The Johnson County Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum began in the back room of Jim Gatchell’s pharmacy in 1903 in Buffalo, Wyoming. Jim Gatchell wrote about and collected local and regional history for almost 50 years.When he died in 1954, his descendants donated his collection to Johnson County for the creation of a formal museum. The doors opened three years later in May of 1957 after community fundraising. Today, the Johnson County Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum is a nationally accredited museum with the American Alliance of Museums, a Blue-Star Museum, and an IMLS National Medal recipient in the Class of 2023 Museum category.
The Johnson County Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum is operated with a full-time staff of three, one part-time staff, and a dedicated group of volunteers year-round. When the museum expands to summer hours, they additionally manage four to five summer staff. Sylvia Bruner began her career at the Gatchell as the Collections Registrar in 2003 and became Director in 2016. Jennifer Romanoski has been the Museum Educator since 2009 and additionally manages social media and exhibits. Kelsey McDonnell has managed membership, merchandise, marketing, and much more as the Museum Assistant since 2018. Part-tim Collections Manager Jenn Anderson (not pictured) facilitates research requests, collections work, database management, and donations since 2024. Volunteers have helped with exhibits, store sales, collections paperwork and database entry since 1957.
As noted above in 2023, the Johnson County Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum became one of fifteen finalists in the Museum category for the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Medals Class of 2023. This is the highest achievement a museum can earn in the field. The Johnson County Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum was one of four winners in the Museum category and a volunteer and staff went to the White House to receive the medal.
Continuing in the same spirit of success and ingenuity, the Johnson County Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum has created a Wisdom Council of seven Indigenous scholars and elders for the reinterpretation and redesign of Indigenous culture and history in our Native American gallery. The Museum’s goal is to extend Indigenous history throughout the museum and expand our Indigenous programming in schools and across the community.
The Johnson County Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum is a 2026 Culture Grows Grantee of Wyoming Humanities, and a member of the first Grantee Cohort moving through the year with 14 other nonprofit cultural organizations.
