From guns to cliff dwellings, from a treaty to a tragedy, the third annual Center of Southwest Studies lecture series will begin June 8. Designed for people interested in Western history, the free series will focus on a major event or person within a specific time frame.
“A Year in the Life in the West” follows last year’s popular “Imagining the West” with six one-hour presentations with 30-minute discussions to follow. On June 8, the center’s new director, Shelby Tisdale, will introduce Jeffrey Richardson, a professional colleague from the Farmington Museum. Like Tisdale earlier this academic year, Richardson came to the Four Corners from the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles. He will speak about the role of guns in Western history. His 2013 book Colt: The Revolver of the American West, explores the topic in depth. Richardson will focus on the year 1873.
The series, Tisdale said in a news release, is a collaborative effort between the center and local art critic and author Judith Reynolds. This is the third year Reynolds, who freelances for The Durango Herald, has volunteered to assemble a roster of regional speakers for a summer series. The center’s offerings are an extension of the free, fall-winter Life-Long Learning program held during the academic year at the college.
“Topics have been designed to be wide ranging,” Tisdale said, “yet reflective of the theme: “A Year in the Life of the West.’ The lectures are offered in the afternoon to capture both the campus community and Durango visitors alike.”
Tisdale arrived in Durango on Feb. 1 to become the center’s new director. She has chosen the year 1864 for her talk: “An American Tragedy: The Sand Creek Massacre.”
Presentations run roughly every other week and are scheduled for early afternoon on Wednesdays. One exception, 2:30 p.m. June 23, immediately precedes the formal opening of the center’s new exhibition “Parks, People and Preservation: Celebrating the National Park Service in the Southwest.“
Schedule of lectures:
June 8, “1873 and the Guns that Won the West,” by Jeffery Richardson, curator of exhibits at the Farmington Museum.June 23 (2:30 p.m.), “1891 and the Baron of Mesa Verde. The myth and reality of Gustaf Nordenskiöld’s expedition,” Judith Reynolds, co-author of Nordenskiöld of Mesa Verde.June 29, “1836 The Searchers: The Movie, the Novel, and the Real Parker Family,” Paul Dittmer, retired executive and passionate student of history.July 13, “1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,” Craig Nettleton, author.Aug. 10, “1864 An American Tragedy: The Sand Creek Massacre,” Shelby J. Tisdale, director, Center of Southwest Studies.Aug. 24, 1851 “First Glimpse of a Rugged Land: Tales of an expedition,” Syl Allred, retired professor UA, author.Ample parking is available and free all summer on campus.
If You Go
A Year in the Life of the West, third annual free lecture series at Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, organized by Shelby Tisdale, director, biweekly from June 8 through Aug. 24, Lyceum. Free parking available all summer on FLC campus.
For more information, call 247-7456 or visit http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu.
