2023 Annual Trek Registration
The 69th Annual Treak will be held June 15-17 and hosted by the Star Valley Historical Society.
Registration Form
2023 Lola Homsher Grant Information
Need financial aid to help complete your history project? The Wyoming Historical Society, a non-profit membership driven educational organization, offers cash grants to people involved in research activities based on various aspects of the state’s history. The grants, ranging from $100.00 up to $1500.00 are awarded based on applications submitted to the Society’s Lola Homsher Endowment Fund Committee. The deadline is February 28, 2023, with applicants notified of the results in the spring. All applications must be submitted electronically via the Society’s website at www.wyshs.org.
Read the Full Announcement
Program and Application Information
2022 Grant Recipients
2022 Wyoming State Historical Society Awards
The Wyoming Historical Society recently held its 69th annual meeting in Wheatland, hosted by the Platte County Historical Society. One of the highlights of the meeting is recognizing individuals and organizations who have developed a program, a book or a project that demonstrates significant contributions in preserving the state’s history.
Jane Gebhart, chair of the Society’s Awards Committee said interest in the history of Wyoming continues to increase each year. “With changing times, we have expanded the Awards program to recognize blogs, Facebook pages, and other electronic forms of celebrating history, in addition to the traditional awards for publications, fine arts, preservation, and youth activities.” She added, “The Society’s awards program opens many opportunities to recognize the efforts of others in promoting Wyoming’s rich legacy.”
All Winners
Wyoming History in Art - PRINTS NOW AVAILABLE!
Whoop Up, Legends in the Canyon is just one of thirty original paintings featured in the new publication, Wyoming History in Art that includes full-color images of each painting with an historical narrative by Dr. Jeremy Johnston. Whoop Up Canyon, located west of the Black Hills, contains over one hundred panels of petroglyphs depicting various hunting scenes from the Paleo-Indian period, and depicts a difficult passage of time for the coming of Euro-American settlers and the Plains Indians. To purchase a book call 307-322-3014 or email linda@wyshs.org.The Wyoming State Historical Society, and its fundraising arm, the Wyoming Historical Foundation are excited to announce the release of its latest book, Wyoming History in Art, a full-color book featuring thirty paintings of important people and events in Wyoming history by the late artist Dave Paulley. In 1989 the Society and the Foundation commissioned the artist to create thirty original paintings in celebration of Wyoming’s centennial. The works include expeditions as early as 1742, all the way through the 1940s. Giving a voice to the paintings featured in the new publication is a written narrative of each of the paintings by historian and author Dr. Jeremy Johnston.
Rick Ewig, Wyoming historian, said in his foreword of the book “Dr. Jeremy Johnston, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, has written fascinating vignettes with information about the subject of each painting. In the essay of the Pony Express we not only learn about the short-lived history of what is considered a romantic episode of the American West, but we also hear from Mark Twain during his travels across the 1860s West as he describes those who were Pony Express riders. The essay by Johnston accompanying the painting titled Whoop Up Canyon illustrates the Native American petroglyphs depicting hunting in the Paleo-Indian period. Johnston also discusses North America’s indigenous population, and the effect Euro-American settlement had on the native American Population.” Ewig added, “Not only did the Society and the Foundation add to the artistic legacy of Wyoming’s history with the original paintings and Paulley’s artistic interpretation of those thirty events, but with the exciting and informative extended essays in this book, the Society has compiled an interesting study of so many facets of Wyoming’s history.”
The artist, Dave Paulley, was a Wyoming native, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, and taught himself how to paint! He died in October 2020. The original paintings were recently donated to the American Heritage Center in Laramie where they will be appropriately cared for and available for the public to enjoy.
A limited number of Wyoming History in Art have been printed and are available to vendors and individuals by contacting the Wyoming State Historical Society at 307-322-3014, or via email to linda@wyshs.org. All proceeds benefit the long-term sustainability of the Society.