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

Transcript (11 pages) of an interview by Raquel Escobar with Clark Spence at Urbana, Illinois, on 23 July 2013. Part of the Western History Association Oral History Project, Everett Cooley Collection tape no. U-3212

Clark Spence, well-known Western historian and retired professor at the University of Illinois, remembers his early academic career, how he became interested in Western history, and his long association with the Western History Association. A Montanan by birth, raised in Idaho, Dr. Spence had planned to be an engineer but came home from World War II with different ideas. He credits Colin Goody Koontz at the University of Colorado with turning him toward Western history. Dr. Spence attended the second WHA annual conference in Denver in 1962, and most meetings since until the last ten years. He also served as president of the organization, and was involved in the turn away from the more profit-driven, popular American West magazine to the academic Western Historical Quarterly. He discusses the role of women in the WHA over the years, the tension between "buffs" and academics, and the changing organizational dynamic. Project: Western History Association. Interviewer: Raquel Escobar