A Message from the Director: March 24, 2020

The arts and the humanities unite and heal us and during stressful times; museums and libraries serve as safe places of refuge. For the safety and health of you and my staff the Center of Southwest Studies is currently closed, and staff are teleworking. That said, we are here for you during these unprecedented times and will do everything we can to assist you and to answer your questions. The best way to reach us is via email. You can find our contact information on our website at swcenter.fortlewis.edu. 

As you already know we had to cancel the opening of the PIVOT: Skateboard Deck Art exhibit. The curatorial staff will finish the installation when we return, and we look forward to opening the exhibit shortly after that. We do not know when that will be, so we are planning to hold a special event in the fall when the students are back on campus, and when the guest curators and some of the artists are able to join us. We also canceled the rest of our spring programming and will be moving some of the programs, such as the Duane Smith Lecture, to a later date. 

We want our Fort Lewis College students, faculty and the public to know that we are here to assist you in any way that we can with your classes and research. We don’t know how long this will last but we will keep you informed as things develop at the Center of Southwest Studies.  

We are all in this together, and I and my staff wish you and your loved one’s good health. 

Shelby J. Tisdale, Director 

The Center of Southwest Studies has entered into a license agreement with Pendleton Woolen Mills to feature two textiles from The Durango Collection® as part of their Preservation Series.

Durango Herald - While history is the name of the game at Fort Lewis College’s Center of Southwest Studies, its leaders are focusing on its future.

DGO - At an 1892 convention, Capt. Richard H. Pratt began a speech with the following words: “A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one, and that high sanction of his destruction has been an enormous factor in promoting Indian massacres. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”

Durango Herald - For Native American students at Fort Lewis College, it’s not just about the panels on the campus’s Clock Tower that have recently drawn scrutiny for glossing over the dark part of the school’s history when it served as a boarding school.