Spotlight on Collections

This bench was recently donated by the First Methodist Church of Laramie.  The bench is one of several ornately carved pieces done by inmates at the Wyoming Territorial Prison.  It is believed that the bench had been given by the prisoners to Warden Nathaniel K. Boswell before it came to the church.

The carving done on the bench includes two Chinese dragon heads on each arm.

 

 

 

If you have an item that might help Wyoming Territorial Prison interpret the history of the site, please contact Katie Keckeisen at katie.keckeisen@wyo.gov or call (307) 745-3733 Ext. 20.  The Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site collection guidelines are as follows:

The Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site will collect and maintain permanent educational artifacts associated with the history, folklore, and material culture relative to the Wyoming Territorial Prison, 1872-1903, and the University of Wyoming Agricultural Station, 1903 -1989.  The concentration of the collection shall be between 1872 and 1990, during which time the Historic Site was utilized as a Prison and University of Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Stock Farm.  This does not prohibit collecting, where deemed necessary, items which may have been found or used on the Historic Site prior to 1872 or after 1990, so long as they pertain to the exhibit goals of the Historic site.