John Steinbeck’s depiction of the Depression Era-migrant workers in The Grapes of Wrath swept across the national consciousness like an Oklahoma prairie fire. It burned away other images of Oklahomans and left behind the charred term “Okie.” A word once used solely to refer to the state’s residents became a generalized pejorative descriptor of Oklahomans. Okie, like Steinbeck’s novel, kindles ambivalence among Oklahomans. Some wear the label with pride, associating it with loyal, hardworking, friendly people, while others cringe at its use, particularly by non-residents. Everyone mounts a defense of some type. Still, the word lingers and with it the negative perception of Oklahomans as poor, uneducated, indigent farm workers. Oklahomans have been trying to overcome the Steinbeck image for 70 years, yet how Oklahomans perceive themselves and the effects of those views remain largely unknown. Who are Oklahomans? How do they think? What forces shaped their perceptions? How do their perceptions influence policy — essentially, what makes an Oklahoman an Oklahoman? Finding answers to these questions stimulates numerous research opportunities, many of them multidisciplinary. But until now, there has been no place to gather information about ongoing university research, exchange ideas or form collaborations — no clearinghouse for Oklahoma studies. OSU Library Dean Sheila Johnson, along with Carol Moder, head of OSU’s English Department, and history professor Elizabeth Williams, proposed a new Center for Oklahoma Studies “to illuminate the state’s history, culture and current affairs.” Their plan recommends specialized studies in Oklahoma history and dialects to work in tandem with the library’s oral history project. In support, the College of Arts and Sciences has hired two new faculty members to develop the proposal: Western historian Ron McCoy and Dennis Preston, an expert in sociolinguistics and dialectology. The library recruited Mary Larson, anthropologist and oral historian, who recently assumed leadership of the library’s Oklahoma Oral History Research Program. Taking a Closer Look at Oklahoma “People in Oklahoma are like a mosaic,” says McCoy, who is currently researching Lakota winter counts and the painted tipis and shield designs of the 19th-century Kiowa. “Put it all together, and you start getting a very multifaceted picture of Oklahoma — a complex history. By bringing people and ideas together, the center becomes a way the university can contribute to the overall culture, to an overall awareness and appreciation of one of the most diverse heritages a state could possible have,” he says. “Culturally and ethnically, Oklahoma has been at a crossroads long before statehood. We need to learn where we are. How we got here, and maybe where we’re going to go. Many people aren’t particularly aware of how diverse Oklahoma is or the tremendous strength and opportunity that come from this diversity.” continues next page Smithsonian Institution National Anthropological Archives Oklahoma State university 15 college news
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