‘Western Women: What Makes a Cowgirl?’ Exhibition Opens at UW American Heritage Center

This photograph of Dorothy Morrell on “Skuball” taken in 1920 is among images in the “Western Women: What Makes a Cowgirl?” exhibition now on display at UW’s American Heritage Center. The photo is from the AHC’s miscellaneous collections. (UW American Heritage Center Photo)

A photographic exhibition about women making their place in the West is now on display through Tuesday, April 22, at the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center’s (AHC) public exhibition space.

Curated by Grace Derby, a UW AHC intern from Bismarck, N.D., the exhibition titled “Western Women: What Makes a Cowgirl?” takes a look at seven women from the center’s collections and shows how they created their own Western way of life.

“The exhibit asks the question of what a cowgirl is and how these women fulfilled that role,” Derby says. “Women worked on ranches and cattle drives, in the rodeos and shows, at forts and even alongside outlaws.”

“Derby’s exhibit shows that, like the cowboys, what was initially the hard-driven life of cowgirls became idealized and stereotyped through performances in Western shows, rodeos and cinema,” UW AHC Director Paul Flesher says.

UW AHC exhibitions are open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.