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Agnes Wright Spring papers, 1850-1989

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Spring, Agnes Wright, 1894-1988
Title
Agnes Wright Spring papers
Dates
1850-1989 (inclusive)
Quantity
76.1 cubic feet (94 boxes)
Collection Number
00115
Summary
Agnes Wright Spring was a librarian, author, and historian specializing in the American West. This collection contains correspondence, research and subject files, speeches, manuscripts, printed materials, biographical files, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper and magazine clippings, diaries, and maps concerning her research, career, and personal life.
Repository
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Agnes Wright Spring was an author of both non-fiction and fiction; she wrote over 500 articles and published over 20 books mostly about the Rocky Mountain West. She was born in Delta, Colorado on January 5, 1894, one of four sisters, to Gordon L. and Myra May Wright. When Agnes was about seven years old the family moved and purchased a ranch on the Little Laramie River in Albany County, located West of Laramie, Wyoming. She grew up on this ranch and in 1913 she graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in civil engineering. She obtained employment from the state of Wyoming as a State Assistant Librarian from 1913-1916, then in 1916 she was accepted to Columbia University's Pulitzer School of Journalism. In 1917 she returned to Wyoming and became a State Librarian and Historian. She resigned in 1921 to marry Archer T. Spring and they moved to Fort Collins, Colorado where they purchased a cherry orchard in 1930 called Cherryhurst. Agnes Wright Spring began to flourish as a writer during the 1920s and 1930s; publishing her first book in 1927 and serving as women's editor of the Wyoming Stockman-Farmer newspaper. When the orchard failed, Agnes returned to Wyoming to serve as Wyoming State Supervisor for the Work Projects Administration's Federal Writers' Project from 1935-1941. The Springs moved to Denver, Colorado in 1941 and Agnes became a research assistant at the Denver Public Library. In 1950 she became president of the Colorado Historical Society and served as Colorado State Historian from 1954-1963. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Agnes continued her research and writing about the American West. She died on March 20, 1988 in Fort Collins, Colorado and is buried at Greenhill Cemetery in Laramie, Wyoming.

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Content Description

The Agnes Wright Spring papers contain correspondence dealing mostly with research for her articles and books as well as personal correspondence with friends and family; research notes; research files containing research notes, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings on specific subjects and research projects; maps of Colorado and Wyoming; newspaper clippings; manuscripts of articles and books by Agnes Wright Spring and other authors; professional organization membership files containing publications, newsletters, and minutes; printed materials such as books, publications, pamphlets, brochures, and ephemera that Agnes may have published in or used for research and professional reference; biographical materials on Agnes W. and Archer T. Spring and her sister Rachael Ann Fish; diaries and research journals (1913-1980); scrapbooks (1904-1960); autograph albums; photographs regarding Agnes's personal life, research, and Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Phi Beta Pi settlement school; and miscellaneous artifacts and art works.

This collection also contains materials about John B. Furay, the Star Routes of the United States Postal Service, and the Furay family including original correspondence between the Furay families, Star Route diaries kept by John B. Furay, and research copies, notes, and correspondence created by Agnes Wright Spring. Agnes Wright Spring also collected original correspondence, receipts, notes, and clippings dated from 1887-1892 between J.Q. Tenny and the Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming Horse Breeders Association.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Preferred Citation

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Administrative Information

Related Materials

Related Materials

Additional archival collections created by Agnes Wright Spring are located at the Denver Public Library in the Agnes Wright Spring Papers, WH1163, Western History Collection.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition Information

This material was received from Agnes Wright Spring from 1945-1986.

Processing Note

Processing Information

The collection was processed by Jamie J. Greene in September 2013 and expanded by D. Claudia Thompson in July 2014 and November 2020.

Some of the material was received in folders, however folder titles were not always consistent with content, and much material was not foldered at all. Additionally, much of the earlier material had been distributed into vertical files unassociated with the collection. Material from the vertical files was returned to the collection if found. Some order was imposed by the archivists but description is still imperfect.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

Processed by Jamie J. Greene
2013; 2014

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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