Hebard, Grace Raymond, 1861-1936

Grace Raymond Hebard taught and served as librarian at the University of Wyoming.

Collection materials relating to Hebard's career as University of Wyoming professor, librarian, and western historian. Collection includes subject files containing correspondence, manuscripts, transcripts and printed materials concerning places and events Hebard researched and participated in such as the women's suffrage movement, Wyoming history, and the University of Wyoming (1864-1946); biographical files containing correpsondence, transcripts, newsclippings and printed materials of historical and important individuals, and correspondence with friends and associates (1829-1947); manuscripts, along with related correpsondence, interviews and research notes of her books (1850-1940); personal files containing correspondence with family and friends and genealogical information on the Hebard family (1856-1938); scrapbooks with newsclippings and photographs of the University of Wyoming (1870-1935); appointment books; a copy of the one-act play "The Birth of Wyoming Day"; maps used in writing her books; and letters of author and historian Owen Wister and certificates of appointment for Albany County Sheriff N.K. Boswell.

Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard, University of Wyoming professor, historian, librarian, and champion of many causes, was born 2 July 1861 in Clinton, Iowa. Her parents were Reverend George Diah Alonzo Hebard and Margaret E. Dominick Marven Hebard. Her siblings included a sister, Alice, and two brothers, Lockwood and Frederic. She received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Iowa in 1882 and came to Wyoming as a draftsman in the Cheyenne Surveyor General's Office. In 1885 she received a master of arts degree from the University of Iowa. In 1891 the governor appointed her as a Trustee of the University of Wyoming, a position she occupied for twelve years, six of which she served as Secretary of the Board. During this time she also completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Illinois Wesleyan University (1893) and became a member of the Wyoming Bar Association (1898).

Hebard was appointed as university librarian in 1908 and held this position until 1919. She also taught classes in the political economy department, and served as head of the department from 1908 until her retirement in 1931. As an avid historian, Grace Hebard spent much time researching and collecting material on the history of Wyoming and the west. Among the books she wrote were The History and Government of Wyoming, The Pathbreakers From River to Ocean, How Woman Suffrage Came to Wyoming, Washakie, Sacajawea, and The Pony Express . She was also active in marking, preserving and commemorating historical places and events with organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution. As State Historian of the D.A.R., she helped mark such historic places as the Oregon Trail and Fort Laramie.

In addition to her teaching and administrative duties, Hebard was active in many civic and public affairs. She campaigned for women's suffrage, supported American troops in World War I, and helped immigrants become American citizens. After she retired from teaching in 1931, she continued to research and collect historical material in her home, affectionately known to students and colleagues as "The Doctors Inn." Hebard lived in this house with her close friend and colleague Dr. Agnes M. Wergeland until Wergeland's death in 1915. Grace's sister Alice then lived there until her death in 1928.

Grace Raymond Hebard died 11 October 1936 in Laramie. Her contributions to the early history of the University of Wyoming and the history of the west were tremendous. Her countless friends and colleagues remembered her as a strong-willed, independent woman who was devoted to her career as professor, librarian, and historian of Wyoming and the west.