University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming, Athletic Dorm (also known as the “APE Dorm”) housed scholarship student athletes from 1950-1963 in the Men’s Residence Hall, which later became McWhinnie Hall. It housed athletes from all UW sports and allowed the athletes to develop friendships that lasted long past graduation. In 1984, a group of former residents of the dorm, and their spouses; Stan Popeck, Raymond “Bugs” DiFelici, George Johnstone, and Vince Zimmer organized a UW Athletic Dorm Reunion in Lander, Wyoming. The reunion was so successful that they continued to reunite until August 2019, when the last reunion was held.
In 1928, the Men’s Residence Hall was constructed as the first men’s dormitory on campus. Designed by Wilbur Hitchcock, it had room for approximately 102 students. It became the Athletic Dorm in the early 1950s and was used for that purpose until 1963, when the NCAA discouraged separate housing for athletes. It then became Graduate Hall before becoming an office building for the College of Education. In 1981, the building was renamed McWhinnie Hall, in honor of long-time UW Registrar, Ralph McWhinnie. McWhinnie also was the first Men’s Residence Hall Director, and he was a long-time scorer for UW athletics.
Collection contains a video of the UW Athletic Dorm reunions from 1984-2019, an article written in 2009, background information regarding the reunions, photographs, biographical information of athletes who lived in the Athletic Dorm, athlete reminisces, biographical sketches gathered as part of a reunion activity known as the English 101 assignment, football and basketball programs from the 1950’s and 1960s, ephemera, and artifacts that include a frying pan and spoon used to wake up members of the dorm in the mornings and a reunion welcome banner.
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There are no known other archival collections created by the University of Wyoming, Athletic Dorm reunions at the date of processing.
This material was received from Mary Talovich Hamilton in 2019 and George R. Johnstone in 2020.
The collection was processed by Jamie J. Greene in November 2020 and updated in July 2022.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Mary Hamilton was born and raised in Thermopolis, Wyoming and graduated from UW with a BS in Pharmacy in 1961. She created a video of the UW Athletic Dorm reunions documenting the reunions from their start in 1984 to 2019. Her husband, Martin “Marty” Hamilton, was a former resident of the dorm and UW football starting right end from 1958-1960.
George R. Johnstone was a University of Wyoming football player from 1958-1960 and lived in the Athletic Dorm. He was a major contributor to the formation of the UW Athletic Dorm Reunions. This series contains Johnstone's collection of UW athlete biographies, publications, photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings and articles, and artifacts regarding UW Athletic Dorm history, reunions, and the athletes who lived in the dorm from 1950-1963.