Like the rosary itself, the influence of Catholicism on the social and
historical development of the American West has been both visible
and hidden: visible in the effects of personal conviction on lives and
communities; hidden in that the fuller context of this important
American religious group has been largely marginalized or
undervalued in traditional historiographic treatments of the region.
This volume, an outgrowth of the 2004 Walter Prescott Webb
Memorial Lectures, seeks to redress this imbalance. Editors Roberto
R. Treviņo and Richard Francaviglia have assembled here a variety of
scholarly voices to present, according to the preface, "little-known
stories about a religion whose traditions and adherents had until
recently remained largely at the periphery of U.S. history narratives."
The result is a work that offers at once a fuller portrait of the Catholic
experience in and impact on the American West, and also tantalizing
glimpses that are highly suggestive of fruitful areas for further study.
The contributors to Catholicism in the American West bring to
light the variety, the hardships, and, ultimately, some of the triumphs
of Catholicism in the American West. These studies are fine
examples of the scholarship currently "reshaping how historians
understand the role of Catholicism both in the development of the
West and in the broader history of the nation."
_________________________________________________________
ROBERTO R. TREVIŅO is an associate professor of history at the
University of Texas at Arlington. His Ph.D. is from Stanford University.
RICHARD V. FRANCAVIGLIA is a professor of history and director
of the Center for Southwestern Studies at the University of Texas at
Arlington. He previously coedited Lights, Camera, History: Portraying
the Past in Film.
Number Thirty-nine: Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lectures
Also from the Walter Prescott Webb Memorial
Lectures Series
