Laramie’s Living History — People
A series of stories prepared for the Albany County Museum Coalition, an alliance of institutions that promote Laramie’s historic and cultural resources. This series originally appeared in the Laramie Boomerang.
The people who comprise the Albany County community come from several social strata, ethnicities, and races.
Looking for someone specific?
Search for people related to Albany County and Laramie, Wyoming.
For a better search experience, use specific words and phrases, like “Thornton Biggs”, “Professor Larson”, etc.
Carrie Burton Overton - First African American Girl To Attend the University of Wyoming.
Of the 8,207 residents enumerated in the 1900 census for Laramie, Wyoming, ninety were African American. Of these, seven were girls of school age, but only two were enrolled. Although not written about in any historical overview of Laramie, one, Carrie Burton, would overcome adversity and go on to be the first African American woman to attend the University of Wyoming, a well-known New Yorker and the woman profiled in the 1972 Boomerang article.
CARRIE BURTON OVERTON – FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN GIRL TO ATTEND U.W.
Carrie Burton was born in Laramie in 1888, and despite the odds being stacked against her, she entered the University of Wyoming in 1903 at the age of 15.