last modified:2009-09-25 09:21:35
About Us
| The American West Center: A Forty Year Retrospective |
In 1964 A. R. Mortensen and C. Gregory Crampton, two University of Utah history professors, founded the American West Center with the then unique mission of researching the history and culture of the American West. Over the last forty-three years the Center has accomplished far more than Mortensen and Crampton could have imagined. Faculty and graduate student researchers affiliated with the Center have taken over 5,000 oral histories, including an unparalleled 2,000 Native American interviews. Center staff have also created a remarkable archive of documents essential to the study of the Western environment and produced myriad curriculum support materials--most notably seventeen community history textbooks--for underserved communities across the region.
Now in its fifth decade, the Center continues be a vibrant part of the University of Utah. Because most of our projects are led by U students--both undergraduate and graduate--the Center offers invaluable hands-on education and experience. And because our work is necessarily interdisciplinary, the Center brings together students with similar interests who might not otherwise cross paths in their educational journey. Among the highlights for 2007-2008 are
- continue our ongoing veterans and Native American oral history projects
- launch a new effort to interview Utah's rock climbers, in conjunction with the Special Collections Department of the Marriott Library
- produce an International Westerns Film Festival, in a partnership with the Salt Lake Film Society
- host a conference on the Pacific Worlds and the American West
- continue our popular Tertulia workshops for graduate students studying the American West
If you are interested in becoming involved with the American West Center or would like to make a contribution, please contact us directly at 801.581.7611 or make a secure online donation through the University of Utah Online Giving Form.