Wyoming Arts Council

Wyoming Capitol Building task force seeks historic photos

Featured News | May 13, 2013

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This request comes from our State Parks and Cultural Resources colleagues in Wyoming Archives:

The Joint Legislative and Executive Task Force on the Capitol Building Rehabilitation and Restoration invites the public to participate in this important state project by sharing your historic photos of the Capitol Building to assist with the first phase of assessing the historic architectural features and finishes of the building.

In an effort to make this restoration as historically accurate as possible, the architectural research team is especially interested in photos from the beginning of construction in 1886 up to 1980, when the last major building renovation was completed.

In particular, the team would like photos that show the rotunda, monumental stairs, corridors, offices, and the House and Senate chambers. The team is hoping to find information from the photos that tells them what the interior finishes looked like during different periods of time. Details like the stencil patterns, wood finishes, wall coverings, floor coverings, light fixtures, and furniture are especially important.

The Capitol Building has always contained space for the elected officials’ offices and legislative chambers, but a variety of other state offices have also occupied rooms within the building, and the research team would like photos of as many of those spaces as possible.

Potentially helpful photos may include snapshots in the Capitol of special events or meetings, employees working in their offices, tour groups or family visits. Important details may have been captured in these images even if the architecture or furnishings weren’t the focus of the photo.

In addition, the team would like to see exterior or interior photos that show close ups of the original windows, which were replaced in the 1970s. Other useful photographs include interior, exterior and aerial photos showing either the initial construction or any remodeling or landscaping that has taken place over the years.

There are three ways to submit your photos

Mail photographic prints, slides, negatives or digital photos burned to a CD along with the completed submission forms to Capitol Photo Project, Attn: Brittany Morris, 2301 Central Ave, Cheyenne, WY, 82002.

Email high resolution digital files of the photos (300 dpi or better JPG format only please – we cannot accept zipped files – there is a 25MB file size limit for each email message) along with the completed submission forms to capitol-photos@wyo.gov.

Drop off your photographic prints, slides, negatives or digital photos in person with the completed submission forms to Brittany Morris, receptionist in the main lobby of the Barrett Building, 2301 Central Ave, Cheyenne.

Submission forms are available below.

Descriptions of the photos are important to the architectural research team, so we request that each submission be accompanied by the Photo Details Form found below with any known information including the date it was taken, the photographer’s name, where the photo was taken in the Capitol, and the names of any people pictured.

Photos will be returned as soon as possible after they are scanned.

Please also consider donating the scanned images and photographs to the Wyoming State Archives. These images would become a permanent part of the collection and be available to future researchers. If you would like to do so, Donation and Loan Agreements are available below.

Submission Forms
Donation Agreement
Loan Agreement
Photo Details Form

The deadline for submission of photos is Friday, June 7.

Renee Bovee, Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund Administrator, Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Resources, 307-777-6312.

Brittany Morris, Receptionist, Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Resources, 307-777-8203

Melissa Robb, Historic Architecture Specialist, Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, 307-777-7566.

Suzi Taylor, Reference Archivist, Wyoming State Archives, 307-777-5942.

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