Wyoming Arts Council

“We are very excited to introduce our digital collection,” Photo Archivist Megan Peacock says. “Being able to provide online access to collection materials such as the Charles Belden Collection and Jack Richard Photograph Collection is a huge accomplishment for the library and the historical center.”

According to Peacock, placing the images online makes it possible for users, who might never have the chance to visit the library in person, to access collection materials. The images include both the often-requested material and other important, but lesser know materials, and print reproductions of all these classic images are available for purchase.

Jack Richard’s fifty-year professional career began in 1931 with his work as a journalist. By 1953, he’d turned to full time photography, and throughout his career, a number of national magazines featured his work including Sports Afield, Life, and National Geographic. The Jack Richard Collection consists of more than 160,000 negatives and 100,000 prints along with other materials. A very small portion of the collection has been digitized.

The Charles J. Belden collection contains approximately 2,500 original negatives and 2,000 prints as well as scrapbooks, correspondence, research notes, and personal memorabilia. From 1914 to 1940, Belden operated the Pitchfork Ranch, near Meeteetse, Wyoming, where most of the images were taken. There he photographed cowboys, cattle, and sheep, capturing classic images of the American West and Wyoming ranch life. The diverse collection has images of personal vacations, aerial photographs of northwest Wyoming, and publicity photographs for dude ranching. Thumbnail images of each photograph are featured in the digital collection where users may generally browse collection images or search by keyword. Richard’s photographs are organized into the categories of national parks, hunting, Heart Mountain Relocation Center, and aerial shots. Belden’s images also include aerial photography as well as sheep, antelope, cattle, Pitchfork Ranch, and cowboys. There are 1,748 Richard images now available online and 2,528 Belden images.

The BBHC is now operating its winter schedule, open daily 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, closed Mondays. This schedule is in effect until April 1.