The Wyoming Historical Society announces recipients of its 2012 Lola Homsher research grants. Mary Kelley, chair of the committee, said they received twenty grant applications totaling almost $32,000 in requests.  She says, “The committee selected twelve applicants who will receive a total of $12,000 for their individual research projects.”  Kelley added that the committee is impressed with the amount of research that people are pursuing about aspects of Wyoming’s history.   She said the Homsher Grant program is one of the most important ways the Society reaches out to the public and makes an impact on preserving Wyoming’s wonderful history. Anyone considering research about Wyoming that will result in a tangible project is eligible to apply for the research grants.  Kelley said this applies to members and non-members alike, amateur and professional historians, and students.  For details visit www.wyshs.org.

This year’s Homsher recipients are: 

• Mike Metcalf of Casper received $900 for his project titled “Red Buttes,” an effort to discover the burial site of a mass grave containing the remains of soldiers killed at the Red Buttes massacre in 1865.
• Robert Roth of Laramie received $100 to assist in finalizing a project to preserve student-written articles and photographs published in the Laramie Boomerang from 1976 to 2008.
• Matthew Allen Pearce of Norman, OK received $1300 for his project that will examine the conflicts associated with the use of federal rangelands from the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 to the wilderness Act of 1964.
• Rodger McDaniel of Cheyenne received $1700 for his effort in writing a biography of former United States Senator Lester C. Hunt.  Hunt was a former Wyoming governor from 1943-1949, served as Secretary of State from 1935-1943, and was a member of the state legislature from 1933-1935.
• Robert Henry of Cheyenne received $800 to assist in his efforts to discover and tell the story of life in the area around Rawhide Butte in Campbell County from 1910 to 1920.
• Forrest McCarthy of Jackson received $1400 to explore and document the Indian Pass Historical Expedition which took place along the Wind River Range in the late 1800s.
• Jack Studley of Cheyenne received $800 to assist in locating and documenting the original surveys of the city of Cheyenne.
• Mac Blewer of Laramie received $1300 for two separate projects, one titled “Lost Barracks of Park County,” and the other to assist him in researching “Outlaw Trails.”
• Jane Branigan of Cheyenne received $900 to assist in her efforts to publish a book on Frankie Warren Pershing and her husband General John J. Pershing.
• Lisa Thalken Skalicky and Cling Saunders of Casper received $1400 to assist them in researching and documenting Wyoming’s old theatres, many of which have been destroyed.
• Dr. Mark Schreiter of Kodiak, Alaska received $1400 to conduct research for a book titled “Wyoming Jack O’Brien and the Western Identity.”

In addition to receiving research funds, each recipient receives a one-year complimentary membership in the Wyoming State Historical Society.  Benefits include receiving the Society’s scholarly journal, Annals of Wyoming, and the monthly newsletter, Wyoming History News.  The Lola Homsher Grant is made possible from the endowment that prominent Wyoming historian Lola Homsher created for the purpose of promoting the research of Wyoming history.  The deadline to apply for these research grants is February 28, 2013.  To learn more about the Lola Homsher Research Grant Program, or other aspects of the Wyoming Historical Society, visit the website at www.wyshs.org or contact executive secretary Linda Fabian at 307-322-3014 or linda@dancewyoming.com.