new. They all nevertheless represent the widespread uniqueness of Wyoming’s many communities.

decorate origami on a stand on a table
Rose Aguilar, Gillette, Okinawan painter and Origami maker

In 2015, an exhibit, The Art of the Hunt: Wyoming Traditions, was shown at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne. It was a collaborative project between the Wyoming Arts Council and the University of Wyoming’s American Studies Program that explored the deep-rooted traditions, stories and skills Wyomingites have that connect them to hunting. Hunting involves more than the pursuit of animals. It can be stories of previous hunts, sharing of knowledge about how to track, strategies, and migratory patterns, as well as the creation of tools used in the pursuit.

The 5-year-long collection of research behind the exhibit is housed at the AHC. Within it contains photos of and interviews with over 100 people involved in Wyoming’s art of the hunt, such as saddle makers, fly fishers, knife makers, ranchers and taxidermists.

In addition to The Art of the Hunt: Wyoming Traditions materials in the Wyoming Folklife Archives collection, you can see photos of blacksmithing, leather working, jewelry-making, painting, woodcarving, ropemaking and more.

wood carving of grass, tree, and barn
Larry Simmons, Glenrock, Woodcarver

You can also listen to song recordings and both audio and video interviews of fly tiers, knifemakers, spinners, weavers, poets, and songwriters.

The Wyoming Folklife Archive collection at the AHC was created by the folklife coordinators and specialists at the University of Wyoming’s American Studies program and builds on the work of the State of Wyoming’s Council of Arts. Today new records showing Wyoming folklife are collected through the combined efforts of the UW American Studies program, the Wyoming Arts Council and the Wyoming Humanities Council.

To learn more about Wyoming folklife, see the Wyoming Folklife Archive collection at the American Heritage Center.

Listen to Wyoming’s Musical Heritage

Ready to experience the sounds of Wyoming folklife? Explore our exhibit “Songs of the West” on Virmuze, which features folk musicians from across the state whose art reflects Wyoming’s rich cultural traditions. From traditional songs passed down through generations to contemporary compositions inspired by Wyoming landscapes, discover how music serves as a vital thread connecting communities and preserving stories. The exhibit includes audio recordings and stories from artists like Mike Hurwitz and Dave Munsick, as well as musical gatherings from the Jackson Hole Hootenanny to the Rock Springs Polka Fest—all part of the Wyoming Folklife Collection that continues to document our state’s living cultural heritage.

Posted in Local history, oral histories, Wyoming, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Traveling With the Ninth Cavalry

Posted on June 17, 2019 by ahcadmin

The 9th United States Cavalry was formed during the Civil War as a segregated unit with African American troopers and white officers. The regiment was stationed in the West in 1867 and served in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming. In 1898 it took part in the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba.

black and white painting of soldiers on horses marching in line in arid mountain climate

Frederic Remington “Arizona Territory, 1888”, oil painting, George Rentschler collection, American Heritage Center. Remington’s painting appeared in Century Magazine under the title “A Scout with the Buffalo Soldiers.” Remington was traveling with the 10th Cavalry, sister regiment the 9th, also made up of white officers and African American soldiers.

In 1891, Troop E, located at Fort Washakie, Wyoming, was ordered to Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The wife of one of the officers, Lieutenant Montgomery Parker, had given birth to a daughter three weeks before. She was still weak, so her mother, Mary E. Almy, came to Fort Washakie to help during the move. Mrs. Parker was laid on the floor of the “ambulance” (a covered wagon) cushioned by eight buffalo hides. The new baby, Mildred, was placed in an Arapaho cradle board attached to the ribs of the wagon cover. Between caring for her daughter and granddaughter, Mary Almy kept a journal of the trip which began on May 18, 1891.

circle photo of white house with grassland and sparse trees throughout property.

Fort Washakie, Wyoming, 1895, Mary Wilson Pascual collection, American Heritage Center. Fort Washakie was located on the Wind River Reservation. It was abandoned in 1908.

“I am chief nurse and doctoress and so far am getting along very successfully. L [Lizabeth] stands the trips, excitements and all very well, and her appetite is improving, and I see no reason why she shouldn’t go through all right. [Mildred] loves to cuddle and be cuddled and kissed and fussed over. That makes her such a comfort and plaything.”

Mrs. Almy also took note of the soldiers who created their camp at the end of each day after a difficult march: “This horde of black men got the seven tents up for the officers in marvelously quick time…The escort wagons were mired twice today.” Almy provided details about one such incident. “The escort wagons were ahead. Two first ones decided to drive through the pond, down a steep pitch and up an incline. They got over all right. Number three, the heaviest of all, with trunks and bedding, then came down. Mr. Driver thought he’d take the road…tipping the huge bulky old wagon on its side, down the embankment and into the pond. I thought, ‘Oh, Mary! All the clothes you’ve got are in the consommé!’” Fortunately, the contents of the wagon had little damage.

More excitement was encountered at the crossing of the Sweetwater River. “The men cut down the bank on the farther side of the river to make the ascent less steep. L…took Mildred in her lap and put her feet up on the opposite seat, where the bags and the rugs were piled almost to the top of the ambulance. Mont got in to keep them from falling off the seat, and a lively time those rebellious bags gave him, chasing each other off the seats, on the floor, into the water that slowly oozed in between the cracks, as we bounced over boulders and slipped between the rocks.”

black and white image; nature landscape with hills, two pronghorn in foreground.

Pronghorn in Wyoming, undated, Dan W. Greenburg collection, American Heritage Center. Pronghorn are miscalled antelope — they are actually related to goats.

Hunting was apparently encouraged to supplement rations. “We have had hopes of an antelope all day,” Almy noted, “as we have seen them several times at a distance, but the men are not good hunters, therefore they missed two that are quite close.” Lizabeth Parker also had bad luck. “Close to the road we drove on to seven sage hens. Holmes, the driver, had a carbine. L got out and walked to a good shooting distance and fired and shot too high, of course. She fired again at two, close together, and the ball struck the ground between them. If she had had a short gun, she’d have gotten the two hens.” It was not all disappointment. The Parkers’ “striker”, Greene, “came to the tent and rapped. ‘Can I speak to the lieutenant?’ He had five small fish. Some of the men are catching them in a net here in the Platte River.”

black and white image; dirt road in center of a town -- featuring many wooden buildings

Center Street, Casper, Wyoming, 1890, Looking North, Petroleum Information collection, American Heritage Center.

On June 12 the company arrived in Casper, where, according to Almy, “we attain the commonplace again.” At Casper, the troops were loaded onto railroad cars for the rest of the trip to Fort Robinson. From Fort Robinson Mary Almy mailed her journal to a relative with instructions to return it later, so she could copy it into Mildred’s baby book as a record of “Mildred’s First Journey.”

In 1981 Mildred, now grown and married to General Barton Kyle Yount, sent a transcription of the narrative to the American Heritage Center. “I cannot send the original” she explained, “because the paper it is written on is so old that it is cracking.” Mildred Almy Parker Yount died in 1986.

The location of the original journal is now unknown.

Extracts from Mary E. Almy journal, Collection Number 3596, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Mort Weisinger: Superman’s Superman

Posted on May 20, 2019 by ahcadmin

Among the American Heritage Center’s comic book industry collections are evidence of the way in which industry insiders attempted to legitimize their business following the comic book moral panic of the 1950s. Fredric Wertham’s 1954 monograph, Seduction of the Innocent – which linked comic books with juvenile crime and perversion – and the 1954 United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings led to the denigration of comic books as a form of media. In order to save their business, six publishers, including National Comics (DC), formed the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) to self-censor their work.

The records in the Mort Weisinger papers demonstrate how the editor worked to reclaim a cultural space for his medium after this public castigation. As the editor of DC’s Superman titles, Mort Weisinger was in frequent contact with politicians, writers, and others to promote the comics under his purview. His efforts helped both to keep DC’s characters in the spotlight and to rehabilitate the image of comic books following the panic of the 1950s.

In 1963, DC planned to include a story in Superman no. 168 in which Superman worked on behalf of President John F. Kennedy to inspire children to work on physical fitness. It later appeared in issue 170 (cover date July 1964). According to the story’s introductory text, “White House officials… informed [DC] that President Johnson wanted it published, as a tribute to his great predecessor.”[1] Weisinger wrote to the late President’s brother, bringing both the story and a letter from Robert F. Kennedy’s son to his attention. Kennedy’s reply, indication of his appreciation for Weisinger’s thoughtfulness in writing, helps show the way in which Weisinger sought official approval of DC’s work.[2]

Kennedy letter

Letter from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to Mort Weisinger about Superman 170 that was published as a tribute to John F. Kennedy, June 4, 1964. Box 13, Folder 8, Mort Weisinger papers.

Weisinger further courted official support of DC’s characters by gifting Batman posters to Lester L. Wolff, Representative of New York’s 3rd District. Wolff wrote of the posters, “My staff is convinced they can be a great campaign aid. ‘Batman’ is such a phenomenon. I wish I had his touch.”[3] A decade prior, following Fredric Wertham’s accusation that Batman represented gay propaganda, no politician would have joked about using the character as a campaign aide. By 1966, with the success of the ABC series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, it made sense for a politician to jump on the bandwagon.

Wolff letter

Letter from Representative Lester Wolff of New York to Mort Weisinger thanking him for sending “Batman” TV show posters to his New York campaign office, June 17, 1966. Box 13, Folder 12, Mort Weisinger papers.

As an editor at a member company of the Comics Magazine Association of America, Weisinger’s papers include the CMAA’s newsletter. The June 1966 issue details accounts of comics “in use as teaching aids” in the Bronx, Texas, Mexico, and England, thereby arguing that comics play a role as educational tools much like other media, such as film.[4] A second story discusses the Library of Congress’s growing comics collection, at the time including “more than 12,000 copies of some 2,500 titles that have been published since the 1930s.”[5]

CMAA newsletter

The second page of the June 1966 Comics Magazine Association of America newsletter. Box 24, Folder 1, Mort Weisinger papers.

By 1969, Mort Weisinger received a letter from John C. Baker, the Public Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Commerce, reporting that “others in the Census Bureau are enthusiastic about [Weisinger’s] proposal that Superman become a champion of the 1970 census, through two issues of the monthly Superman comic book and a special 16-page Superman book.”[6] The letter builds upon the use of comics as an educational tool, outlining ways in which a Superman story can explain the function of the census and get children involved with their parents in participating. Baker further invites Weisinger to have the artist and writer of a possible story visit the Census Bureau office, thereby granting more official sanction to comics as a medium capable of contributing to society.

The Mort Weisinger papers capture a critical moment in comic book history in which he used his position as an editor at one of the largest publishers to validate the comic book medium after the public shaming of the 1950s. Mort Weisinger sought official approval from members of the government to demonstrate the educational value of comic books and their ability to comment on critical events like any other form of media. As a result of his actions and those of others in the industry, comic book writers and artists currently enjoy greater creative freedom while the comics themselves now influence other forms of media, generating multi-billion dollar profits for their corporate parents.

[1] E. Nelson Bridwell, “Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy,” Superman 170 (July 1964).

[2] Robert F. Kennedy, Letter to Mort Weisinger (1964), Box 13, Folder 8, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

[3] Lester W. Wolff, Letter to Mort Weisinger (1966), Box 13, Folder 12, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

[4] CMAA Newsletter (1966), Box 24, Folder 1, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, pg. 2.

[5] CMAA Newsletter (1966), Box 24, Folder 1, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, pg. 2.

[6] John C. Baker, Letter to Mort Weisinger (1969), Box 14, Folder 3, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Blog contribution by Richard D. Deverell, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History, State University of New York at Buffalo

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Selenium: The Story of Orville A. Beath

Posted on April 29, 2019 by ahcadmin

Wyoming has often given rise to great ideas and new research, and one such man that succeeded in a major discovery, alongside a team of researchers, was Orville A. Beath. Orville A. Beath was born in Wisconsin in 1884, where he would obtain his degrees, a B. A. and M.A. in chemistry. He met his wife, Katherine H. Shepard, in 1912, and they had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth. Mrs. Katherine Beath sadly passed in 1949. Mary Beath would later become a teacher of the Arts and Fine Arts in Tucson, Arizona.

old family portrait of man and woman standing
Photo of Orville A. Beath and Katherine H. Shepard, Box 38, Folder 1 of 2, Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 400096, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Orville A. Beath was a professor of Chemistry at the University of Wyoming from 1914-1964. He and a team, which included Irene Rosenfeld, Carl S. Gilbert and Harold F. Eppson, researched seleniferous vegetation among other poisonous plants.[1] The work that Professor Beath and his associates would come to find about selenium would impact the next decades because of the precedence set by Beath and the team. In O. A. Beath’s book, The Story of Selenium in Wyoming, the foreword, written by Geologist, J. David Love, explains that Beath’s “two greatest contributions were the recognition of the geologic distribution of selenium in rocks and in the soils derived from them, and the role of converter plants that made selenium available to otherwise harmless plants.”[2]

canoe in foreground on lake in front of mountains
Glass Plate Negative of Scenic View, Box 27, Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 400096, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
mountainous area with aspen trees and snow
Glass Plate Negative of Larkspur, Box 25, Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 400096, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Beath’s daughter, Mary E. Beath, donated most of the collection to the American Heritage Center upon her death in the late 1990s. She dedicated much of her time with friends, family, and the acquaintances that her father had made through his work.

Between Orville Beath and his daughter Mary, they contributed a number of photographs, slides, and films to the collection. Much of the visual media in this collection is related to the work that Beath did with selenium and other poisonous plants. The other half of the visual materials is dedicated to family photos and home videos that include Beath’s cabin and their slight obsession with the privy and their local squirrels. The inside joke about the privy seems to be concerning that there was more than likely not a bathroom inside of the Beath cabin, therefore a privy, or better known as an outhouse, was built in order to suffice the need.

cabin and outhouse surrounded by aspens
Photograph of Beath’s Cabin and Privy, Box 30, Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 05104, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. Photograph of “The Privy”, Box 38, Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 400096, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

In the pictures below, Mary Beath is standing in the doorway, with a smile on her face, of this finished product: the privy.

mary-beath-and-the-privy
Photograph of Mary Beath and The Privy, Box 38, Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 400096, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

The photo below also include that of a squirrel; squirrels are often found in the visual materials belonging to the Beath collection and seem to be of some interest to the Beath’s and their fascination with and respect of nature.

squirrel on a tree stump
Photograph of squirrel, Box 30, Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 400096, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

To learn more about Orville A. Beath and his work on selenium, see the Orville A. Beath papers at the American Heritage Center.

[1] Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 400096, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

[2] The Story of Selenium in Wyoming, Box 6, Folder 5, Orville A. Beath Papers, Collection Number 400096, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Blog contribution by MaKayla Garnica, William D. Carlson Endowment Intern

#AlwaysArchiving

Posted in environmental history, Family history, Science, Student projects, University of Wyoming, University of Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shelly and Mary Louise Grossman: the protection of our planet before Earth day

Posted on April 15, 2019 by ahcadmin

April 22nd is a day to think about, celebrate, and remember the importance of our planet and its conservation. It is called Earth day. This celebration started in 1970, following the oil blowout near Santa Barbara, in January 1969.  Its foundation came about when Senator Gaylord Nelson, of Wisconsin, witnessed the oil slick from the air. That disaster brought a surge of environmental efforts, most importantly by the government of Richard Nixon, who, in 1970 passed the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. Nixon also created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Man and woman in film room with projector in foreground

Shelly and Mary Louise Grossman in their studio, Santa Fean Magazine, June 1974, p.12, Box 37. Shelly and Mary Louise Grossman papers, Collection #6225, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

But efforts to bring public awareness about the environment and wildlife were already initiated in the early 1960s by husband and wife team Shelly and Mary Louise Grossman, respectively a photographer and a writer. The Grossmans published books on birds of prey, but also ecology as a whole. In 1969, their book “Our Vanishing Wilderness” brought attention to the importance of the protection of all of nature’s species. It surveyed plants and animals in the United States and showed the impact of human behavior on their ecosystem.

Soon followed a documentary TV series, also entitled “Our Vanishing Wilderness.” One episode talked about the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, another about the effects of pesticides on reproduction of pelicans, and yet other episodes focused on the flooding of the Everglades, and the poaching of alligators.  The series aired on PBS in October 1970 and was the first environmental TV series in the US.

image of letter

Press Release for “Our Vanishing Wilderness” TV Series, Box 37, Shelly and Mary Louise Grossman papers, 6225, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

The television series caught the government’s attention, especially the pesticide episode that exposed its devastating effects on wildlife. In 1971, Shelly and Mary Louise were asked to act as consultants on a Senate bill that involved research to find an alternative to pesticides.

consulting

Pest Control Research. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Agricultural Research and General Legislation of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 1971, US Senate, 92nd Congress, s. 1794, box 37, Shelly and Mary Louise Grossman papers, #6225, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Always seeking to expand their exploration of nature, Shelly and Mary Louise spent the early 1970s traveling across Europe and the U.S. to sample, research, and study wild flower evolution and pollination. Unfortunately, while in the Swiss Alps, Shelly died unexpectedly, putting their research to a halt.  A few years later, Mary used the research to write the synopsis, chapter outlines and three chapters of “Our Flowering World”, but the book was never published.

Our Flowering World Synopsis Box 3

“Our Flowering World” book synopsis, box 3, Shelly and Mary Louise papers, #6225, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

black and white image of flower and butterfly on an a flower

Orchid and Swallowtail butterfly, Shelly Grossman’s photographs, box 6, Shelly and Mary Louise Grossman papers, #6225, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

To learn more about the history of conservation and ecology, see the Shelly and Mary Louise Grossman papers at the American Heritage Center and explore other related collections in the guide to environmental and natural resources collections.

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Wyoming Statesman Gale McGee Encounters a Bolivian Coup D’état

Posted on January 26, 2019 by ahcadmin

Between 1978 and 1980, the country of Bolivia was constantly in a state of crisis. There was a series of military governments that ruled briefly, each overthrown by the next. Rodger McDaniel’s 2018 book, The Man in the Arena: The Life and Times of U.S. Senator Gale McGee, relates a time when McGee, his wife Loraine, and aides found themselves in a dire situation on the cusp of a Bolivian coup in 1979. Recently American Heritage Center archivist Roger Simon discovered photographs related to the incident while processing portions of Gale McGee’s papers.

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Gale and Loraine McGee, 1974. Gale McGee papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Democrat Gale McGee served Wyoming as U.S. Senator from 1959 to 1977. After a defeat by Republican Malcolm Wallop, McGee was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to be U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS). The OAS is a organization founded in 1948 to promote regional solidarity and cooperation among its 35 independent member states in the Americas. After approval by the Senate, McGee was sworn in as OAS ambassador on March 30, 1977. It was while McGee was in Bolivia for an OAS General Assembly that this harrowing experience occurred.

Here is an excerpt about the incident from McDaniel’s book, along with snapshots that Roger Simon found in McGee’s papers.

[On a trip to La Paz, Bolivia, on October 20, 1979,] Loraine and several OAS staff members accompanied [Ambassador McGee] to attend the General Assembly. Two were former members of his Senate staff, Liz Strannigan and Betty Cooper. They flew together with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance on the luxurious aircraft known as Air Force One when the president is aboard. Upon arrival, they noticed a contingent of U.S. Marines stationed around the plane, all standing “at-ease,” rifles resting at their sides.

The first few days were filled with sightseeing and important meetings with Latin American heads of state and others. The McGees awakened early one morning to find tanks and troops on the streets nine floors below the room in which they were staying in the La Paz Sheraton. It was the opening salvo of what came to be called “the cocaine coup” because it had been financed by the drug cartel out of its unhappiness with the current government’s enforcement of drug laws.

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Soldiers on the streets of La Paz, Bolivia, October 1979. Gale McGee papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

With Marines posted at each end of his hallway to prevent secret documents from being captured, the ambassador attempted to call Washington, but the phones were down. Alejandro Orfila, who now served as secretary general to OAS, told McGee he could arrange for he and his wife to leave Bolivia immediately aboard Orfila’s personal plane. But there was not enough room on the plane for his staffers. While other ambassadors jumped at the chance to leave, McGee refused the offer, advising Orfila, “We came together.  We will leave together.”

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Tanks rolling into La Paz, October 1979. Gale McGee papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Alexandra Watson, the deputy chief of the La Paz mission, recalled the tense situation they faced. On the streets were tanks and soldiers. Checkpoints were “manned by illiterate 16, 17, 18-year-old soldiers from the countryside who were scared to death and whose AK-47s trembled in their hands as they put their guns up to our ears.” As Liz Strannigan worked to arrange passport clearance to leave the country, there was gunfire in the downtown area not far from the hotel. “Bolivian troops opened fire on protesting crowds in the streets of La Paz.” Late that afternoon Strannigan was able to make arrangements for the McGees as well as staff members to fly out of the country on a plane that would have been formally designated Air Force Two had the vice president been aboard.

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The scene from the backseat of the McGee’s vehicle, October 1979. Gale McGee papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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An even more frightening scene from the backseat, October 1979. Gale McGee papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

They made their way slowly up the steep road to the airport aptly named El Alto, which sits atop a mountain 1,500 feet above La Paz. As when they landed a few days earlier, the Marine contingent surrounded the aircraft, not “at-ease” this time but with guns raised to an “at-ready” stance. Fully loaded, the plane started down the runway, necessarily one of the longest in the world to accommodate large airplanes trying to take off at the altitude. After rumbling down most of the runway’s 13,000 feet, the plane finally lifted off. After a brief stop in Lima, Peru, the group left for Washington.

Bolivian President Wálter Guevara Arze was deposed in a military coup on November 1, 1979, only days after the McGees were able to leave. At least 300 people were killed in the ensuring violence that lasted the week following the coup.

To learn more about Gale McGee’s interesting career, we recommend a look at Rodger McDaniel’s book. You can also view McGee’s papers at the American Heritage Center. No appointment needed. The AHC’s research room is open 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday.

Posted in Alan K. Simpson Institute for Western Politics and Leadership, Bolivian history, found in the archive, Gale McGee, International relations, military history, Organization of American States, Political history, Politics, Uncategorized, Violence - history, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wyoming Legislator Liz Byrd’s Quest to Honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

Posted on January 19, 2019 by ahcadmin

January 21 is Wyoming Equality Day. Perhaps you wondered this morning as you sipped your coffee about how Wyoming Equality Day originated? Cheyenne native and Wyoming state legislator Harriett Elizabeth “Liz” Byrd was the guiding individual behind it, although a “Wyoming Equality Day” was not her first intention. Byrd was the first black woman to serve in Wyoming’s House beginning in 1980. A few years later, she was elected to Wyoming’s Senate, and was the first black legislator to serve there.

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Liz Byrd in the Wyoming State Legislature. Harriett Elizabeth Byrd Family Papers, 10443, box 10, folder 23.

Byrd’s parents, Robert “Buck” and Sudie Rhone, supplied her with an “outsider/within” legacy as described by Evelyn Haskell in a 2006 Annals of Wyoming article about Liz Byrd. Haskell explains that the outsider/within perspective is that of an individual who is outside the dominant culture, and yet has access to and intimate knowledge of the workings of the dominant culture. Buck Rhone’s family had settled in Wyoming in the 1870s, and Buck was the first African American child born in Albany County. Liz was born in 1926 with deep family roots already established in Wyoming.

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Rhone family portrait, ca. 1945. Left to right, front row: Elizabeth, Charles (“Dad”), Robert “Bobby” Byrd – back row: Robert (“Buck”), Sudie, Creta, Blossie, Elizabeth (“Liz”), Tommy. Harriett Elizabeth Byrd Family Papers, 10443, Box 3, Folder 6

This is not to say that she didn’t experience her share of racism. According to an interview with Byrd pasted into a scrapbook housed at the AHC, as a high school student, she was refused service in a Cheyenne drugstore. Her white classmates threw the ice from their drinks over the counter and walked out. When she applied to the University of Wyoming in 1944, Liz was told that, because she was African American, she would not be allowed to live in campus housing. In the end, she attended West Virginia State Teachers College, a historically black college, graduating in 1949 with a degree in education.

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Harriett Elizabeth Rhone, Cheyenne Central High School graduating picture, class of 1944. As a black woman in largely white Cheyenne, Liz experienced her share of racism. Harriett Elizabeth Byrd Family Papers, 10443, Box 10, Folder 23

During Liz’s college years, she married James Byrd and the couple made Cheyenne their home, Liz teaching school and Jim working in law enforcement. The couple was soon raising a family of three children, two sons and one daughter. Liz was happy teaching school and didn’t originally have political ambitions.

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Liz Byrd in her Cheyenne classroom, ca. 1965. Looking on is Wyoming Secretary of State Thyra Thomson. Thyra Thomson Papers, 9148, Shares Box SP-U.

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James and Liz Byrd with their family. Jim Byrd was Cheyenne’s Chief of Police and the first black chief of police in Wyoming. Harriett Elizabeth Byrd Family Papers, 10443, Box 3, Folder 6.

Her brother, practicing attorney Robert C. Rhone, Jr., preceded Liz into politics when he was elected in 1962 to the Colorado State House of Representatives. Tragically, he died on January 24, 1964, while still in office at the age of 35 from pulmonary edema. Buck Rhone’s political ambitions shifted to daughter Liz. Despite running a low-cost campaign, Liz was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives in 1980.

In oral history interviews with Evelyn Haskell, Byrd described an atmosphere in the statehouse that was hostile to women, and to her in particular because she was a black woman. Of a total of 90 seats in both Wyoming’s House and Senate, only 14 were held by women. She found that some of her efforts to present and pass bills were hampered by the fact that a significant number of her female colleagues refused to support her bills; they were afraid of losing good committee assignments by supporting bills sponsored by Liz Byrd. Another complicating factor was Byrd often sponsored unpopular “special” legislation relating to human interests instead of those involving the state’s economic interests.

Her most important bill of national prominence, and the one that presented her with the most difficulty, was ratification of a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Wyoming. U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill in 1983 that established Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a nationally observed holiday, although it was not until 1986 that it was first observed.

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Wyoming Equality Day Senate File, Harriett Elizabeth Byrd Family Papers, 10443, Box 1, Folder 9.

The nine years she worked on the bill to mark a day in commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr., were marked by strife and animosity. Wyoming state newspapers were filled with letters pro and con from the public and from her fellow legislators. Even one of Liz’s fellow teachers spoke out publicly against the bill. To finally gain passage of the bill, Byrd had to agree to add “Wyoming Equality Day” to the name, which became Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day in 1990.

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Liz Byrd with Governor Mike Sullivan at the signing of the legislation establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day/Wyoming Equality Day, March 1990. Harriett Elizabeth Byrd Family Papers, 10443, box 3, folder 6.

Liz Byrd went on to become the recipient of a number of awards and honors, one of the most notable is sharing the pages with Oprah Winfrey, Rosa Parks and other African American women of accomplishment in the 1989 book I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America.

The post originally appeared in 2017, but we thought it was worth running again with some additional photographs from Liz Byrd’s papers at the AHC. Much of the text is credited to Evelyn Haskell’s article, “Harriett Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Byrd: Wyoming Trail Blazer in Education and Politics,” published in Annals of Wyoming, Vol. 78, No. 1 (Winter 2006).

Learn more about Liz Byrd’s legacy alongside two other pioneering women leaders in the American Heritage Center’s online exhibit “In Pursuit of Equality.”

Posted in African American history, Current events, found in the archive, Martin Luther King Jr., Uncategorized, women's history, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lost Episode of Golden Age of Television Dramatic Series “Star Tonight” Found and Identified

Posted on January 12, 2019 by ahcadmin

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Established Broadway star Tom Helmore is the playwright “Gaston DeLong” in Star Tonight: “Write Me A Love Scene”. Gary Rutkowski’s Early Television Broadcasts Collection, Accession Number 12569.

From 1955-56 on ABC, a live TV series titled Star Tonight offered the chance for young up-and-coming New York actors to star in a show opposite established players. The known stars included: Buster Crabbe, Neva Patterson, Theodore Bikel, and June Lockhart; the newbies included: Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapleton, Jason Robards Jr., and Robert Culp.

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Tom Middleton, future character actor, hopes to be made a Star Tonight. Gary Rutkowski’s Early Television Broadcasts Collection, Accession Number 12569.

The American Heritage Center has digitized a lost episode of Star Tonight from December 29, 1955, identified by University of Wyoming American Studies graduate student Gary Rutkowski. This episode is incomplete, running 12-minutes, and is called “Write Me a Love Scene.” It features Broadway star Tom Helmore opposite unknown Tom Middleton. Middleton plays a young man who seeks the talents of a famous playwright (Helmore) to help him win his ladylove. The twist is that the woman in question is the wife of the playwright!

Tragically, there are only four known episodes of the 80 episode-run of Star Tonight. This 12-minute segment, housed at the AHC, represents a fifth. The four other episodes include: “Taste” (airdate: 6/2/55; at UCLA Film & Television Archive; from a Roald Dahl short story, starring: Rudy Vallee, Leonard Elliot, Diana Millay, Violet Hemming, Byron Russell, and Wyatt Cooper); “A Door You Can Close” (airdate: 4/12/56; at UCLA Film & Television Archive; starring: Norma Crane, Signe Hasso, and Margery MacDaniel); “A Small Glass Bottle” (airdate: 6/7/56; at the Paley Center for Media; starring: Abby Lewis, Harry Townes, Virginia Kaye); and an unknown episode identified only by its sponsor as “Brillo’s Star Tonight” in the records at the Paley Center for Media.

GianakosBookCoverThe most intriguing part of the identification of this episode fragment is that there were no opening or closing titles and the film leader misidentified the show as an episode of Studio One. Grad student Gary Rutkowski determined the origin of the episode  using an old-fashioned method—he hit the books.  Using Larry James Gianakos’ Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Guide 1947-59, he went page by page until something rang a bell, in this case the title of the show, as listed on page 436.  The cast listings by Gianakos confirmed the identification.

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Script of “Write Me a Love Scene,” August 1947, by Ryerson and Clements from a collection of Kraft Television Theater scripts in the Edmund C. Rice Papers, Accession Number 5254.

“Write Me a Love Scene” was based on a play by Florence Ryerson (co-writer of The Wizard of Oz screenplay) and her husband Colin Clements.  Its choice may have been influenced by Variety’s pan of the series premiere in which the trade paper complained that the series needed to provide its young hopefuls with better material. In fact, this version of the play was already the third time it was adapted for television. In 1946, producer-director Harvey Marlowe produced a version for station WABD in which “performances were fluent, witty, and credible, with Wynne Gibson rating a special nod for a standout thesping job.” This show pre-dated the kinescope process and no copy would have been possible (other than an audio recording).  The second adaptation of the one-act play was produced for the long-running Kraft Television Theatre, as their 14th production (on a double bill with “The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife”), broadcast on August 6, 1947. Interestingly enough, the AHC has a copy of that original script in the Edmund C. Rice papers. It reveals differences from the 1955 production in dialogue and business, for example instead of humming his wife’s favorite tune “L’Amour, Toujours, L’Amour,” Gaston plays it on the piano in the ’55 show.  The 1947 episode is also lost, making the Star Tonight version the only one available.

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Mary Boylan in Star Tonight (one of her first roles) and in Annie Hall (one of her last). Gary Rutkowski’s Early Television Broadcasts Collection, Accession Number 12569.

Regarding the cast of Star Tonight: “Write Me a Love Scene,” Tom Helmore is best known today as the old college buddy who starts Jimmy Stewart on his pursuit of Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958). Young Tom Middleton would have a moderately successful career as a character actor in film and television. His credits include the films Ocean’s 11 and PT 109 and TV’s This Man Dawson and Lucas Tanner. In a bit part as a maid is Mary Boylan in one of her first screen roles, immortalized years later in one of her last as the teacher who chastises young Alvy Singer in the Oscar®-winning Best Picture Annie Hall (1977).

Special thanks for this project go to the American Heritage Center staff: Ivan Gaetz, Interim Director and UW Dean of Libraries; Rachel Gattermeyer, Digital Archivist; Halena Bagdonas, Digitization Technician; Kathy Gerlach, Digitization Technician; Bill Hopkins, Collections Manager/Head of Collections; John Waggener, Photo & Audio/ Visual Archivist; Leslie Waggener, Archivist; and Vicki Glantz, Reference Archives Specialist.

– Post courtesy of Gary Rutkowski, University of Wyoming graduate student in American Studies.

Posted in announcements, Archival Film, Digital collections, Edmund C. Rice papers, found in the archive, Motion picture actors and actresses, popular culture, Student projects, television history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment