[1][2] Its collections focus on Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West (including politics, settlement, Native Americans, and Western trails)[3] and a select handful of national topics: environment and conservation, the mining and petroleum industries, air and rail transportation, popular entertainment (particularly radio, television, film, and popular music), journalism, US military history, and book history.

The AHC also sponsors a wide range of scholarly and popular programs including lectures, symposia, and exhibits.

[1][2] Established in 1945,[3][6] the AHC holds more than 90,000 cubic feet (roughly 17 miles of cubic-foot increments) of collection material as of 2020[7] and over 50,000 rare books.

[9][7][10][4] It administers a teaching and research grant program to fund University of Wyoming faculty who wish to develop new courses based on primary sources in the AHC.

[11] The Toppan Library at the American Heritage Center holds the University's rare book collection.