Show 't - Jj The Utah Statesman C ' " Wednesday February 18 1981 ' v Pigt 7 ' estern editor aims 'Quarterly' at scholars pucd Then six months later in May of 1969 the word came — USU had been awarded the privilege of establishing the quarterly at USU The man largely responsible for bringing the quarterly to USU is George S Ellsworth according to Peterson Ellsworth was the editor of the quarterly for the first 10 years of its existence ‘‘I remember when Stanford Cazier (then USU provost and current president) came and told me that the university might be interested” said Ellsworth In his 10 years as editor Ellsworth has contributed much to the study of Western history In his essay “Ten Years: An Editors Report” he wrote: “I was continually shocked by the general poor quality of the presentation in the essays It has been estimated that we returned 90 percent of the manuscripts that might otherwise have been acceptable because they were not interestingly written the authors lacked basic writing skills Almost all of these papers were well researched well documented and most were on appropriate subjects But poor literary quality ended the matter “I make a plea for the humanizing of our history where appropriate The great fascination of history is in tracing of forces ideas movements institutions and powers” When Ellsworth first accepted the job in 1969 he agreed to carry a half-tim- e teaching load in addition to his new responsibilities as editor “Actually it seemed the work in the department was more than ‘half time”’ he wrote “Similarly work for the quarterly was also more than half time My reading of manuscripts was usually done at home at night” Ellsworth having resigned the editorship to Peterson now spends about half of his workday at the from page 3) ependent scholar of the American West whom arterly considers capable of writing a good The review — filling a page of the journal it is typeset — is then submitted to the quarter- actual printing and publication of the journal place in Salt Lake City at the University of became involved with when the Western Historical announced its desire to publish lurnal on the American West hat time the WHA was publishing only one 1 Vest line the American but the Western ical Quarterly was soon to become its second ‘American West had evolved into a magazine ppealed to many western history buffs with g tge color photos and exciting h State University first utterly in 1968 ition (WHA) easy-readin- Historical Quarterly needs of those with a Western history The but rly is not intended for the general public for a scholarly audience and for students inrof the unique strengths of this organization I we interest both the Western history buff and lose with a scholarly interest” according to Paul Hutton (torFlorida State University USU and the trsitvof Utah were among those who showed lerest in supxrting the journal when the decided to start it iere the WHA finally decided to base the zinc would ultimately rest on two key i— the amount of office space available and the rial support the colleges were willing to con establishing the Western hoped to satisfy the academic interest in r university On this particular day he is in his office a small corner room at the end of a corridor H e confers with manv students here He doesn’t ic university made its bids which were the of careful and sometimes heated negotiations ih seem to have the anxieties common to so many men of lesser experience He seems tired though and not reluctant to have finished his term as editor of the journal “I don’t know why we wanted it” he said sinking back in his chair massaging his tired eyes He pauses reflecting on the long hard years as editor of the quarterly “Work” he said But such a confession comes easily at the end of a hard day One cannot help thinking that he wouldn’t have done it any other way In his essay he writes “With me the work of the quarterly has been a labor of love but one which has filled every waking moment” Peterson spent eight years as understudy to Ellsworth before the “changing of office” and holds a great deal of respect for him “He had a distinguished career as an editor” said Peterson The words have a ring of sincerity to them It is a respect that has been pruned and nurtured over time Paul Hutton is the man who replaced Peterson as A graduate student of Indiana University he served as the editor’s assistant for the Journal of American History before accepting the position here at USU “Western history more that any other is highly publishable” he said “It’s visible interesting everybody knows about it — epics like Custer Wyatt Erp Jesse James” Right now Hutton is writing an article about Western heroes in film in addition to his duties as editor and professor There is no doubt about it: To excell in this field requires a dedication and a commitment that is hard to find Just exactly how does one come to give so much of his life and time to the study of the American West? “Watching cowboy and Indian movies” accoror i I t : i - U r h jv ding to Hutton 1SUSU 7th Annual Temple Peak Ski Race X-Coun- Saturday February 28th -- -- -- -- Bus will t !i OUTDOOR RECREATION CENTER Registration in the ORC Feb RENT 17-2- 7 "noonrew VISIONS” -R- Spirit cf Cfo 2e9 ENT- SNOW SHOES TUBES GAITERS SKIS 200WEEUEND 100 WEEKEND 200WEEBEND 500WESKBND ? V : - H v? 750-020- 4 anv ccutcn CICO ICO i 1 SEE THE return to campus i2cd KB G:C3 pp to r —See SC 324 FOCI mMTBQ FttJEI leaves campus 10:00 Registration (middle sinks ty00) 11:00 Start time 9:00 Bus 3:00 Winter GGA Newsletter needs articles on issues or facto & fantasy —See your name in print —The try Hi I |