'the West Still Beckons' At Colorado State University During American West Program
Monday, June 9, 1997
FORT COLLINS--The rich, complex history of the West is coming alive
this summer
during the American West Program at Colorado State, now in its 20th year. The
theme of this
year's program, which runs until early August, is "The West Still Beckons!"
Events and presentations explore the roles of many ethnic and immigrant
groups in the
social history of the West. All programs begin at 7:30 p.m. and are free and
open to the
public. Programs take place in the Cherokee Park Room of the Lory Student
Center or the
university's Natural Resources Building. The final event in August, featuring
a polka band,
will be at Library Park, 200 Mathews St.
Two presentations will highlight the 150th anniversary of the Mormon
Trail, a trek by
pioneers across the Great Plains and the Rockies to a region now known as
Utah. On June 10,
Candy Moulton, author and descendant of Mormon pioneers, explores the "Legacy
of the
Tetons: Mormon Homesteading in the West." The following evening, Jan Shipps,
emeritus
professor of history at Purdue, continues the Mormon theme with a
discussion, "From
Peoplehood to Church Membership: The Latter-Day Saints since World War II."
Both presentations are in the Lory Student Center.
Moulton is a Wyoming native and author of seven nonfiction books,
including
"Steamboat: Legendary Bucking Horse;" "Legacy of the Tetons: Homesteading in
Jackson
Hole," named top book of 1994 by the Wyoming State Historical Society; "Wagon
Wheels: A
Contemporary Journey on the Oregon Trail;" and The Grand Encampment."
Although not a Mormon, Jan Shipps is a recognized authority on the
Latter-day Saints
and the first non-Mormon woman to serve as president of the Mormon History
Association
from 1979-80. She is founding co-editor of "Religion and American Culture: A
Journal of
Interpretation," and for 10 years served as director of the Indiana
University-Purdue
University at Indianapolis Center for American Studies. For five years she
was co-director of
a project on Religion and American Culture that was the forerunner of the
IUPUI's Center for
the Study of Religion and American Culture.
Each year, a poster has been created by Bob Coonts, a local graphic
artist, to highlight
the theme of the American West Program. His work has won awards in
international
competition and is displayed in museums in Mexico, Slovakia, Japan and
Germany. His
earlier posters are considered collector's items.
A complete schedule of events follows. All programs begin at 7:30 p.m.
* June 10, Lory Student Center - "Legacy of the Tetons: Mormon Homesteading
in the West,"
Candy Moulton, author and freelance writer from Encampment, Wyo.
* June 11, Lory Student Center - "From Peoplehood to Church Membership: The
Latter-Day
Saints since World War II," Jan Shipps, emeritus professor of history at
Indiana University-
Purdue University at Indianapolis.
* June 17, Lory Student Center - "Coal Fields of Colorado: People and
Problems," Willis
Knierim, teacher and historian from Boulder.
* June 24, Natural Resources Building - "The Search for Dignity: Blacks in
the West," Blane
Harding, historian and lecturer at Colorado State.
* July 1, Lory Student Center - "North Denver's 'Little Italy' Comes of Age:
1920-1940,"
Janet Worrall, history professor at the University of Northern Colorado-
Greeley.
* July 8, Natural Resources Building - "The Italian Massacre of Walsenberg,
Colo., 1895,"
Conrad Woodall, programmer/analyst at Colorado State's Veterinary Teaching
Hospital.
* July 15, Lory Student Center - "A Multicultural Storytelling Musical
History of Colorado
and the Cheyenne Wars," Pat Mendoza, storyteller, singer and composer from
Denver.
* July 22, Lory Student Center - "The West Beckons Women, Too!" Corky Bush,
director of
Human Resources/Affirmative Action at Montana State University-Bozeman.
* July 29, Lory Student Center - "They All Came to Pueblo: Pueblo's Ethnic
History 1860-
1920," Joanne Dodds, assistant director of Pueblo Library District.
* Aug. 5, Library Park - An evening of Western music with the Adolph Lesser
Polka Band,
200 Mathews St.
EXHIBITS
The Colorado Historical Society will present two exhibits, "William
Henry Jackson:
The Lens of Memory" and "The Rio Grande Textile Tradition from Southern
Colorado,"
through July 31 at the Curfman Gallery of the Lory Student Center.
In addition, the Fort Collins Museum, 200 Mathews St., displays
permanent exhibits as
well as a special traveling exhibit this summer, "La Gente: The Hispanic
People of Larimer
County."
For more information on the American West Program, call Harry Rosenberg
in the
history department at 491-5230.
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