Collection Resources

 

American Heritage Center

The AHC has a vast array of collections, from Wyoming and Western history to Hollywood and the history of the entertainment industry, to the Transcontinental Railroad and America’s transportation industries, to mineral, coal, and oil extraction, to journalism, Women’s Suffrage, and diversity in the West. Learn more about our collections and browse resources on our public portal.
 
Explore the Archive Public Portal to browse collections, subjects, and creators.
 
 
Student putting collection materials in archival box.

Statement on Potentially Harmful Language and Content Found in Collections 

The American Heritage Center aspires to approach all areas of our work in ways that are respectful to those who create, use, and are represented in our collections. For a variety of reasons, however, users may encounter offensive or harmful language or content in some of our finding aids, catalogs, and collection materials.  


Note that the AHC does not censor or alter contents of the collections as they provide context and evidence of a time, people, place, or event. Therefore, we encourage users to bring questions and concerns about descriptions in our finding aids to our attention via email or anonymous web-form. For more information, read our full statement.


Collections by Subject Area

Check out our subject guides! The AHC’s collections touch on a wide range of subjects, including Wyoming and the American West, the mining and petroleum industries, environment and natural resources, journalism, military history, transportation, the history of books, and 20th century entertainment such as popular music, radio, television, and film. These guides will help you narrow down your research.

Popular Research Topics 

Take a look at our popular research topics! These guides may help you narrow down your research by providing snapshots of relevant collections to some of our most frequently requested research topics. These quick guides may be especially useful for student researchers. 

Finding Aids

Archives West aggregates the finding aids from multiple archives throughout Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The AHC’s finding aids provide an organizational summary and scope of its collections.

UW Catalog

The UW Library Catalog pulls together results for research materials from across campus, including what’s at the AHC. It will also let you focus your search to the AHC or Toppan Rare Books Library.

Toppan Rare Books Library

The Toppan Rare Books Library holds more than 50,000 items from medieval illuminated manuscripts to the 21st Century. Subject strengths include the American West, British and American literature, early exploration of North America, religion, hunting and fishing, natural history, women authors, and the book arts.

Some of the Toppan books are findable through the UW online catalog, while other books are currently only discoverable through a traditional card catalog located in the Reading Room.

Anaconda Collection

The Anaconda Geological Documents Collection is the scientific product of the Anaconda Company’s 90 year program of exploration and development work throughout the United States and in 110 foreign countries. It has been described as the largest and most significant body of economic geological data in the world. Consisting of more than 54 tons of material and 1.8 million documents, the Anaconda Collection contains a wealth of material useful in exploration, development and environmental studies.

Explore our Anaconda Geological Documents Collection database!

Digital Collections

The AHC has a growing amount of digital collections, from born digital records to digitized files. The Reformatting Lab is actively engaged in mass digitizing its most prominent holdings to allow for remote researcher access to collection material. Our Digital Collections website – Luna – showcases material from our collections.

Contact Us

American Heritage Center

Centennial Complex

2111 Willet Drive

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-4114

Email: ahcref@uwyo.edu

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