No. 716 Clark Spence, 2013

File — Box: 71, Folder: 15

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Clark Spence, well-known Western historian and retired professor at the University of Illinois, remembers his early academic career, how he became interested in Western history, and his long association with the Western History Association. A Montanan by birth, raised in Idaho, Dr. Spence had planned to be an engineer but came home from World War II with different ideas. He credits Colin Goody Koontz at the University of Colorado with turning him toward Western history. Dr. Spence attended the second WHA annual conference in Denver in 1962, and most meetings since until the last ten years. He also served as president of the organization, and was involved in the turn away from the more profit-driven, popular American West magazine to the academic Western Historical Quarterly. He discusses the role of women in the WHA over the years, the tension between “buffs” and academics, and the changing organizational dynamic.
Project: Western History Association.
Interviewer: Raquel Escobar

Dates

2013

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.