Harry Jackson Papers at the American Heritage Center

On September 8th I had the pleasure of visiting the American Heritage Center (AHC) at the University of Wyoming. They have created a finding aid (index) for the Harry Jackson papers that were given by his family to the center. This is an enormous collection comprising documents from 1939 through 2011, here is the link to the finding aid: Harry Jackson papers 1939 - 2011. The AHC has scholars visiting from all over the world to research their extensive collections of papers. Along with Harry Jackson are the papers of Alan Simpson the esteemed Senator from Wyoming.

The Harry Jackson Papers at the AHC is important for allowing scholars and enthusiasts to explore, research, and discover his incredible life. The finding aid is a wonderful first step in opening up this collection for people to examine. There are so many interesting areas that can be explored from his childhood during the depression in Chicago, living the cowboy life in Wyoming in the 30’s and 40’s, service as a WWII Combat Marine and Artist, becoming a part of the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 40’s and 50’s in New York, returning to realism in the 50’s, a tremendously successful career as a Western Sculptor in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, then his later periods where he attempted large projects like a 500 foot sculpture for Global Peace based on Sacagawea, while revisiting his experiences as a WWII Marine.

I will post more updates about the Harry Jackson Papers at the AHC in the future. I was all set to take some photos of the collection and examples of the papers, when I had to leave unexpectedly.