Michael Cassity, author of seven books, numerous historical articles and government studies, and a retired history professor is also a past president of the Wyoming Historical Society. He worked as a history professor at the University of Missouri – Columbia, the University of Kansas and the University of Georgia. At the University of Wyoming he was associate professor and then professor and exercised administrative responsibilities as assistant dean and coordinator in the School of Extended Studies and Public Service.
The Wyoming Council for the Humanities presented him its 1993 Wyoming Humanities Award for fostering the public humanities in Wyoming. The State Historical Society of Wyoming recognized his efforts to preserve an important feature on the Oregon – California Trail (Red Buttes, west of Casper) with the L. C. Bishop Award.
His work in historic preservation has resulted in the successful nomination of more than thirty-five individual historic resources to the National Register of Historic Places, the designation of a National Historical Landmark (Murie Ranch Historic District), the documentation of a Historic American Engineering Record coal mine resource, and the preparation of surveys of historical resources in a variety of communities, counties, and states as well as preparing statewide Historic Context statements focusing on (1) Wyoming homesteading, ranching, and farming; (2) Depression-era work relief projects in Wyoming; and (3) U.S. Route 66 from Chicago to California. He has spoken widely to academic and public audiences, often using his photography as well as historical analysis.
See his photography, much of it related to his historical research, at www.michaelcassity.com.