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Collection M 048:
Duane Smith papers
 DRAFT (this prints out as approximately 7 pages)

Links to contents

Preface
Introduction/ 
Scope and contents

Administrative information

Biographical note

Related collections

Series descriptions

Info for doing research at the Center of Southwest Studies

Contents list
Center of Southwest Studies collection inventories
Center of Southwest Studies

Introduction/ Scope and contents

Years this material was created: 1847-2000
(bulk years: 1967-1985)

Quantity: 4 linear shelf feet (in 10 document cases)

This is a collection of notes and original manuscripts of books by Fort Lewis College History Professor Duane Smith, printed materials he compiled on subjects of mining and the environment, and other historical documentation pertaining to the Southwest.  A much larger volume of additional printed materials that Smith brought to the Center is filed in the Four Corners printed material collection and in other collections, as noted below.

Pictured above is Fort Lewis College History Professor Duane Smith, using a photo collection at the Delaney Southwest Research Library (1/30/2008).

Access terms:
Colorado--History
Mines and mineral resources--Colorado--History
Oral history

Administrative information

Acquisition of this collection:  These materials were donated over time by gift of Duane Smith (accession numbers1993:12002, 1994:06002, 1994:08008, 1995:09:006, 1995:10001, etc.). 

About the organization of this collection:  The series and boxes are numbered consecutively.  Because we may add to this collection, the boxes are numbered in a scheme starting with 1 with each series.

Processing information:  This collection was arranged and described by Fort Lewis College Archivist Todd Ellison between 1997 and 2006..  The inventory was prepared by Ellison in November 2006 (last updated February 2008). 

Related collections at the Center of Southwest Studies (listed alphabetically by title, which is preceded by the collection number):
   The Center has 136 oral history interviews that were conducted by Duane Smith between 1973 and 2001.  Most of these pertain to the local history of Durango, La Plata County, and the surrounding area.  A number of them are focused on the history of Fort Lewis College. Click to read the transcription of Todd Ellison's 1994 interview with Professor Smith pertaining to the production of oral histories.  (Requires Adobe Reader free downloadable software, version 6.0 or more recent.)   Also, click here to listen to that interview online: Side A  ~  Side B.   

Professor Smith has been the single most effective source of collections for the Center of Southwest Studies since his arrival at Fort Lewis College in 1964; he has been a lightning rod for documentation of Southwest Colorado.  Some of these materials were in Dr. Smith's possession due to his service and involvement in a number of civic and other organizations and boards in Durango and vicinity; others were collections he referred to the Center or suggested the donor donate to the Center.  The Center has more than one hundred discrete accessions of materials that were donated by Dr. Smith.  Those collection materials whose acquisition Dr. Smith facilitated have been placed in a number of particular collections at the Center, including these collections at the Center:

Biographical note

Duane A. Smith, known as "Mr. History," resides in Durango, Colorado with his wife, Gay, where he began teaching history in 1964 at Fort Lewis College.  Dr. Smith earned his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder and was hired at Fort Lewis College directly thereafter.  To our knowledge, he has written more books about Colorado's history than anyone else, ever.  One of his colleagues at Colorado State University remarked, "No other Colorado historian even approaches Duane's scholarly output, and we all wonder how he does it."

Aside from his role on the faculty of Fort Lewis College, Duane has been active in the community, and has served on the boards of the Durango Historical Preservation Board (chair), City of Durango Parks and Forestry Advisory Board (chair), Durango Chamber of Commerce Executive Board, Durango Area Chamber Resort Association, Mesa Verde Museum Association, Colorado Historic Preservation Board, La Plata County Humane Society, and (as a charter member and officer) the La Plata County Historical Society.  He spearheaded the successful drive by the Durango Clock and Bell Tower Committee to restore the original clock and tower of the County Courthouse, was on the Save Our Smokestack Committee which worked (in vain that time) to preserve a century-old industrial smokestack from destruction during the uranium mill tailings cleanup project in Durango in the late 1980s.  In addition to his teaching responsibilities at Fort Lewis College he has been active in various departments and committees, including the Center of Southwest Studies (he served as its interim Acting Director twice -- 1986-1987 and 1995-2000) and the Athletic Committee.  Dr. Smith is an active lay preacher in the United Methodist Church (he has performed the marriage ceremony of a number of his former students), and has been active in the Southwest Colorado Democratic Party and other organizations in the region. 

Professionally, Dr. Smith is a founder and charter member of the National Mining History Association and has been active in the Colorado Mining Association, Colorado Historical Society, Western History Association, the Organization of American Historians, etc.  He served on the editorial board for the Journal of the West, 1982-1989, and on the Colorado state historical records advisory board, 2982-1985.   In addition, he finds time to give scores of lectures and informal talks to groups ranging from historical bus tours of Durango to public school classes to professional lectures in Durango and around the country.  Among his many honors are Fort Lewis College's 1978 Alice Admire Teacher of the Year award, the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities' 1989 Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities, and awards from the Colorado Historical Society in 1971, the University of Colorado in 1977, and the American Association for State and Local History in 1967, 1974, and 1981.   The Durango Chamber of Commerce honored him as Citizen of the Year in 1996.


Series descriptions

Note regarding the organization of this collection:  Materials in this collection are arranged by series.  The series are numbered consecutively.   Because we do not expect to add to this collection, the boxes are numbered in one single numbering scheme starting with 1.

Folder numbers start with 1 in each box.  Items within each series (e.g., correspondence, reports) and within each folder are arranged chronologically, unless noted otherwise.

The series are organized from highest hierarchical level to lowest; from most general to most specific.

Series 1:   Notes and original manuscripts of books by Duane Smith, circa 1967-1984, in 7 document cases.  Arrangement is chronological by when the work was published.  These include his Rocky Mountain Mining Camps (1967), Colorado Mining (1977), Rocky Mountain Boom Town (1980), A Land Alone (1981), The River of Sorrows (1982?), Song of the Hammer and Drill (1982), When Coal Was King (1984), Colorado: Heritage of the highest state (1984), and 2 undated articles on John Chivington and Horace Tabor.

Series 2:  Printed materials compiled by Duane Smith on mining and the environment, circa 1847-1985, in 3 document cases.  Arrangement is chronological.

Folder contents list: (under construction)

Search tip: Do a keyword search of this file by using the Edit-> Find in Page (Ctrl+F) feature on your Web browser.

Series 1: A   (in box 1)

Box Series Folder Folder title Date
1 1 1    
1 1 2    
1  1 3    
1  1 4    
1  1 5    
1  1 6    
1  1 7    
1  1 8    
1  1 9    
1  1 10    
1  1 11    
1  1 12    
1  1 13    
1  1 14    
1  1 15    
1  1 16    
1  1 17    
1  1 18    
1  1 19    
1  1 20    
2  1 1    
2  1 2    
2  1 3    
2  1 4    
2  1 5    
2  1 6    
2  1 7    
2  1 8    
2  1 9    
2  1 10    
2  1 11    
2  1 12    
2  1 13    
2  1 14    
2  1 15    
2  1 16    
2  1 17    
2  1 18    
2  1 19    
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Doing your own research: This description of a portion of the collections at the Fort Lewis College Center of Southwest Studies is provided to inform interested parties about the nature and depth of the repository's collections.  It cannot serve as a substitute for a visit to the repository for those with substantial research interests in the collections.

This collection is located at the Center of Southwest Studies on the campus of Fort Lewis College.  Researchers wanting more information about using this material at the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center may email the archivist at archives@fortlewis.edu or click here to use our E-mail Reference Request Form (or phone the archivist at 970/247-7126).  The Center does not have a budget for outgoing long-distance phone calls to answer reference requests, so please email if you wish to receive a response from the Center.  To request reproductions/copies, click here for instructions.

 

Page last modified: February 18, 2008