THIS PAGE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.
In the future, this may have more of a narrative. In the meantime, it’s a place for you to find resources that I’ve found over the years… I’ll be adding a ton more resources over the next several weeks and months. Enjoy!
Quick and Dirty Overview: Zach’s Thesis — In Defense of the Modern Company Town: Wyoming’s Uranium Communities
Oral Histories
When I was doing my Master’s thesis research, nearly 2 dozen people offered to share their stories with me. You’ll find them linked below (but not today)
For now, click here to find the landing page for the Fife Folklore Archives at Utah State University. Scroll down to near the bottom and under the heading “In Defense of the Modern Company Town: Wyoming’s Uranium Communities (Collector: Zachary R. Larsen, 2019)”, you’ll find links to these interviews transcripts and audio files. People interviewed include business owners, folks who went to school in Jeffrey City, the town sheriff’s deputy, people who ran utility companies, and other companies.
Additionally, the Wyoming State Archives have interviews from a few individuals, including Beulah Walker, who, with her husband, was the first resident of what would become Jeffrey City. I’ll dig those up and post them here soon. I’ve also conducted a few interviews since completing my thesis research, and you’ll also find them here soon.
Coming soon
In the future, you’ll be able to find:
- All but one volume of The Jeffrey City News, the town’s newspaper that ran from 1977 until the mid-1980s.
- A giant digital scrapbook of articles collected from local newspapers between 1953 and 1983
- Letters, manuscripts, and other goodies from various archival sources
- Book suggestions for historical context regarding the Atomic Age, company town, and uranium history