Mary Lee Spence, Urbana, IL: an interview by Raquel Escobar, 23 July 2013

Transcript (9 pages) of an interview by Raquel Escobar with Mary Lee Spence at Urbana, Illinois, on 23 July 2013. Part of the Western History Association Oral History Project, Everett Cooley Collection tape no. U-3213

Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Illinois and first woman president of the Western History Association, Mary Lee Spence, discusses her role in the WHA and shares her thoughts on the organization. A physics major at the University of Texas, she soon switched to history and later became interested in Western history, particularly influenced by her advisor at the University of Minnesota, Ernest Osgood. She joined the WHA in 1962 with her husband Clark C. Spence, but did not attend for perhaps ten years due to her children. She mentions a number of prominent historians involved in the WHA early on, including Martin Ridge, Vernon Carstenson, and Francis Paul Prucha. Having served several leadership roles in the WHA, Dr. Spence became president in 1981. She remembers the organization early on being almost entirely white, and notes its growing diversity over the decades. She also mentions that non-white professional historians’ numbers have increased and that they are more welcome at the WHA now than in the past. Dr. Spence also discusses the role of women in the organization and notes their increasing roles over the years. She feels the WHA's mission is the same as it was in the early years - to explore the history of all facets of the West. Project: Western History Association. Interviewer: Raquel Escobar