Sen. Cliff Hansen in 1977
An inventory of papers and correspondence of the late Wyoming U.S. Senator and Governor Clifford P. Hansen is now accessible online through the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
A description and inventory for this collection, accessible at http://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=wyu-ah11454.xml, primarily contains records from Hansen's term as a U.S. senator from 1967-1978. It includes bill files, materials related to Wyoming water issues, records from his committee work, correspondence with and reports from various federal and state agencies, constituent correspondence filed by issue, press releases, speeches, voting records, and miscellaneous correspondence.
Approximately three boxes contain materials from his term as a Teton County Commissioner dealing specifically with the expansion of Teton National Park.
A native of Jackson, Hansen received a bachelor's degree in animal science from the University of Wyoming in 1934. The same year he married Martha Close. From 1943-1966 he was a Teton County commissioner, and opposed expanding Teton National Park. From 1946-1966 he was a member of the UW Board of Trustees. Hansen was active in several agriculture and ranching groups and served as president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association from 1953-1955. He became governor of Wyoming in 1962.
As a senator, Hansen served on the Finance Committee, Special Committee on Aging and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. He backed reservoir projects in Wyoming, designated national recreation and wilderness areas in the state and placed a ceiling on federal expenditures. He was one of eight senators to vote against sending the Equal Rights Amendment to the state level. One of his best-known achievements was increasing the percentage of Wyoming's mineral severance tax.
After completing two terms in the senate he returned to Jackson and lived there until his death in October, 2009.
More information is available by contacting the American Heritage Center's (AHC) Reference Department at ahcref@uwyo.edu, or (307) 766-3756. The AHC (http://ahc.uwyo.edu) is the university's repository of manuscripts, rare books and the university archives. It is among the largest and most prominent non-governmental repositories in the United States. The center contains the papers of many prominent elected official in Wyoming's history.
Use of AHC collections is free and open to the public.
