The University of New Mexico

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Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920
cgonzal@unm.edu

Sept. 26, 2006

UNM Historian Contributes to ‘History Now' Issue on the American West

The latest issue of “History Now” focuses on the American West and features an essay by Virginia Scharff, University of New Mexico history professor and director of the Center for the Southwest. In her essay, “Women of the West,” Scharff addresses the critical roles women have played from the earliest Indian societies to the homesteaders' era to modern times.

The quarterly online journal is available at www.historynow.org .

Each issue of “History Now” addresses a major theme or figure in American history with an interactive feature, articles by historians, lesson plans for teachers, links to related websites and bibliographies.

The issue's Interactive History section, “Views of the West,” is a map which links to more than 200 late 19th century and early 20th century photographs of the American West from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. The images depict the mountains, rivers, railroads, bridges and people of the American West. Photos from Yellowstone, Pike's Peak, Yosemite, Promontory Point and Little Bighorn are featured, as well as images of Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Salt Lake City. The section includes several dozen photos of Native Americans.

“Of course, for many students, mention of ‘The West' conjures up popular stereotypes: macho cowboy heroes, Indians in warpaint, gunfights in saloons or wagon trains filled with pioneer families,” said Carol Berkin, “History Now” editor and professor of History at Baruch College and City University of New York Graduate Center.

“These images, powerful and simplistic, come from movies and television and adventure books. But modern scholarship has given us a much more complex, realistic—and more interesting—history of the American west."

Teacher lesson plans in the issue include: “Women of the West,” “June 25, 1876: Interpretation of an Historical Event,” “Native American Policy,” “The Pony Express: The Fastest Delivery of a Message Across America.”

Last November, “History Now” was selected by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for inclusion on EDSITEment as one of the best online resources for education in the humanities.

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