The Wyoming Historical Society announces recipients of its 2019 Lola Homsher Research Grants. Grant monies are drawn from a fund established by the late Lola Homsher, a noted historian and state archivist who spearheaded establishing the Society in 1953. After her retirement, Miss Homsher made a major donation to WHS that is used to help fund Society programs.

Leslie Waggener, chair of the Homsher Grant Committee, noted that five out of seventeen applications were approved for a total award of $6,660. She said the committee was very impressed with the research projects that people throughout the United States are pursuing. “Each application described a unique aspect of Wyoming’s history. I’m sorry we couldn’t fund each and every one of them.”

Waggener added, “The work done by amateur and professional historians through these grants supports the Society’s mission to make Wyoming’s past accessible to present and future generations.” She added, “Providing funds for researcher travel and for research-related costs such as scanning can make all the difference in completing a project. Creating opportunities for original research is a mainstay of the Homsher Grant program.”

Members and non-members alike, amateur and professional historians, and students are eligible to apply for Research Grants aimed at projects with tangible results. Members of the committee, besides Waggener, includes Patty Kessler, Kem Nicolaysen, and Doug Cubbison. The recipients for the 2019 round of research grants are:

  • Tamsen Hert, Laramie. $1500 for “Yellowstone National Park: The Camps Way.”
  • Philip Homan, Pocatello, ID. $1500 for “The Largest Horse Buying Business the World has Seen: Moncrieffe and Wallop’s Wyoming War Horses for the South African War, 1899-1902.”
  • Chavawn Kelley, Laramie. $1140 for “Travels with Hemingway in Wyoming.”
  • Judy Pederson, Riverton. $1200 for “Frank’s Town: Fort Washakie’s Doc Welty Bridges Two Worlds, Trades with Butch Cassidy, and Leaves a Lasting Legacy of the Old West.”
  • Starley Talbott and Michael Kassel, Cheyenne. $1320 for “Wyoming’s Friendly Skies: Cheyenne’s Role in Stewardess Training.”

Applications for Homsher Research Grant funds are due each year on the last day of February. For details, and to see previous recipients, visit www.wyshs.org.