Jana R. Fallin, Ph.D. Professor, Division Chair Music Education From November 7 to 12, 1999

I conducted research on cowboy music at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. The Western History Collection proved to be a wealth of information on my topic. The Collection is housed in the old law library on the OU campus, and is a lovely place to work. Student aides retrieve materials and sources for you, and I was able to make many copies of documents and materials relating to music and the cowboy. In addition, I purchased some photographs of cowboys, cattle drives, and bunkhouses illustrating the life of the cowboy. One picture shows a group of cowboys outside the bunkhouse, and one of the men is holding a banjo. During my stay in Norman, I was asked to present a lecture on Cowboy Music at the Russell Center, which is a research facility developed with funding from the Charles Russell Foundation. Art, historical documents, books and materials relating to the western movement are housed in this center located directly behind the President's home. The building was at one time the faculty club at OU. I was introducted by the Dean of Fine Arts, Dr. Marvin Lamb, and I gave a short lecture on the music of the cowboy. In addition to the research on the OU campus, I visited the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City where again, I found a wonderful collection of books on cowboy music. Their holdings are quite impressive, and they are interested in becoming more of a research center. I have been amazed at all the books that have been written about music of the cowboy. Currently, I am developing a PowerPoint presentation on my research, which I will use in the Presidential Lecture Series. Also, I will use the materials in teaching. One of my former graduate students who is now teaching used some of my information and did a unit for her elementary classes on cowboy music. She invited my students and me to observe the culminating activity, a sing-along around a pretend campfire. She accompanied the children on guitar, and served sourdough biscuits at the end. The unit incorporated history of the west into the musical information. I have developed a bibliography that is now part of a webpage from Hale Library called Tracing Your Ethnic Roots through Popular Music. This information was part of a presentation given at the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in Washington, D.C., March 9, 2000. Dr. David Royse, Dr. Wayne Goins, and myself from the Department of Music joined with Dr. Laurel Littrell and Mrs. Molly Royse from the library to make this national presentation. A graduate student in music, William Schlecta, also presented with us. We were invited by the MENC, our national organization in music education, to make this presentation. The information I have collected makes me even more convinced that we are the perfect place to house a collection of Cowboy Music. Kansas State University, located on the Konza Prairie and near the Oregon, Santa Fe and Smoky Hill Trails, and near the end of the cattle drives at Ellsworth, Dodge City and Abilene, is an ideal site for a permanent research and teaching center on Cowboy Music. 

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