Arrell Gibson

Arrell Morgan Gibson was a historian and author specializing in the history of the state of Oklahoma. He was born in Pleasanton, KS on December 1, 1921. He earned degrees from Missouri Southern State College and the University of Oklahoma. He is best known for writing Oklahoma: A History of Five Centuries (University of Oklahoma Press 1965, 1981) and The Oklahoma Story (University of Oklahoma Press 1978). He died in Norman, OK on November 30, 1987.[1] There have been two literary awards created in Gibson's honor. The Oklahoma Center For The Book grants its Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award annually to an Oklahoman for a body of literary work.[2] The Indian Territory Posse of Westerners International awards a $500 cash prize annually to the year's best essay on the history of Native Americans.[3]

Academic career

He received his B.A. from Missouri Southern State College in 1946, his M.A. from University of Oklahoma in 1948 and his Ph.D. from University of Oklahoma in 1954.

He was Professor of History and Government at Phillips University, Enid, OK - 1949-1957. He was the George Lynn Cross Research Professor of History at University of Oklahoma - 1957-?

He was Curator: Western History Collections at University of Oklahoma - 1957-1970. Curator: Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (then called the Stovall Museum) at University of Oklahoma - 1960-1987.

He was visiting professor at University of New Mexico in 1975 He was visiting distinguished professor; Graduate Studies Consultant - University of South China - 1985. He was Goldwater Distinguished Professor of American Institutions - Arizona State University - 1986[4]

Honors

Books
  • The Kickapoos (1963)
  • The Life and Death of Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain (1965)
  • Oklahoma: A History of Five Centuries (1965)
  • The Chickasaws (1971) which placed second for a Pulitzer Prize online
  • Wilderness Bonanza (1972)
  • The West in the Life of the Nation (1976) online
  • The Oklahoma Story (1978)
  • The American Indian: Pre-History to the Present (1980) online
  • The Santa Fe and Taos Colonies: Age of the Muses 1900-1942 (1983)
  • editor - The West Wind Blows: The Autobiography of Edward Everett Dale (1984)
  • editor - Between Two Worlds: The Survival of Twentieth Century Indians (1986)[6]
  • Yankees in paradise : the Pacific Basin frontier (1993) ed. by John Whitehead online

References
  1. Arrell Gibson, Who Was He? at the Oklahoma Center for the Book
  2. Past Winners
  3. Gibson Award Requirements Archived May 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at the Western History Association
  4. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture Archived July 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at OSU
  5. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
  6. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
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