The American Heritage Center is a jewel in the University of Wyoming crown. Its award-winning building houses one of the nationās largest and most respected manuscript and rare book archives. We hold over 95,000 cubic feet of collections—from papers and photographs to audio and video recordings and artwork, to say nothing of the entire range of modern digital production.
Here are some highlights of the AHC.
- The AHCās primary emphasis begins with Wyoming and the West in its many facets. This includes ranching, mining, energy development, environmentalism, transportation, suffrage, and governance.
- The AHC also has nationally important collections in arts and entertainment, politics, journalism, military history, and popular culture from major entertainment industry names like Jack Benny, Stan Lee, Barbara Stanwick, Bubby Ebsen, and Hugh Downs to those who worked behind the scenes—screenwriters, set designers, and composers. Working together, the people who worked in front of and behind the camera created some of the best-loved sights and sounds in American history that are now being preserved for the public at the American Heritage Center
- Our dedicated staff serve nearly 4,000 users each year who range from students working on Wyoming History Day projects to classes engaging with unique primary resources to top scholars from across the globe.
- For decades, our patrons have come to our state-of-the-art reading room to peruse our collection, but over the last two years, we have developed a Virtual Reading Room where we replicate our services digitally, making them available to people who cannot travel to Laramie.
We invite you to support the UW American Heritage Center by giving to the Directorās Excellence Fund, which supports AHC exhibits, outreach, and collecting.
Your gift will support the many ways that we reach out and serve our patrons—whether they are able to come work in our reading rooms or not. Thank you!
