The Florence Arquin papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Florence Arquin papers, 1923-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
This collection consists of eight scrapbooks and five posters documenting the burlesque career of Irene Jewell (stage name Ricki Covette), who at 6'8" was billed as "The World's Tallest Exotic Dancer." The albums contain clippings; letters; certificates; photographs, including photographs of her act; ephemera, such as postcards, travel brochures, postcards, and decals, from her travels; advertisements; and theater programs.
Scope and Contents:
Scrapbooks and posters documenting the burlesque career of Irene Jewell (stage name Ricki Covette), who at 6'8" was billed as "The World's Tallest Exotic Dancer."
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1: Scrapbooks
Series 2: Posters
Biographical / Historical:
Born in 1925 in rural Alberta, Canada, Irene Jewell aspired to become a singer and dancer. Moving to the United States in the 1950s, Jewell began a thirty-year career in show business, including theater, small parts in television and film, but especially burlesque, under her stage name "Ricki Covette." Billed as "The World's Tallest Exotic Dancer" at 6'8" and the "Glamazon," Covette's career spanned the peak of burlesque's popularity; her career highlights included headlining at clubs, including an 82-week stint at the ShoBar in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a solo act world tour in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the Americans. Besides her burlesque career, Covette also had parts in theater, including playing the role of Gymnasia in the 1963-1964 tour of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and appearing in the 1966 film The Swinger. After she left show business, she started a successful second career as a real estate broker in the Los Angeles area and travelled with her husband, cinematographer Stuart Jewell, shooting footage of nature and culture. In 2010 she appeared in Leslie Zemeckis's documentary, Behind the Burly! Covette died in February 2016.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center in 2014 by Irene Jewell (stage name Ricki Covette).
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Social Security numbers are present and have been rendered unreadable and redacted. Researchers may use the photocopies in the collection. The remainder of the collection has no restrictions.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
This scrapbook (1951–1964) contains the following: clippings; correspondence; photographs, including photographs of her act; ephemera, such as travel brochures, postcards, and decals, from her travels; advertisements; and theater programs. This scrapbook also contains some material relating to Barbara Walters (as her father Lou Walters hired Ricki as an exotic dancer for his Latin Quarter Club), and several examples of Covette's AGVA Standard Form of Artistic Engagement Contract for Exotic Dancing.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Social Security numbers are present and have been rendered unreadable and redacted. Researchers may use the photocopies in the collection. The remainder of the collection has no restrictions.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Ricki Covette Burlesque Collection, 1940–2022, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
This album (1970s–2000s) contains the following: clippings; correspondence; photographs, including photographs of Covette's burlesque act; ephemera, such as travel brochures, postcards, and decals, from her travels; advertisements; and theater programs.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Social Security numbers are present and have been rendered unreadable and redacted. Researchers may use the photocopies in the collection. The remainder of the collection has no restrictions.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Ricki Covette Burlesque Collection, 1940–2022, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Travel brochure for Guatemala and a hand written note from Costa Rica.
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Geographical Categories: Central America, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
Tours consists of business records and advertisements created by tourism companies and rail lines, travel guides to varied countries and geographic areas, and other select items such as travel advice, resources on hotels and resorts, and travel-related events or lectures.
No expansive business documentation exists for any company represented within the records. The strength of the collection lies in its breadth of information about other countries, states, or geographic locations provided for the purposes of informing travelers. While no substantial material concerning the history and development of the tourism industry exists within the collection, this subject category provides substantial resources for researchers interested in sorts of information that was made available to tourists, types of travel and tours available, and background about resources and perceptions of promoted vacation destinations over a long time period.
Arrangement:
Tours is arranged in three subseries.
Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Subject
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Tours is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Tours, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
Minimally covers the terminus of the wind-powered (sail) era and more fully documents the peak of the engine (steam) era of commercial cargo and passenger vesselsk, including freight and dockage services, maintenance and provisioning, ferry service, navigation (tug and tow) assistance, plus leisure cruising and touring. There is not a significant amount of material on battle or war ships. Includes both short distance routes such as lakes, rivers, and islets, and longer trans-oceanic crossings.
Documents within the collection consist of handbills, broadsides, leaflets, books, business cards, advertisements, insurance forms, wreck reports, passenger lists, baggage tags, freight manifests, rate cards, correspondence on letterhead stationery, booklets, newspaper clippings, postcards, menus, periodicals, manuals, photographs, engravings, woodcuts, sketches, bills of lading, receipts, catalogues, ledgers, journals, purchase orders, broadsides, brochures, custom forms, schedules, shipping and receiving documents, early steam guides, timetables, lithographs, announcements, etc. There are no navigational nautical maps. There is very little in the way of international import/export records. However, domestic and North American freight services are well-covered through invoices, bills of lading, manifests, and receipts for goods and services.
Some materials cover the history and development of steamships, particularly in the latter half of the nineteenth century with the iron screw replacing the wooden paddle steamer in the 1850s. The late 1860s brought the compound engine, which led to the steamship, previously used for the conveyance of mails and passengers, to compete with the sailing vessel in the carriage of cargo for long voyages. The 1870s brought improvements in accommodation for the passenger, with the midship saloon, conveniences in state-rooms, and covered access to smoke rooms and ladies cabins.
Ownership of specific lines and vessels was very fluid throughout shipping history, including the renaming of vessels. Mergers, dissolution, and absorption of fleets were frequent. Thus, researchers should independently seek out a more detailed history for any entity of particular interest.
The general maritime business series focuses on good and services related to maritime operations such as repair, shipbuilding, parts, ticket agents, chandlers, groceries, coal supply, dockage, wharfs/marinas, etc.
Operation records of named vessels contains primarily bills of lading and similar receipts for the movement of material goods or in-water services such as tow and tug assistance.
The largest series covering shipping lines and conglomerates offers a wide assortment of miscellaneous, nonexhaustive operation records for cargo and passenger lines and corporations, typically those with multiple holdings. These documents may include receipts, bills of lading, correspondence, and financial ledgers, plus promotional material for services and routes offered. Passenger sailings and luxury cruise documentation may contain menus, passenger lists, itineraries, shore excursion information, souveniers such as luggage tags, ticket stubs, and postcards. See also the subject category Menus, for additional examples of passenger and cruise ship menus.
When not associated with any of the above, general examples of materials related to the industry have been by arranged by their material type such as images, reports, and serial publications. More formal documentation, especially legal and reports, can be found here.
Narrative type materials related to lore, history, and building and design specifications have been sorted by subject. A scarce amount of material covers ships used for military service. Likewise, there are a few examples of maritime related material from the art world, mostly in the form of catalogues for exhibits or auction of paintings and scale models.
A note on vessel names: those used as contract carriers of mail and when in service, were entitled to unique prefix designations such as Royal Mail Ship (RMS.), otherwise, the ship name may be preceded by the more generic S.S. for single-screw steamer or steamship, SV for sailing vessel, PS for paddle steamer, RV for research vessel or similar type prefix. USS is the standard for the United States Navy commissioned ships while in commission, with HMS used for His/Her Majesty's Ship of the British Royal Navy.
Some of the major lines/companies represented in the collection include: American Line, American Steamship Company, Anchor Line, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, Cunard-Anchor Line, Cunard Line, Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited, Cunard White Star Line, Eastern Steamship Lines, Furness, Withy & Company, Hamburg American Line (HAPAG) / Hamburg Amerika Linie, Holland America Line (N.A.S.M. / HAL), Inman Line, International Mercantile Marine Company (IMM), International Navigation Company, North German Lloyd (Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen), Panama Pacific Line, Peninsular and Oriental, Red Star Line, Royal Mail Steam Packet, U.S. Mail Steamship Company, United States Lines, White Star Line.
Arrangement:
Ships, Boats, and Vessels is arranged in three subseries.
Business Records and Marketing Material
General Maritime Businesses
Operation Records of Named Vessels
Shipping Lines/Conglomerates
Miscellaneous Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Keepsakes
Images
Ledger
Legal
News Clippings
Regulatory
Reports
Serial Publications
Stamps/Cigarette Cards
Associations and Societies
Images, Artwork, Racing, Technical Literature
Subject
Battleships, Warships
Destination Guides
Employment and Licensing
Insurance
Maritime History
Maritime Models and Art
Revue Generale Des Sciences
Warshaw Administrative Records
Related Materials:
Several other Warshaw Subject Categories may have closely related material such as Submarines and Transportation. For casual and recreational boating see Boats and Boating Equipment and Yachts. Other subject categories that may have related materials include: Canals, Dredging, Engines, Menus, Railroads (point of common transportation transfer), and Tours. .
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Steamboats [Ships, Boats, and Vessels] is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Ships, Boats, and Vessels, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Magazine Que Pasa: in Puerto Rico (Official Visitors Guide to Puerto Rico), Vol. XXII No. 12, December 1970. In pages 8 through 12 there is an article entitled "Puerto Rico's Santería, A True Folk Art".
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Magazine Que Pasa (Official Visitors Guide to Puerto Rico), Vol. 25 No. 12, December 1973. In pages 6 and 7 there is an article entitled Our Twofold Christmas, which has pictures of "santos".
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
2 copies of the magazine Que Pasa (Official Visitors Guide to Puerto Rico), Vol. 27 No. 12, December 1975. In pages 4 and 5 there is an article entitled Puerto Rico's Navidades and in pages 6 and 7 The First Villancico; both articles have pictures of "...
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Magazine Que Pasa (Official Visitors Guide to Puerto Rico), Vol. 28 No. 12, December 1976. In pages 4 and 5 there is an article entitled Puerto Rico's Santos.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
2 copies of the magazine Que Pasa (Official Visitors Guide to Puerto Rico, USA), Vol. 30 No. 12, December 1978. In pages 8 and 9 there is an article entitled They Ride Horses, Not Camels, which talks about the tradition of carving the Three Kings "sant...
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Magazine Que Pasa (Official Visitors Guide to Puerto Rico, USA), Vol. 31 No. 2, February 1979. This is a "carnival month" issue, which shows a vejigante mask on the cover.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Magazine Que Pasa (Official Visitors Guide to Puerto Rico, USA), Vol. 31 No. 12, December 1979. Pages 4 through 7 show a few pictures of "santos" and pages 6 and 7 have an article entitled Nacimientos: The Scene At Bethlehem In Puerto Rico.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1592-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1987 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
File consists of handwritten notes, correspondence, photos of Ralph Rinzler, Thano Johnson, children and pottery production, pottery and travel brochures, receipts, contact information, map, list of songs, telegrams, requests for photographic services, Pottery Making Cities of Japan, Kora Weekly.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Ralph Rinzler papers and audio recordings, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of Matthew Shepard (1976-1998) a gay man who was a victim of a hate crime in Laramie, Wyoming October 1998 resulting in his death. His death gained national and international attention leading to the formation of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and eventual passage of federal hate crime legislation (The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act), signed into law in October 2009.
Content Description:
Papers relating to the life of Matthew Shepard, his beating, death, and its aftermath, leading to the passage of anti-hate crime legislation named for him and James Byrd, Jr. The papers include items from Shepard's early life, his school life, elementary through college, and personal material. The collection includes material from his recycling campaign. It also includes items from theater productions in which he participated. There is correspondence both written and received as well as notebooks and his passports. Travel and general ephemera are also included.
The papers related to the aftermath of his beating and death include funeral memorabilia, programs, flower cards, and photographs of floral arrangements. The bulk of the material consists of condolence cards and letters, expressions of sympathy and condolence, and material from memorial events thoughout the United States. These include not only written correspondence, but graphic and artistic tributes (drawings, poetry, screenplays, and musical compositions.)
There are screenplays, correspondence, and photographs relating to the television motion pictures, Anatomy of a Hate Crime (2001) and The Matthew Shepard Story (2002) starring Stockard Channing, Sam Waterston, and Shane Meier.
The papers have been utilized prior to their donation to the Archives, National Museum of American History by filmmaker Michele Josue and Zeina Barkawi for the award winning documentary, Matt Shepard Is A Friend of Mine (2015). The material was also researched by representatives of Ford's Theater, Washington, DC when Ford's mounted a production of Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project in 2013.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in three series.
Series 1, Shepard, Matthew, Personal Papers, 1976-2018, undated
Subseries 1.1: Education and Schooling, 1981-1998, undated
Subseries 1.4: Assorted Papers and Ephemera, 1976-1999,undated
Subseries 1.5: Funeral and Celebration of Life, Estate, 1998 October-2018 October 26
Series 2, Shepard Family and The Matthew Shepard Foundation, Papers and Correspondence Received, 1998-2013, undated
Subseries 2.1: Papers, 1998-2003, undated
Subseries 2.2: Correspondence Received, 1998 October-2009 September
Series 3, Tribute, Vigil, Memorial Services, Memorabilia, and Inspired Works, 1998-2008, undated
Subseries 3.1: Tribute, Vigil, and Memorial Services, 1998, undated
Subseries 3.2: Memorabilia and Inspired Works,1973-2008, undated
Subseries 3.3: Anatomy of a Hate Crime, 1999-2001
Subseries 3.4: The Matthew Shepard Story, 1999-2004, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The life and death of Matthew Shepard have been documented in numerous biographies, motion pictures, and newsprint.
Matthew Wayne Shepard was born on December 1, 1976 in Casper, Wyoming to Judy Peck and Dennis Wayne Shepard. Shepard's early life was spent in Casper, where he attended elementary school, junior high, and high school till the tenth grade. While living in Casper, he participated in local productions at theater companies based in Casper. One of his school projects involved bringing awareness to recycling. He was so successful that he was appointed as the young adult representative to the governor's initiaive on state-wide recycling. In his junior year of high school, Shepard left Casper to attend The American School in Switzerland (TASIS). At that time his mother Judy and younger brother Logan joined Dennis Shepard in Saudi Arabia where Dennis was employed by SAUDI ARAMCO.
While attending TASIS on a school trip to Morocco Shepard was raped by one or more unknown assailants. Although the crime was reported, the perpetrators were never apprehended. This emotional and physical trauma stayed with Shepard the remainder of his life. After graduation from TASIS, Shepard briefly attended Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. After leaving Catawba he moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, and then returned to Casper, where he enrolled in Casper College, the local community college. He briefly moved to Denver, Colorado, before deciding to enter the Universty of Wyoming in Laramie, his parents' alma mater. He was admitted for the 1998-1999 school year to the University of Wyoming.
It was while living in Laramie on the evening of October 6, 1998 that Shepard crossed paths with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson at the Fireside Lounge. McKinney and Henderson later drove him to a location outside Laramie, where they tied Shepard to a split-rail fence, robbed, and beat him senseless with the butt of a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver. After beating him they stole his shoes and left him in the near-freezing temperatures.
Shepard was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels. He was first transported to Ivinson Hospital in Laramie, and upon the discovery of the severity of his injuries he was transferred to the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. His parents immediately flew from Saudi Arabia and were with him when he died in the early morning hours of October 12, 1998.
McKinney and Henderson were arrested and charged. They maintained what is known as a "gay panic defense" claiming Shepard had made sexual overtures to one or both of them. This was ultimately not allowed. Henderson pleaded guilty to the charges of felony murder and kidnapping. McKinney went to trial also facing charges of felony murder and kidnapping. When found guilty, McKinney faced the possibility of the death penalty, but upon the Shepard family's request he received two consecutive life sentences, as had Henderson.
The death of Matthew on October 12, 1998 resulted in an unprecedented national and international outpouring of sympathy and reflection from the public at large. Cards, letters, and donations to what became the Matthew Shepard Foundation were received from not only the United States but the world. The response was overwhelming, many writing, "to express their concern and sorrow about what had happened to Matt and to us as his parents," in the words of Dennis Shepard. Shepard's Celebration of Life was held at the family's home church, St. Mark's Episcopal, in Casper, Wyoming. Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral.
Over a ten-year period, Judy Shepard and the Matthew Shepard Foundation fought for national hate crime legislation. It was not until 2009 that Congress passed The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, on October 22. President Barack Obama signed the act into law on October 28. The Foundation continues to this day bringing good from evil, empowering individuals, ". . . to embrace human dignity and diversity through outreach, advocacy and resource programs," and, ". . . to replace hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance."
Shepard's ashes were inurned at the Washington National Cathedral in October 2018.
Source
Shepard, Judy. The Meaning of Matthew, My Son's Murder in Laramie and a World Transformed. New York, New York: Hudson Street Press, 2009.
Matthew Shepard Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church website: http://stmarks.diowy.org/ accessed August 2018.
Matthew Shepard Foundation website: https://www.matthewshepard.org/ accessed August 2018.
Separated Materials:
Objects relating to Matthew Shepard are held in the Division of Medicine and Science.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Dennis and Judy Shepard in 2018.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
