Kansas State University

Managing Editor Jim Sherow is Professor of History at Kansas State University. He specializes in the history of Kansas, the U.S. West, Environmental History, and the History of North American Indian Peoples. Professor Sherow is the author of three books, The Grasslands of the United States: An Environmental History (2007), A Sense of the American West: An Anthology of Environmental History (1998), and Watering the Valley: Development along the High Plains Arkansas River, 1870-1950 (1990). jsherow@ksu.edu

Consulting Editor Virgil Dean, formerly of the Kansas Historical Society, has edited the journal for over two decades. He is the author/editor of several books including John Brown to Bob Dole: Movers and Shakers in Kansas History (2010) and An Opportunity Lost: The Truman Administration and the Farm Policy Debate (2006). He is a frequent lecturer and instructor of Kansas history for the University of Kansas. vwdean@ksu.edu

Associate Editor Melissa Tubbs Loya oversees editing, design, and production of the journal at the Kansas Historical Society. She holds degrees from Doane College, Yale Divinity School, and Boston College, and has been with the journal for five years. mtubbsloya@kshs.org

Book Review Editor Derek Hoff is an Associate Professor of History at Kansas State University. He specializes in American economic and political history. He is the author of two books, The State and the Stork: The Population Debate and Policy Making in US History (2012) and, with John Fliter, Fighting Foreclosure: The Blaisdell Case, the Contract Clause, and the Great Depression (2012). dhoff@ksu.edu

To contact the editorial offices of the journal at K-State directly, write us at khjournal@ksu.edu or call us at 785.532.0380.

The journal publishes scholarly articles, edited documents, and other materials that contribute to an understanding of the history and cultural heritage of Kansas and the Central Plains. Political, social, intellectual, cultural, economic, and institutional histories are welcome, as are biographical and historiographical interpretations and studies of archaeology, the built environment, and material culture. Articles emphasizing visual documentation, exceptional reminiscences, and autobiographical writings are also considered for publication. Genealogical studies are generally not accepted.

Manuscripts are evaluated anonymously by scholars who determine their suitability for publication based on originality, quality of research, significance, and presentation, among other factors. Previously published articles or manuscripts that are being considered for publication elsewhere will not be considered. The editors reserve the right to make changes in accepted articles and will consult with the authors regarding such. The publishers assume no responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by contributors.

Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains welcomes hearing from scholars interested in writing book reviews. Please fill out the form below and e-mail it to Derek Hoff, our book review editor, at dhoff@ksu.edu. Or you may print it and mail to:

Professor Derek Hoff
Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains
Chapman Center for Rural Studies
Kansas State University
109-111 Leasure Hall
Manhattan, KS 66502

Book Reviewer Interest Form

Graduate Editorial Assistantships at Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains

Applications are now being accepted for 2013-14. Eligible students must be enrolled in the Graduate Program in the Department of History for the Fall of 2013.

Duties of the Kansas History editorial assistants require 15-20 hours each week on a twelve month basis beginning August of 2013, to assist in book reviews and help prepare, copy, edit and fact check manuscripts under consideration by the journal for publication. Assistantships are renewable upon satisfactory progress toward the degree and acceptable editorial work on the journal.

Applicants should send, by post or email, a letter of interest, names and contact information of three references and an academic writing sample to:

Chapman Center for Rural Studies, 111 Leasure Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan Kansas, 66506, Attention Jim Sherow, Managing Editor, Kansas History. If by email to: jsherow@ksu.edu (subject line: Kansas History Editorial Assistantships)

Graduate level transcripts should be sent under separate cover to the same address. PDFs of transcripts are also acceptable. Please email jsherow@ksu.edu for secure instructions.

All documents should be postmarked no later than February 15, 2013.   Applicants will be notified of a decision before the end of March 2013.

Funding and Support for the Kansas History Editorial Assistantships at Kansas State University is provided by the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Chapman Center for Rural Studies, the Department of History, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School.

Meet the 2012-13 Editorial Assistants

Theresa Young is a second-year graduate student with the KSU history department and is studying environmental history under Ptofessor Bonnie Lynn-Sherow. She is a graduate of Washburn University's history program in Topeka. She began working with the Chapman Center in 2011 as a graduate assistant and now is one of the 2012/13 editorial assistants for Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains. She enjoys working with seasoned historians Virgil Dean, James Sherow and Derek Hoff on the journal. Being able to observe the peer-review publication process from behind the scenes is a real treat for any graduate student and a wonderful learning opportunity for Theresa.

Brought up in a rural Kansas setting, she appreciates the effort to keep small communities' memories alive at the Chapman Center. She is from Effingham, a small town in Atchison County; later her family relocated to a small Jefferson County farm near Perry Lake. The master's thesis topic she is developing is an investigation on how Kansas and other Plains states' use of trees has evolved from an environmental tool into an economic tool and finally into a symbol of conservation. She will be finishing up her master's degree this year with plans of staying at K-State for her doctorate work as well.

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The newest editorial assistant, Tim Gresham is working on his master's in History at KSU. He is specializing in the U.S. West, Environmental, and Agricultural History. His thesis topic is on the U.S. grazing policy from the Progressive era to the New Deal. He has been an editorial assistant since August of 2012. He greatly enjoys working for and learning from the editors: James Sherow, Virgil Dean, and Derek Hoff. Tim is edified by the enthusiasm that the Chapman Center staff have for their work, especially Professors Lynn-Sherow and Morgan. He also extends his gratitude to his colleague, and veteran editorial assistant, Theresa Young for her expert advice.

Tim grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later moved to Ft. Collins, Colorado, where he earned his BA in Anthropology at Colorado State University. He met his wife Gayle there, and enjoys spending his free time with her and their children. He acquired his love of the outdoors and the American West from his father who always took him camping, fossil hunting (legal surface finds), and hiking.

In 2010, longtime editor Virgil Dean, Center Director Bonnie Lynn-Sherow, and Professor of Kansas History, James Sherow, started a conversation over lunch to discuss the potential benefits of moving the editorial offices of the journal from the Kansas Historical Society to K-State's Chapman Center. While the KSHS's extensive collections made fact-checking and image selection easy, it was difficult to engage graduate student editor/interns in the process of making the journal.

The solution was to move the editorial work of the journal to K-State, where graduate student editors could learn the art and craft of publication, while maintaining the services of associate editor Melissa Tubbs Loya, who oversees editing and production at the Historical Society. With financial support from Mr. Mark Chapman to pay a consulting editor and an equal commitment from K-State's Provost, April Mason, to hire two graduate editorial assistants, all the pieces for a move were finally in place. The Kansas Historical Foundation Board approved the move in December of 2011, and the Historical Society also gave its approval that same month. 

The first issue to be jointly sponsored by the Kansas Historical Foundation and the Chapman Center for Rural Studies was released in April of 2012.  To learn more about the journal (subscribe or submit an article for consideration) please visit the journal website at: http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-history/12443