LGBT Archive of the American West Launched at the University of Wyoming

The American Heritage Center (AHC) at the University of Wyoming, which houses several significant collections related to slain UW student Matthew Shepard, is currently developing “Out West in the Rockies,” a first-of-its-kind regional lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history and culture archive of the American West.

The archive will welcome collections from eight Rocky Mountain states: Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and Arizona.

Retiring AHC Director Mark Greene helped inaugurate and Associate Director Rick Ewig will oversee this effort. Gregory Hinton, creator of Out West, an acclaimed national LGBT western museum program series, introduced the concept to the AHC and serves as project consultant. Hinton announced Out West in the Rockies at the LGBQT Alliance luncheon during the recent American Alliance of Museums annual meeting and museum expo in Atlanta.

Growing interest in the rural LGBT experience underscores the need for a visible, dedicated, centrally located LGBT Western American archive, Greene says.

“The LGBT communities are under-documented in many established national archives and historical repositories, but particularly in collections dedicated to the history and culture of the American West,” says Greene, who is a Distinguished Fellow of the Society of American Archivists. “An archive of this kind is long past due. The AHC is proud to be committed to this effort.”

The AHC (www.uwyo.edu/ahc) ranks among the largest non-governmental repositories in the United States. In 2010, the AHC was recognized as one of the nation’s premier archives when it received the Society of American Archivists’ Distinguished Service Award. The AHC currently houses 75,000 cubic feet of materials, with 15,000 cubic feet remaining to welcome new collections.

“With ample storage space, an experienced, dedicated and nationally recognized staff stands ready to accommodate substantial LGBT holdings,” Ewig says.

Rural Montana-born Hinton recently drove from Los Angeles through the Rockies in blizzard conditions to hand deliver his personal and professional papers to the AHC.

“Too many LGBT men and women evacuate our rural western backgrounds seeking community, companionship and safety in the big city,” Hinton says, “Happily, not everybody leaves, and more and more of us return. Thanks to the AHC, our stories are welcome in Wyoming.”

A distinguished advisory board of respected western scholars, artists and activists is being assembled, including W. James Burn, director, University of Arizona Museum of Art; Wyoming State Representative and UW faculty member Cathy Connolly; Rebecca Scofield, an American studies doctoral degree candidate at Harvard University; and civil rights attorney Roberta Zenker, author of “TransMontana.”

“Out West dispels the myth that LGBT history and communities are bi-coastal,” says Burns, recent chair of the LGBTQ Alliance of the American Alliance of Museums. “Rural western LGBT populations are thriving and make significant contributions to the communities in which they live.”

A call will soon be made for significant regional collections of organizational records and personal papers consisting of a wide variety of materials, from emails and correspondence to speeches and manuscripts.

“Everything from scrapbooks and photo albums to press clippings and marketing/promotional material; from digital and analog photos to diaries and blog entries; from professional contracts and grants to minutes and annual reports,” says Ewig, also recent president of the Wyoming State Historical Society and editor of “Annals of Wyoming.”

Seeking to immerse themselves in the vast landscape of the rural American West, scholars and historians from all over the world visit the AHC every year. The AHC is UW’s repository of manuscript collections, rare books and university archives.

With a population of 30,000, Laramie is located approximately two hours from Denver, easily accessible by ground and air.