“Working in Wonderland: A Labor History of Yellowstone National Park” with Dr. Victoria Grieves

Montana State Library Archives and Special Collections and The Ivan Doig Center for the Study of the Lands and Peoples of the North American West will host “Working in Wonderland: A Labor History of Yellowstone National Park” with Dr. Victoria Grieves on
March 9, 2026, noon – 1 p.m.
The event will be hosted as a webinar
(https://zoom.us/j/98567587639)
with an in-person viewing in Wilson Hall 1-131
where lunch will be provided. Dr. Grieves, who was awarded Distinctive Collections Travel and Access Award in 2025, will be presenting on her ongoing research with MSU Archives and Special Collections’ considerable materials documenting Yellowstone’s labor history.
Dr. Grieves argues that the development of Yellowstone National Park as a tourist destination was shaped not only by federal policy, preservation goals, and railroad magnates, but also by the labor and lives of its diverse workforce. These often invisible workers built roads and constructed hotels and lodges, provided hospitality services, and maintained the park’s infrastructure. This history is important not simply to include previously silenced voices and stories in the park’s history, but also to acknowledge that YNP was – and remains – a place of work and production, not only leisure and consumption.

Victoria M. Grieve is a professor of History at Utah State University. She’s published widely on the history of 20th century U.S. history, particularly in the areas of art and politics, childhood, and labor journalism. Her most recent book, “Labor History, Labor Feminism: Women at the Federated Press,” will be available next month from the University of Illinois Press.

For more information regarding regarding this event, please contact ivandoigcenter@montana.edu.