As a reminder, all WHA award submissions are due today, April 1,  except the Autry Public History Prize. Submissions for The Autry Prize are due next month on Sunday, May 1.
Click here to see the guidelines for the Autry Public History Prize for more information.

Good Luck!

A letter from Patrick McCarthy:

I seek either a proven writer, preferably, or an outstanding doctoral student whom I would consider a “generalist,” who engage multidisciplinary methods in their scholarly pursuits.

I have been involved for 35 years researching and publishing regarding how the image of the mountain man is depicted in 35 differing categories appearing in American Culture.

Example: Patrick McCarthy, “‘Westers,' Not Westerns’: Exteriorizing the ‘Wild Man Within,’” Journal of Popular Film & Television 23(3) (Fall 1995): 116-129.

I have terminal cancer, and there’s much to done to bring my efforts to full fruition, so it’s necessary to turn over my main project to a deserving, qualified, if accomplished, person.

This individual could be an historian, psychologist, folklorist, sociologist, anthropologist, feminist, men’s studies specialist, or, conceivably, a combo of all of the aforementioned.

Precisely, another scholar and I have accumulated enough information and materials to create a hefty, 26-chapter, two-volume book, which would be the definitive work about the mountain man’s depiction throughout American Culture (including historical literature) and would, ostensibly, be a bestseller.

Please bear in mind, the working title for the work is: “The Mountain Man Paradigm: A Psycho-Cultural Reader.” But once I turn the reins over to you, the project is yours to develop.

All you need to do is: (1) perform additional, required research about the modern mountain man rendezvous, updating what we have done; (2) further organize all existing information and materials; (3) and, finally, edit the entire manuscript and locate a publisher.

However, I have a book contract with the best epublisher in America. I would consider transferring that book contract, sans any exchange of monies, to the right person.

If you are the final candidate, you would have to undergo an on-site interview, at your expense, at my safe place of residence in Boise, Idaho.

If we mutually agree that you are the one person for the job then and there, that part of the deal is complete, with the epublisher option a second part of the agreement to be decided.

I will help you all I can for as long as I can, writing a psychological analysis of ultra-famous trapper Jedediah Strong Smith’s inner life, for one chapter, and, for another chapter, providing an overall psychological appraisal of the mountain man’s character in general.

The process for determining the likely person to assume my research and writing is completely transparent, and all queries will be promptly answered.

patrickmccarthy@cableone.net

The Western History Association seeks a new Executive Director and home for its executive office, beginning July 1, 2017. The Executive Director, selected by the WHA Council, is a member of the Council and, with the President and the President-elect constitutes the Association’s Executive Committee to conduct Association business when the Council is not in session. The Executive Director conducts the routine affairs of the Association, maintains Association records and accounts, makes annual financial reports to Council, reports to membership on the actions of Council, arranges for annual meetings of the Association, and conducts the annual business meeting as well as other duties assigned by the Council. The Constitution of the WHA, which defines and describes the core duties of the Executive Director, can be consulted on-line at http://tinyurl.com/go5gw6a

Applicants with faculty appointments should be tenured with appropriate publications and administrative experience. Applicants from research libraries, museums, or other institutions should have sufficient seniority and institutional backing to provide assurance of secure tenure and ongoing support. The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate institutional support (office space, clerical-administrative staff, etc.) and the ability to devote 50% of her or his time to the WHA. The WHA contributes financially to supplement the support provided by the institutional sponsor.

Applicants should use regular or electronic mail to send a letter of interest, a c. v., the names of three references, and a letter of support from their institution to:

 George Miles, Chair of the WHA Search Committee
Yale Collection of Western Americana
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven, CT 06520-8330
george.miles@yale.edu.

 To be assured of consideration applications must be received by September 1, 2016. Interviews will be conducted at the annual meeting of the WHA in St. Paul, Minnesota the week of October 17, 2016.  The WHA is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

 Potential applicants are encouraged to address questions to members of the search committee:

Don Fixico Donald.Fixico@asu.edu;
Chuck Rankin cerankin@ou.edu;
Pablo Mitchell Pablo.mitchell@oberlin.edu;
Sherry Smith sherrys@smu.edu;
Virginia Scharff vscharff@unm.edu;
Marsha L Weisiger weisiger@uoregon.edu;
George Miles george.miles@yale.edu

 Or to

 WHA President John Faragher john.faragher@yale.edu, or
WHA President-elect Steve Aron saron@history.ucla.edu

Buffalo Bill Center of the West

Call for Proposals: 2016 – 2017 Resident Fellowships

Overview:

Buffalo Bill Center of the West (Center) in Cody, Wyoming, invites proposals for its 2016 – 2017 Resident Fellowship Program. Fellowships are intended to fund research advancing knowledge, understanding, and passion about the cultural and natural heritage of the American West and its global relevance. Fellows will be granted a stipend of $5,000. Note: While Fellowships generally are intended for individuals, the Center will consider group proposals from two or more individuals. If applying as a group, each member must submit the required application materials. If a Fellowship is awarded to a group, the amount awarded will remain $5,000.

Research Topics:

Fellows may conduct archival  collections-based, and/or field-based research  associated with one or more of the Center’s five museums (Buffalo Bill, Cody Firearms, Draper Natural History, Plains Indian and Whitney Western Art) and McCracken Research Library.  Research and collection strengths at the Center include but are not limited to: western art and art history; Plains Indian art and cultures; Greater Yellowstone ecology, conservation and wildlife management; firearms history and technology; western history, and the life and times of William F. Cody. Please visit the Center’s website (http://centerofthewest.org) for more information on these areas. Note: Special consideration will be given to research proposals that incorporate an interdisciplinary approach and/or innovative methodologies in the study of the American West.

Fellowship Requirements:

• Projects must be relevant to the Center’s mission and tied to its resources and/or expertise. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Center staff in their area(s) of interest to determine the availability of resources and discuss their proposed research project.

Name	Discipline	Phone	E-mail
Gretchen Henrich	Interpretive Education; Electronic Learning	307-578-4061	gretchenh@centerofthewest.org
Ashley Hleblinsky	Firearms	307-578-4048	ashleyh@centerofthewest.org
Jeremy Johnston	Western History, Papers of William F. Cody	307-578-4032	jeremyj@centerofthewest.org
Karen McWhorter	Western Art	307-578-4053	karenm@center of thewest.org
Dr. Charles Preston	Natural History; Yellowstone Ecosystem	307-578-4078	cpreston@centerofthewest .org
Mary Robinson	Library Collection, Historic Photographs	307-578-4063	maryr@centerofthewest.org
Rebecca West	Plains Indian Culture	307-578-4049	rebeccaw@centerofthewest.org

• Generally, it is expected that fellows will complete a residency of about two weeks or more, depending on the parameters of the Fellow’s research needs. The period of residency must be completed between June 1, 2016, and May 31, 2017. There are two weeks which are not available for residency during this time: June 13 to June 19, 2016 and September 19 to September 25, 2016.

• Fellows must arrange their own transportation, lodging, and meals during residency. (Note: Cody housing/lodging rates are high during the summer tourist season; off-season rates are much cheaper.)

• Fellows are required to make a public presentation about their research. Suitable formats include, but are not limited to, a lecture, apeer-reviewed journal article, and book or book chapter. Any such public presentation must credit the support of the Center.

• Fellows must submit a project summary at the end of their residency.

Application Requirements:

• Please submit the following application materials electronically to Christine Searles, Human Resources Manager at the following address: chriss@centerofthewest.org.

  • A narrative statement (not to exceed three pages), summarizing the proposed project’s purpose, parameters and methodologies, and addressing how the Center’s staff expertise, archival, photographic, physical collections, or other resources will significantly contribute to the project’s ultimate success.

  • A timeline outlining the plan of research and dates for anticipated products.

  • A résumé, C.V. or similar evidence of qualifications.

  • Two letters of reference.

  • Any other material deemed relevant for consideration.

Selection Criteria:

Fellowships will be awarded based on the following criteria:

• The extent to which the proposed project draws upon the Center’s collections, resources, and/or expertise.

• The research project’s potential contribution to understanding of the cultural and natural heritage of the American West and its timeless and global relevance.

• The potential for professional presentation and/or publication upon completion of the Fellow’s research.

• The likelihood of the project to succeed based on the proposed approach, timeframe, and candidate’s qualifications.

Deadline:

April 15, 2016. Fellowships will be awarded by May 1, 2016. All applicants will be notified by email of the outcome of their proposal. Should add curators/library director, their areas of expertise, and contact information.

Questions:

Please contact Christine Searles at chriss@centerofthewest.org.

The Office of Historic Preservation is pleased to announce that it is now accepting nominations for the 2016 Governor’s Historic Preservation Awards. Nomination and program information is posted on our website and social media pages. We hope you can assist us in spreading the word even further by including a link in your newsletters, news sites, or websites. Projects, individuals, and organizations can be nominated for an award. The nomination deadline is Wednesday, May 11, 2016.

For more information visit: http://www.ohp.parks.ca.gov/governorsawards 

The Utah Division of State History invites the public, scholars, students, policymakers, Indian tribes, and organizations to submit proposals for papers, sessions, panels, roundtables, or multimedia presentations exploring the theme Rural Utah and Western Issues. Sessions for the 64th annual Utah State History conference will be held on September 30, 2016.

Although Utah and the American West are highly urbanized—principally a product of arid geography—some of their defining characteristics are open spaces and sparse populations. Outside of its urban corridors, the West is a region of small towns and scattered homes amid a big landscape. Its history is a mosaic of agriculture, ranching, manufacturing, community life, and culture. Unfortunately, it is also sometimes ignored in the wider histories.

One of the biggest and most recognizable of western landscapes is Utah’s—the expansive range of the Great Basin, the peaks of the Central Rockies, and the canyons of the Colorado Plateau. Approximately 97 percent of Utah’s land area is considered rural. But this is not an unpeopled and unstoried landscape. About one in ten Utahns lives in towns of 2,500 people or less.

Rural Utahns have grappled with economic development, the dynamics of in-migration, rural gentrification, and the retention of rural culture and identity. Land and resource issues—federal ownership of vast tracts of locally used land, scarcity of water, and energy development among them—are also common, as they are in the histories of other western states. This conference seeks to examine the historical dimensions of these issues, highlighting new, revised, or heretofore unknown histories of rural and western life for a twenty-first century public.

The 2016 Program Committee invites proposals that explore the issues and histories confronting rural Utah and the broader American West. Submissions on other aspects of Utah history will also be considered. We welcome a range of formats, from the traditional panels and sessions to more innovative formats. We encourage full session or panel submissions, though we will make every effort to match single paper proposals with other panels and papers.

Website address for submissions: https://heritage.utah.gov/history/2016-conference

Proposals can be submitted February 1 to April 25, 2016

 

The Western History Association is proud to announce that longtime WHA member Renee Laegreid, has won the Best Magazine Article award for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for her article “Finding the American West in Twenty-First- Century Italy” published in the Western Historical Quarterly (Fall 2014 45:4).
Laegreid joins many writers, filmmakers, actors and other artists whose works in literature, music, film, and television reflect the significant stories of the American West. The awards ceremony also recognizes inductees into the prestigious Hall of Great Westerners and the Hall of Great Western Performers, as well as the recipient of the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award, named in honor of the Museum’s founder. Each honoree receives a Wrangler, an impressive bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback.

WHA Members can read Laegreid’s article here: http://whq.oxfordjournals.org/content/45/4/411

For more information about the Western Heritage Awards, please click here: http://nationalcowboymuseum.org/awards-halls-of-fame/western-heritage-awards/western-heritage-awards-current-winners/

February 22, 2016

 Welcome to the new Western Historical Quarterly! Now that Oxford University Press is our publisher, we have set up a new online submission system through ScholarOne.

 Check out the new OUP/WHQ website at:  http://whq.oxfordjournals.org/

 We are very eager to see your work. As the official journal of the Western History Association, since 1969 we have published original articles dealing with the most capacious North American West—expansion and colonization, indigenous histories, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, regional studies (including western Canada, northern Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii), and transnational, comparative, and borderland histories. Political, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual histories of a broadly defined West and studies set in all eras of the past, into the twenty-first century, are encouraged.

Instructions about how to submit article manuscripts, the format and citation style the WHQ prefers, our publication process, and links to recent articles are on the new Oxford University Press/WHQ site at  http://whq.oxfordjournals.org/

 We’re looking forward to the advantages of this new system as it makes our publication process faster, but it is new for all of us! You can look at the ScholarOne WHQ site and register if you like at:

https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/whq

 If you have any questions or encounter problems with the system , please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Anne Hyde, Editor and David Lewis, Executive Editor
western.historical.quarterly.1@ou.edu

 

 

The Amon Carter Museum of American Art invites applications for the 2016/2017 Davidson Family Fellowship. The fellowship provides support for scholars holding a PhD (or equivalent) or PhD candidates to work on research projects in American art that advance scholarship by connecting with objects in the museum’s permanent collection.

The stipend rate is $3,000 per month for a minimum one-month to a maximum four-month period of full-time research at the museum. The application deadline is May 2, 2016, for a fellowship to begin on or after October 1, 2016, and end by September 30, 2017. Housing and travel expenses are to be managed by the fellow.

Full description, including application guidelines, is at:
http://www.cartermuseum.org/library/davidson-family-fellowship