Past Photographs and Features for UW Campus History
Among those attending a reception for history graduates in the early 1990s were (left to right): June Edens, Dr. T. A. Larson, Mrs. Larson, Dr. Walter Edens, and Dr. H. R. Dieterich.
In the early 1990s, Phil Roberts presented a lecture on the Civil War in the West. Among those in the audience who found the lecture restful were Tom Wilstead, then associate director of the American Heritage Center and now director of the University of Connecticut Archives; and Dr. Colin Calloway, then UW history professor and now professor at Dartmouth College.
The Potter Law Club made up of students in the College of Law had an entirely male membership when this photograph was taken for the WYO yearbook in 1928. In fact, the record indicates that no women were enrolled in the law school during that year. The organization is named for long-time Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Charles Potter. Unfortunately, this photograph lacks clarity due to my having had to copy it from a printed page in the 1928 WYO yearbook.
Enrichment classes are popular with a wide variety of people. Pictured here is Phil Roberts' "History of Wyoming" enrichment class on a field-trip to Ames Monument, east of Laramie, in the spring of 2001. The monument, designed by H. H. Richardson, honors the contributions of Oakes and Oliver Ames to the construction of the transcontinental railroad. The 60-foot-high "pyramid" was erected on the highest point of the Union Pacific line over the summit. Photo by Christy Thompson-Shafer
UW women's rifle team, c. 1935. While women students had opportunities to join the rifle team, all male students at UW were required to participate in ROTC. The requirement was eliminated in the 1960s. American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming photograph
This scene of Prexy's Pasture and the buildings north of it is from the University of Wyoming Alumnews in the 1950s. The photographer may have been standing on the roof of the Half Acre Gym or, possibly, the Student Union Building.
The 1924 UW Basketball Team is pictured in this grainy photograph scanned from the 1924 WYO yearbook. Pictured are, left to right, back row: Coach Corbett, Oscar Ericson (“standing guard”), Svend Shlosser, Glen Gariepy (“Center”), Coach Gullickson. Front row: Harold Baker, Edmund Walsh, William Lester (“left forward”), John Corbett (“running guard”), Royden Banta (“left forward”), Fred Hersig, Ralph Eakin.
The narrative below the picture in the WYO yearbook implied that the season 80 years ago was not a stellar one for the UW five:
"The Cowboys displayed an unusually good brand of basketball during the 1924 season and with one or two exceptions were crowded out of a victory by a very few points. No less than four times during the year, the Varsity was several baskets ahead at the end fo the first half, only to have the opposition nose them out by a few points near the close of the game.
"Next year Wyoming will have a gymnasium equal to that of any other school in the section. Thus the greatest handicap of a small playing floor and lack of practice space will be eliminated. Since all the lettermen of this year, with one exception, will be in school next year, with the possibilities seen during the High School tournament that will probably be Cowboys, and with a new coach who has a record of winning titles, Wyoming looks optimistically ahead."
The WYO, copyright, 1924, by Herbert Woodman and Fred Penland, p. 109.
CLASS VISIT TO FORT LARAMIE: Students in UW history classes often have an opportunity to see historical sites in the area. Pictured above are members of two classes who visited Fort Laramie in the fall of 2003. The fort is the oldest Euroamerican settlement in Wyoming. Founded in 1834, the fort began as a fur company trading post. In 1849, the U. S. Army acquired the fort and it served Oregon Trail travelers as an important resting and provisioning point. It was decommissioned by the army in 1890 and, in the middle 20th century, was acquired as a historic site. Fort Laramie National Historic Site is located about 125 miles northeast of Laramie. Carol Bowers and Carol Bryant were instructors for the two courses visiting the site in 2003. Bowers is supervisor of research at the American Heritage Center as well as instructor in the history of Wyoming and the West. Bryant is a professor in the College of Education. Photo by Phil Roberts.