The University of North Texas Libraries invite applications for the 2016 The Portal to Texas History Research Fellowship. Research using the Portal is relevant to studies in a variety of disciplines including history, journalism, political science, geography, and American studies. We encourage applicants to think creatively about the opportunities that research with large digital library collections can enable. Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate the greatest potential for publication and the best use of The Portal to Texas History.

The Portal to Texas History 2016 Research Fellowship Awardee

Tyler Thompson

Project Title

Representations of American Indians in Texas Memory and Mythology, 1875-1936

Project Description

This project is a crucial part of my dissertation that focuses on how Anglo-Texans used historical events, collectively memorializing the past in ways that justified conquest. I plan to analyze the Portal’s holdings that shed light on the erection of the Battle of Adobe Walls monument. This campaign was led in part by Olive K. Dixon, raising an analysis of gender roles in the 1920s. Secondly, analyzing these primary sources strengthens my understanding of the change over time regarding Native American representations, specifically, public perception about Quanah Parker other Comanches.

Biography

Tyler Thompson is a PhD candidate at Texas A&M University. He received his bachelor’s and master’s in history from UT-San Antonio. His dissertation examines how racial and gendered rhetoric underscored conquest across Texas which was justified in subsequent myths and memories of the history of the state. He was born in Austin, Texas, and he wants to teach and research for a university when he graduates.