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University of Wyoming. College of Arts and Sciences records, 1897-2022

Overview of the Collection

Creator
University of Wyoming. College of Arts and Sciences
Title
University of Wyoming. College of Arts and Sciences records
Dates
1897-2022 (inclusive)
Website capture 2019-ongoing (inclusive)
Quantity
149.60 cubic ft. (157 boxes) + 88.92 GB + Website
Collection Number
545000
Summary
This collection contains office and departmental records from the University of Wyoming, College of Arts and Sciences.
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

Series I. Office Records, Sub-series 3. Former Faculty Files is restricted from use without permissions.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The College of Arts and Sciences began as the Collegiate Department upon the University of Wyoming's founding in 1886 and was responsible for the liberal arts curriculum at the University. Originally housed in Old Main, five professors and two tutors taught more than 100 required and elective courses within the Collegiate Department and offered students bachelors degrees in either arts, philosophy, letters or science.

After Wyoming received statehood in 1890 the amount of faculty doubled, and student enrollment virtually tripled. In 1891, the Collegiate Department became the College of Liberal Arts. Following on the heals of the Great Depression, the Work Progress Administration partially funded the construction of a new Liberal Arts Building in 1935 which contained 30 classrooms and 40 offices. Student contributions comprised a large part of the construction; they cut stones from a quarry northeast of Laramie for the building and dug the sewer mains as well. In 1956, the College of Liberal Arts became the College of Arts and Sciences. By 1964 the oil boom funded the intellectual and physical expansion of the College, and soon after it grew to include 20 departments. The college separated Anthropology, Sociology and Geography in 1966, and created the departments of Social Work (1970), Computer Science (1971), Criminal Justice, or the Administration of Justice (1973), Gender and Womens Studies (1977), and Chicano and Religious Studies.

The College was the largest and most diverse academic unit at the University. Eventually the College of Arts and Sciences grew to include 22 departments, 15 interdepartmental programs and approximately 375 faculty members, the largest of the University's colleges. The college also offered bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees in five divisions: humanities, fine arts, humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, and biological sciences.

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Content Description

This collection contains University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences office records from 1897-2016 (non-inclusive). Included in the collection are college office records composed of materials relating to teacher rating scales, annual reports, department head meetings, faculty concerns, dean correspondence (the majority of which belonged to Dean Oliver Walter), the office of Academic Affairs, planning, the Osaka University partnerships, and building space issues. There is also information on and organized by academic departments within the College including correspondence, faculty reviews, requests for space or funding, and self-study reports. Also included are files containing records of the Religious Education Committee, the National Endowment for the Humanities screening and College of Arts and Sciences Central Committee files (1979-2012). These document international and research travel grants, faculty awards and recognitions, and London semester professorships. In addition to this, the collection includes photographs of various departments, honors convocation (1985-2011), and faculty and staff. Other materials held in the collections include records documenting the planning and creation of the American Heritage Center and UW Art Museum, videotapes of speakers at the College, alumni and former faculty oral histories, and alumni and former faculty awards.

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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.

Restrictions on Use

Statement on Potentially Harmful Language and Images Found in Collections

The American Heritage Center aspires to approach all areas of our work in ways that are respectful to those who create, use, and are represented in our collections. For a variety of reasons, however, users may encounter offensive or harmful language or images in some of our finding aids, catalogs, and collection materials.

Note that the AHC does not censor or alter contents of the collections as they provide context and evidence of a time, people, place, or event. Therefore, we encourage users to bring questions and concerns about descriptions in our finding aids to our attention via email or anonymous web-form. For more information, read our full statement.

Preferred Citation

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

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection is composed of eight series. Each is arranged alphabetically except for series IV, sub-series 3, which is organized by year.

Related Materials

There are no known other archival collections created by the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences at the date of processing.

Acquisition Information

This material was received from the University of Wyoming, College of Arts and Sciences from 1984-2024.

Processing Note

The collection was processed by Laura Uglean Jackson and Rebecca Mueller in August 2010, Samantha Fawcett in May 2012, MaKayla Garnica in August 2018, and updated by Tayler Hopkins in December 2018 and Jamie Greene in May 2021, February 2023, and June 2025.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

Processed by Laura Uglean Jackson and Rebecca Mueller in 2010, Samantha Fawcett in 2012, and Makayla Garnica in 2018
2010; 2012; 2018

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

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