Latest Oral Histories

The popular Republican Thyra Thomson served as Wyoming’s secretary of state from 1963 to 1987, when she retired. While in office, Thomson witnessed the continuing presence of gender discrimination in the Equality State, and became a fierce advocate for equal rights. She died in Cheyenne June 11, 2013. She was 96.

In October 1969, University of Wyoming Head Coach Lloyd Eaton dismissed 14 black football players from his team when they donned black armbands to protest certain policies of Brigham Young University. The incident stirred controversy in Wyoming and throughout the nation. Here, Dr. Willie Black, who was the chancellor of UW’s Black Student Alliance at the time, shares his recollections of those events, and broader thoughts on race and politics in the United States and the world.

In October 1969, University of Wyoming Head Coach Lloyd Eaton dismissed 14 black football players from his team when they donned black armbands to protest certain policies of Brigham Young University. The incident stirred controversy in Wyoming and throughout the nation. Here, player Mel Hamilton shares his recollections of that time and of much of the rest of his life with interviewer Phil White, who was a UW student in 1969 and the editor of the student newspaper, The Branding Iron.

Jamie Buckley King attended third grade at Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyo., on May 16, 1986, when David and Doris Young took her and 153 other people hostage at the school, and detonated a bomb inside. The Youngs both died that day. Everyone else survived.

Tina Cook was the secretary at Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyo., on May 16, 1986, when David and Doris Young took her and 153 other people hostage at the school, and detonated a bomb inside. The Youngs both died that day. Everyone else survived.

LeaKae Roberts was a fourth-grader who was absent from class at Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyo., on May 16, 1986, when David and Doris Young took 154 other people hostage at the school, and detonated a bomb inside. The Youngs both died that day. Everyone else survived.

Harold Van Buskirk, born in 1897, worked in a grocery store in his youth in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin.

Janel Dayton was teaching first grade at Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyo., on May 16, 1986, when David and Doris Young took her and 153 other people hostage at the school, and detonated a bomb inside the school. The Youngs both died that day. Everyone else survived.

Felix Mercado, born in 1940, worked with his family in the sugar beet fields around Worland, Wyo. in his youth.

Emergency Medical Technician Glenna Walker is also the mother of three children who attended Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyo., on May 16, 1986, when David and Doris Young took her and 153 other people hostage at the school, and detonated a bomb inside. The Youngs both died that day. Everyone else survived. At the time of the incident, Mrs. Walker had just received her EMT certification. This was the first time she was called out for an emergency situation.

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Allred, Golden, Bighorn Basin trapper Washakie Museum and Cultural Center