JACKSON, Wyo. — The Wyoming Historical Society has released the winners of the annual Lola Homsher Research Grant, three of whom are working on projects related to the Grand Teton area.
According to a press release, the Wyoming Historical Society Projects Committee administers the grant, which recognizes amateur and professional historians that support the Society’s mission to make Wyoming’s past accessible to present and future generations.
Hailey Sorg, chair of the 2025 Projects Committee, said via press release that the projects chosen “represent the very best of Wyoming historical inquiry, and we eagerly anticipate the fresh insights and engaging stories they will bring to light.”
A total of $7,000 was awarded among five regional historians who are working on projects that bring the historical context of Wyoming to life.
Conor Mullen, an artist in Laramie, is working on a project titled “A Voice in the Wilderness: Ending the Cold War in Grand Teton National Park.” The creative research project explores a little-known moment in Wyoming’s history — when U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze met in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) in 1989. Their goal was to lay the groundwork for ending the Cold War.
Mullen said that after interviewing Former Wyoming Governor Mike Sullivan for the project, he decided to collect more than just newspaper stories on the topic.
“[Sullivan] shared several stories with me from the edges of the events that I thought were pretty meaningful,” Mullen told Buckrail.
According to the press release, Mullen is using archival research and oral histories to show how the natural landscape influenced conversations on nuclear arms control and global diplomacy.
“The biggest challenges have been in locating the photojournalists who took the photos, and in getting in touch with people who were in Jackson or Grand Teton during that time,” wrote Mullen. He encourages anyone who was in the area during the 1989 meeting to email him and share their stories about the historic event: cmullenitover@gmail.com.
The four other recipients of the grant are listed below:
- Brian Beauvais, of Cody, has been working with photographs taken during geological surveys in the Absaroka Mountains in the 1890s, by Arnold Hague and Thomas Jaggar. Beauvais is attempting to locate and rephotograph the images from the original vantage points.
- Joseph Esparza, of Bozeman, Montana, is exploring how iconic mountain landscapes, such as the Wind River Range and the Grand Tetons, became powerful cultural symbols in the shaping of the American West.
- Patrick Schmiedt, of Covina, California, is working on a project about the University of Wyoming football team, which will culminate with a published book about the Pokes’ football past, from the team’s founding in 1894 through the mid-20th century, and the people who came up through the program during that time period.
- Zane Pearson, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is working on a historical research project that strives to trace the evolution of the boundary between Idaho and Wyoming prior to the formal creation of the Wyoming Territory in 1868. He seeks to uncover the factors and motivations behind the boundary shifts.
“We are proud to support these dedicated researchers who, through their meticulous work, are not only expanding our collective knowledge but also ensuring that the narratives of our past remain vibrant and accessible for generations to come,” Sorg said via press release.
