|
 The history of the Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center is in part a history of its parent institution, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (nee National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center). The museum history provides the context for describing the evolution of the Center.
In 1948 Chester Arthur Reynolds (1887-1958) was so impressed with the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma, that the experience prompted him to ask the question: Why not build a Hall of Fame honoring cowboys, cattlemen, and ranchers?
The question set the planning in motion. On July 20, 1953, Reynolds formally announced that he would invite governors of the seventeen western states, prominent cattlemen, and leaders in the sport of rodeo to serve on the Board of Trustees of a "shrine" to be called the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum. On June 28, 1960, the Board of Trustees would change the name to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. This change was made ostensibly by the Board "to better explain the purposes of the organization originally planned by Mr. Reynolds."
During January 20-21, 1955, the Board's first organizational meeting was held and a site selection committee was formed to narrow the field of 46 cities desiring the museum. By March, three finalists were selected: Dodge City, Kansas; Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On April 16, 1955, the Board met in the conference room of the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver and, after two ballots, Oklahoma City was voted as the site. On November 11, 1955, the 37-acre site on Persimmon Hill donated by Oklahoma City was dedicated with Will Rogers, Jr. as the master of ceremonies.
It is interesting to learn that Reynolds had an interest in a library early on as a component of the Hall. In a February 11, 1956 letter to Glenn Faris, Executive Secretary of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce (later becoming the Executive Vice President of the Board), Reynolds refers Faris to an article about the United States Congress making it possible for the Truman and Eisenhower presidential libraries to become field branches of the National Archives. Reynolds writes,
"When our Shrine is completed we may find that we also qualify as a Field Branch of the Natl. Archives Assn. We certainly should have a big library and have a separate [sic] room to house it."
In 1956, Governor Raymond Gary mounted a fund-raising drive to raise $1 million for the Hall and by April 22, three-fourths of that amount had been raised. By February 1957 an architectural competition was underway with the approval of the committee on architectural competitions of the American Institute of Architects. Among the competition guidelines presented were that the building should
"strive to encourage the interest in the cowboy as epitomizing some of the finer qualities of the American citizen...Though the cowboy’s existence as such was relatively short-lived, his is an era that is almost unique in American history and one which is deserving in perpetuation."
The February 22, 1957, competition guidelines also address the issue of a library. Accordingly, the library should include reading, browsing and research space and a small work space located for control for one librarian. The guidelines read,
"It is not expected that this shall become a large library but rather a carefully selected collection available particularly to scholars and research workers. No allocation of space has been given this element in first construction. It is contemplated that acquisitions for the library may be housed in a portion of the museum until future funds make the more complete library possible."
On August 5, 1957, the United States Congress recognized the Hall through Senate Resolution "as a memorial to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the opening and development of the West."
On January 7, 1958, ground breaking ceremonies occurred coincident with the national convention of the American National Cattlemen’s Association. The architectural design of Jack Begrow and Jack Brown of Birmingham, Michigan, had won the competition over 257 architects from 39 states.
 By 1962 the construction had halted due to lack of finances. To complete the Hall, arrangements were made with the Oklahoma City Industrial and Cultural Facilities Trust to sell $1.2 million in bonds on August 24, 1964, causing the Trustees to give up title to the building and the land. Title to the buildings and the land was regained on July 1, 1972.
On June 26, 1965, the Hall was opened. Dean Fenton Krakel, hired in November 1964, became the Hall's first Executive Director. Formerly a librarian at the Oklahoma Historical Society and a University of Oklahoma graduate, Mrs. Dorothy Williams became the Hall’s first librarian for the "Research Library of Western Americana." It was the aspiration of Williams for this library, as a research source and a component of the Western Heritage Center, to "bridge the gap for scholars, researchers and writers of the West’s unique past and heritage will be recognized." The library contained more than a thousand volumes. These numbers were increasing through donations and purchases. Williams stated,
"We want anything pertaining to origins, cattle, agriculture, brands or people, whether it's manuscripts, maps, diaries, books or letters. If we are to be unique, I'd like to see it be in cattle brand books."
From the early publicity literature a mission and some goals for this library can be discerned. One such piece reads,
"This library [Research Library of Western Americana] will contain a most complete collection of Western literature and information on the history of the West. It should become the mecca of students and researchers who wish to obtain information concerning the life of the American West. It will be a repository for papers from famous Western ranches, have a complete file of Western brand records and other valuable information having to do with the development of the Western states. Scores of people throughout the country who have collections of rare western books will want to leave them to some library as a memorial. With imaginative planning we should be able to attract some of these collections to our library."
 While Williams began a handwritten library accession register on March 25, 1965, entries were often sporadic and inconsistent. There was no formal acquisition policy.
Having been a volunteer librarian since the fall of 1967, Esther Long joined the staff as cataloger and acting librarian in February 1968. It is likely Williams resigned at this time. A graduate of State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Long had received a teaching certificate in library science from Central State College in Edmond, Oklahoma. By April, Long was actively soliciting for books, and by November 1969, Long reported that "generous gifts of funds, book collections and individual volumes have swelled the shrine’s library to 3,500 volumes."
Under the editorship of Don Hedgpeth, the Hall's magazine, Persimmon Hill, was launched with the summer 1970 issue. Esther Long is listed as editorial assistant and served as associate editor between 1972 and 1976. During this time she was acting in two roles, editor and librarian. In 1973 Long is noted as "Librarian at the Hall" and "an authority on Western Americana." She retired in 1979.
During the 1960s the library acquired through gifts the substantial libraries of Gerald J. McIntosh, Josephine Freede, Dora Aydelotte, Bishop W. Angie Smith, James Earle Fraser, and Ellsworth Collings. During the 1970s the library was gifted with the libraries of Walter Brennan, Orval R. Withers, John Wayne, Jesse Hooper Hill, Jacob S. Payton, H. Violet Sturgeon, Frederick L. Grillo, and Eula E. Fullerton. Throughout this period as well, the library received each year the entries and winners of the Western Heritage Awards. This tradition continues currently.
By the mid-1980s a cadre of museum volunteers assumed the tasks of accessioning, classifying, and shelving books. They also maintained subject vertical files. The only significant library acquired through gift during this decade was that of Jasper D. Ackerman in 1982. The Hall was suffering from diminishing revenues and its leadership was called into question. By March 1, 1985, the Board of Trustees demoted Dean Krakel to Curator and then Paul Strabaugh was appointed Director. In May the Hall went into receivership with first Chancellor E. T. Dunlap then Governor Henry Bellmon acting as receivers. In June 1986, the court appointed John C. Andrews the Hall’s final receiver.
On January 1, 1987, B. Byron Price began his ten-year stint as Executive Director. In 1992, the "Visions of the West" $35 million capital campaign was launched with the desire to triple the museum’s size and programming by 1995. In the planning, about 5,275 square feet was allocated to a library. While care of the library still remained in the hands of volunteers, several significant collections were acquired. They include the libraries of Nolie Mumey, Arthur & Shifra Silberman, Frank Harding, and W. D. Grisso.
 By mid-May 1997, the Research Center, comprised of a closed stacks library, archival repository, and reading room, was operating and formally staffed by Assistant Librarian, Jerri Stone, who had a Masters degree in English, but no formal training in librarianship. Stone reported to the Assistant Director of the Hall, Bobby Weaver, in his role as Director of the Center for the Study of the Western Experience. This Center was an umbrella program incorporating research, education, and exhibitions.
On September 1, 1997, Charles E. Rand began his tenure as Director of the Research Center. Holding a Master of Library Science from the University of Maryland and a Master of Arts in History from the University of Maine, Rand directed efforts inward during the first two years calling it "a period of self-assessment, planning and inventory."
In December 1998, Kenneth W. Townsend, the Executive Director since January 15, 1997, requested Rand to create a plan for the next five years (2000-2004), which would position the Research Center as a national resource. On January 29, 1999, that plan was presented and included seven goals related to four programmatic initiatives: collection development/collection management, reference/research services, education/outreach, and planning & administration. By March 1999, the Center became known formally as the Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center. Through a 5-year grant beginning January 2000, funding for the Research Center was derived solely from the Donald C. and Elizabeth M. Dickinson Foundation. This funding covered personnel, supplies, equipment, capital expenditures, and collections.
In April 2000, library catalog data were converted to a MARC format and automated through the Winnebago Spectrum software from Sagebrush Corporation. During the remainder of 2000 and into 2001, the records were edited for quality and accuracy and made available through a patron's (or OPAC) terminal replacing the card catalog units. A computer workstation was dedicated as a server to the Center's web catalog, which provided access to the Center's library holdings and collection level records through the Internet. The newly redesigned museum web site went live and included a significant presence by the Research Center.  The museum became a member of the Research Libraries Group whose membership is open to any nonprofit institution with an educational, cultural, or scientific mission and a stake in sharing the responsibility of supporting research in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. By April 15, 2003, the Center’s MARC records were uploaded to the Research Libraries Group’s Union Catalog database.
Along with the substantial funding from the Dickinson Foundation, the goal of expanding, enhancing, and making available the library and archival collections received a boost through the funding and implementation of the A. Keith Brodkin Contemporary Western Artists Project formalized in February 2001. This project facilitates the achievement of the Center's goal to preserve, expand, enhance and make available collections related to western art. It provides future artists, art historians, educators, and researchers with primary resources. These resources, which are often overlooked and lost to posterity, include the personal papers, studio ephemera, photographs, and other items that reflect both the life and career of an artist. Additional resources are acquired through personal oral histories captured by recorded interviews. Effectively, this project preserves artists' careers for posterity.
In March 2001, the Center hired its first Archivist/Librarian in the person of Jeanne Gaunce, an MLIS and M.A. in Journalism holder from the University of Oklahoma. She held this position until April 2002. The following June, Jonathan Nelson, a graduate from the MLIS program at the University of Wisconsin and also a graduate with Juris Doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, began his tenure as Archivist/Librarian which he held until October 2005. Jennifer Wochner, a graduate of the MLIS program at the University of Iowa, was hired for this vacancy and began her employment in February 2006 which ended in July 2008. In October 2008, Laura Anne Heller, an MLIS graduate from the University of Southern Mississippi, began her employment as the Archivist/Librarian. Since April 2001, John Hayes has served as Imaging Technician.
In February 2003, the Research Center Director formed a committee to discuss a new building for the Research Center with the goal of making a grant proposal to the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. These meetings continued into April 2004 and ended with the exploration of funding a planning grant through the Reynolds Foundation. This was not pursued. However, in April 2006 during the Board’s Collections Committee Meeting, Martin Dickinson voiced a renewed interest in progressing with the planning of this facility. In May, the museum’s long range plan for 2006-2008 was made available to the staff and included a goal under Objective 2 of the Facilities and Grounds goal to "Continue development of plans for a new Research and Education Center." By February 2007, planning for this building halted due mainly to the financial situation of the museum, its current infrastructure issues, and broader thinking about the expansion.
 The Rodeo Historical Society Oral History project was initiated in February 2003. This project collects, through recorded interviews, the biographies and stories of rodeo cowboys and cowgirls nationwide. These interviews are preserved and made available to authors, historians, and other interested persons in the Research Center.
In July 2003, discussion began with key staff at the University of Oklahoma Press about launching a publication series called "The Western Legacies Series." The Museum and the University of Oklahoma Press finalized this series agreement on January 15, 2004. The series will consist of works on western culture germane to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, such as biographies, directories, material-culture monographs, art histories, photo essays, and corporate histories. The first volume in the series, A Western Legacy: The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, was published in 2005.
In October 2004, the Center purchased the services of Inmagic to develop a web-based database incorporating record information about and images of photographs held in the Center. In September 2005, the Image Archive was accessible to on-line users.
In December 2004, the Dickinson Foundation awarded another 5-year grant in the amount of $1.75 million to begin calendar year 2005 and ending 2009, dispersed in an annual amount of $350,000.
In February 2005, the Center became a contributing member of the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and by April the Center’s bibliographic records were uploaded to OCLC making the Center’s holdings searchable through WorldCat.
In March 2006 the Research Center implemented a parallel accessioning process with that of the museum's process. Beginning with items and collections acquired in January 2006, they will have accession numbers in the following format: RC2006.###.#. Also, in March the final three sections of the compact shelving were installed.
 After nine years with the Center, Jerri Stone gave her resignation notice in March 2006. In April, Karen Spilman assumed the duties of Librarian in the Center. Spilman, a graduate of Rose State College with an Associates degree in Library Technical Assistant, had worked in the Center as a part-time processing archivist/cataloger since 2003.
AGent Verso library management software from Auto-Graphics was implemented to replace the 8-year-old Winnebago Spectrum software in December 2008. On February 13, 2009, the Dickinson Research Center launched its fan page on Facebook and on February 20 the Center launched the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum channel on YouTube.
The Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center mission is to preserve, document, and interpret the heritage of the American West for the enrichment of the public by collecting, organizing, describing, making available and preserving library and archival materials related to: the West and its history, discovery and exploration of the West, westward movement, Native American material culture, Western and Native American fine art and artists, cowboy culture, rodeo history, frontier and pioneer life (including military, firearms, and hunting), western city & town life, ranching, and western popular culture (including entertainment, cowboy music and poetry.
The Center collects, preserves, and provides access to library and archival materials in support of the institution's research, educational, curatorial and exhibition activities. Second, it provides research, photographic and moving images services to scholarly and general public users. Third, it maintains institutional records.
The facility consists of a reading room (1046.75 sq.ft.), closed stacks (4226.75 sq.ft.), and overflow storage (1019.50 sq.ft.).
By Charles E. Rand
March 13, 2009
|