A former UNM History Department chairman who died in 2000 will be honored today when the University presents his widow and the department with a book of essays commemorating his studies, writings and works.
Gerald Nash worked at UNM for more than 30 years and is considered by many of his former colleagues to be a leading scholar in the field of the American West.
"Essentially, before Nash, no one wrote about the contemporary American West," said Ferenc Szasz, UNM history professor and co-editor of the collection of essays. "He certainly was one of the most well-known members of the History Department."
Szasz, along with Richard Etulain, edited the collection of essays called a festschrift. A festschrift is commonly used in Europe as a means for students and peers of distinguished scholars to honor them by compiling essays and other written work about them. Szasz said Nash selected the festschrift as a way of being honored when he was preparing to retire from UNM.
The American West in 2000: Essays in Honor of Gerald D. Nash, contains 10 pieces focusing on historical subjects in the American West after World War II - Nash's particular area of study. Themes of the collected essays include American Indian culture, urban sprawl and women's rights.
Nash was a UNM professor emeritus. He came to UNM in 1961 and was chairman of the History Department from 1974-80. He retired from the University in 1995.
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Nash wrote a dozen books on the American West and his last work, A Brief History of the American West Since 1945, was published in 2000.
Marie Nash, Gerald's widow, will receive the book in his memory and Jane Slaughter, chairwoman of the History Department, will accept the book on behalf of the department.
"I think he was a very popular teacher and then became a very important figure in American West history," she said.
Slaughter, who was hired by Nash, said he started the tradition of senior and full-time faculty continuing to teach courses packed with freshmen.
The collection begins with Nash's autobiographical sketch documenting how he and his family fled from Nazi-controlled Germany in the late 1930s and eventually came to New York City. It also details how he became interested in the American West.
Authors of the essays include colleagues, peers and students of Nash, Slaughter said.
Szasz said Nash's work is popular on a national and international level. To this day, he added, Nash is credited with forming a thesis stating that after World War II, the western United States become the cultural and social leader of the nation - a theory that is still discussed by historians and students in the United States.
Nash was also the editor of The Historian, a quarterly publication printed by Phi Alpha Theta, the nation's historical honor society.
Phi Alpha Theta offers the Gerald D. Nash History Journal Prize of $500 available to student and recent graduates who author research papers with a historical emphasis. Szasz said today's presentation is important because Nash played a valuable role in the UNM History Department.
"The department gained a great deal from having professor Nash teaching for it for so many years," he said.
The presentation honoring Nash will be at 3 p.m. today in the history commons room, Mesa Vista Hall, Rm. 1104, and is open to the public.
