Professor Lends Expertise To Developing Heritage Center

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Nationally recognized historian and University of Arkansas professor Elliott West will help bring the experiences of settlers in the late 1800s to life. He has joined the Homestead Heritage Center project team of the Homestead National Monument of America.

The Heritage Center is being developed to commemorate the homesteading experience. It will be located west of Beatrice in Nebraska. West will provide research assistance to Nash Brookes Inc., the professional firm contracted to plan and design interpretive and historical exhibits for the future facility.

"It’s interesting being involved in it at this stage," West said. "I get to help shape it, make it what it’s going to be."

Much of West’s work with the project will involve making sure the center and its research is accurate and faithful to the homesteading experience. He and the other project members will base their work from journals, newspapers and reminiscences of the people who lived through those years. The work will likely take a few years and will involve many conference calls, as well as some trips to Nebraska, for West.

Homesteading refers to the period in U.S. history after the passing of the Homestead Act in 1862. The Homestead Act made millions of acres of unclaimed land, much of it in the Great Plains, available virtually free to people who would claim it and develop it. Anyone—including single women, freed slaves and immigrants—could claim land. While it meant freedom for many, some of the land was already home to American Indians, who were forced to move elsewhere.

"This was part of the dispossession of native peoples," West said. "It’s a very human story, something all of us can identify with."

Many settlers were ultimately successful on their new land, but the 160-acre parcels often were not large enough to operate a successful farm in that area of the West. Tens of thousands failed as the climate and lack of rainfall took their toll. The successful settlers were grateful for the government’s offering, but many others were left resentful.

"It was a mixed experience," West said. "This had a tremendous impact on Western history."

Understanding what happened during that period of time is important, he explained, because it is a firm reminder of the troubles we can get ourselves into by changing the world we live in without considering the consequences.

"It’s just a remarkable human story and a revealing part of our collective history," he said.

West holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Colorado and is a recipient of dozens of awards, including the prestigious Caroline Bancroft Prize for the Best Book in Western American History (1998). His other awards include: the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching Arkansas Professor of the Year Award (1995); the Burlington Northern Award for Teacher of the Year at the U of A (1995); the Master Teacher Award of Fulbright College, UA (1995); and designation as a Lloyd Lewis/National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellow (1992-93).

Among West’s numerous published works are: "Growing Up With the Country: Childhood on the Far Western Frontier" (1989); "The Way to the West: Essays on the Central Plains" (1995); and "Growing Up in Twentieth Century America: A History and Resource Guide" (1996). His book "The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado" (1998) received numerous national awards, including the Francis Parkman Prize for the year’s best book in American history and the Ray Allen Billington Award for outstanding book on the American frontier for 1997-98. He is a member of several professional associations and has served on the editorial boards of numerous publications on Western history.