Discover & Discuss: Black Life in Wyoming: Cowboys, Coal & Community
Tue, Nov 17
|CFD Old West Museum
This talk explores the history of Black coal miners in Wyoming and the communities they built, alongside Black participation in rodeo culture, including connections to Cheyenne Frontier Days. Together, these stories highlight Black labor, skill, community, and public tradition in Wyoming’s past.
Time & Location
Nov 17, 2026, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
CFD Old West Museum, 4610 Carey Ave, Cheyenne, WY 82001, USA
About the event
Wyoming’s coal camps were once home to vibrant Black communities drawn west by opportunity, steady work, and the chance to build lasting lives. This talk explores the experiences of Black coal miners in Wyoming and the families and communities that grew around the mines. It also highlights Black participation in cowboy and rodeo culture, including competitors and workers connected to Cheyenne Frontier Days. Together, these stories reveal a fuller picture of Black life in Wyoming—one shaped by labor, skill, community, and public tradition.
Presented by Brigida Blasi.
Brigida R. (Brie) Blasi is the Head of Education and Outreach at the University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center where she oversees instruction, exhibits, public programming, and the Wyoming History Day program. She holds a BA in Humanities/Fine Arts from the University of Wyoming (UW), an MA in History with an emphasis in Public History from New Mexico State University, and an MS in Library Science from the University of North Texas. She is also part of UW’s inaugural cohort of a PhD program in Public Humanities. Brie has spent her career working in museums, historic sites, archives, and historic preservation. Her specialties have been in curation, museum and nonprofit management, under-represented histories of the migrant US West, and local and family history research.