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Editor of historical quarterly an Easterner in the thick of the American West By
Reuben Wadsworth
Editor's note: This story was produced for the USU mass communication class "Beyond the Inverted Pyramid," COMM 3110. He moved to frontier Montana in the late 1850s before it was even a formal U.S. territory. He married a Shoshone woman and fathered 11 children. He helped publicize the discovery of gold in Montana. He was manager of the largest open-range cattle herd in Montana and led vigilantes to hang at least 15 people suspected of stealing horses. He was a four-term veteran of the Montana territorial legislature. He taught himself three languages -- Shoshone, French and Spanish. He was U.S. minister to Uruguay and Paraguay. A lot of people know about him in Montana, yet Granville Stuart's life remains cloudy or a blank for residents of other states. Clyde A. Milner II, history professor at Utah State University, wants the whole world to know about Stuart because he believes Stuart's diaries, letters and scrapbooks "tell more about the West and its history than Stuart himself wanted us to know." Milner and his wife, Carol O'Connor, also a USU history professor, have teamed up to write a book chronicling the life of this Montana frontiersman. Much of the research is already completed but the volume won't hit the shelves of bookstores for three years. "He takes the reputation and respect he's gained and uses it to help other scholars." Milner grew up in the East, where he received his bachelor's degree in religious studies, yet now he is a professor of American West history and has edited or authored six books. He didn't even travel to the West until he had been in college for two years. In the summer of 1968 he went to work at a dude ranch in Dubois, Wyo. When he wasn't making much money there, he went to Montana and worked stacking hay. He said he barely made enough money to make it home. Born and raised in Chapel Hill, N.C., Milner completed his undergraduate work at the University of North Carolina in the same city. His father, Charles, was a pioneer in audio/visual education and director of the UNC extension division. While teaching high school, Charles Milner learned about the impacts of using film for the classroom and helped produce a film to publicize Guilford College, a small Quaker school in Greensboro, N.C. In 1938, when he learned UNC wanted to use documentary films in teaching, Charles was hired to launch the program at the university. "I was a faculty brat, basically, in Chapel Hill," Clyde Milner said of his time at UNC. Milner's uncle, Clyde, from whom he received his name, was president of Guilford and another uncle was superintendent of county schools in a county in Ohio. His maternal grandfather helped the national government develop education programs for African-Americans. "I'm from a family of educators," Milner said. Milner is also from a family of members of The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Milner's Quaker roots draw from Ohio in the early 1800s. The family has maintained that affiliation ever since. His father helped establish a Quaker meeting in Chapel Hill when he started work at UNC. Quakers emphasize equality in race, gender, etc. Members have a strong commitment to peace and social justice, Milner said. They believe in self-conscience, pacifism and a commitment to honesty, he explained. They believe that if called upon to swear an oath on occasions such as jury duty that there is no need to, they simply affirm their honesty. Of the two Quaker presidents, Herbert Hoover affirmed his commitment to the Constitution instead of being sworn in, while Richard Nixon decided to take the oath, he said. According to Milner this showed each president's level of commitment to his religion. Milner attends a meeting of about 32 Quakers in Logan. Milner is a fanatic basketball fan, he said. He attended legendary UNC head coach Dean Smith's first basketball camps in the early 1960s. Milner's father, a friend of Smith's, helped set up the camps. After studying at UNC, Milner was accepted to Yale University in New Haven, Conn., for his graduate work in American studies. Howard Lamar, who has since served as president of the university, was Milner's teacher for a course comparing the histories of North America with that of South Africa. The class was one of his first graduate courses at Yale. Lamar became Milner's mentor and is his connection to studying the history of the American West, he said. "I started studying the American West in a much larger context," Milner said of his coursework with Lamar. "I started looking at it in terms of frontier history of North America and frontier history of Southern Africa. In some ways my interest in American Indians and the history of American Indians is focused through the history of native people in Southern Africa." Milner still finds the topic of South African history fascinating, though he doesn't feel completely updated on it. There is a lot to learn, when comparing the two histories, about native peoples and race relations, he said. There are many comparisons, but no exact parallels, he explained. While completing his graduate work at Yale, Milner took a year off to do a research fellowship in Chicago at the Center for the History of the American Indian. It was there that he interviewed for a job at USU. He had job offers from two liberal arts colleges in the East but decided USU would offer the unique opportunity of studying Western American history while living in the West. Even though he had not yet finished his Ph.D., which he eventually completed in 1979, Milner decided to come to USU. That was 1976. He's been here ever since. "This was a good place to be doing the research, writing and teaching I wanted to do," he said. Since his arrival at USU Milner has been the editor or co-editor of a number of books such as The Oxford History of the American West. Twenty-eight people contributed to the book, and it has already sold more than 50,000 copies, a mark nearly unmatched for volumes of its kind, said Milner. The book received the Caughey Western History Association Award for outstanding book on the history of the American West. At USU Milner teaches a graduate seminar on the American West. Royalties from two of his books go to fellowship funds for USU grad students. Milner wants the best for his students and his colleagues and is supportive of their careers, said fellow USU history professor and editor of the Western Historical Quarterly, Anne M. Butler. Convincing her to come to USU is one of the ways Milner has shown his generosity, she said. "I came to USU to work with Clyde Milner," Butler said. "He changed my career." The two became acquainted when they attended a conference together as members of the Western History Association. When a job at USU became available, Milner called on Butler. She had never considered becoming editor of a scholarly journal, but Milner outlined a plan that was convincing, making Butler decide to leave her position in Washington, D.C., to come to Logan. She hasn't regretted her decision. "I enjoy everything about working with Clyde," she said. "He expanded my intellectual horizons. He made me a more prominent person in western history through this job." "Clyde is well known and well respected in the profession," said Daniel J. McInerny, USU history professor. "He takes the reputation and respect he's gained and uses it to help other scholars. He's constantly trying to plug people into that network." McInerny is another example showing how Milner has helped associates. Milner recommended McInerny to publishers in order for McInerny to produce his new book, A Roadside History of the United States. "It is enormously helpful when you've got a colleague willing to share connections," McInerny said. Another way Milner has helped McInerny was when he chaired McInerny's tenure review committee. McInerny said throughout the process Milner took careful attention to detail and provided an outline of what exactly needed to be achieved. According to McInerny, this is a stark contrast from what other professors have to endure. For many, the committee is a complete mystery, McInerny said. "He solved the mysteries for me," McInerny said of Milner's performance on the review committee. "He left no stones unturned." Milner's life might be compared in some ways to that of Stuart's, the very man Milner is writing a book about. Milner, as Stuart did in his lifetime, does a little bit of everything. In addition to being a professor of history and author, Milner is the executive editor of a Western Historical Quarterly. The Quarterly, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary, is a joint effort between USU and the Western History Association, Milner said. USU does the editing and publishing, but the WHA holds the copyright. Milner said more than 100 articles are submitted to the Quarterly each year, but only 11 of them are published. The Quarterly has helped give USU recognition as an institution, he said. Milner has been part of its editing staff since 1984. Milner is also a reader. He reads history books to determine if they should be included in The History Book Club Inc. There are two piles of these proofs in his office, the rejection pile and the pile he's accepted. The rejections loom in the corner on the floor at the foot of two large bookcases, but the acceptable pile stands on a higher plane, atop his file cabinet. Milner is a traveler. He has already been on three trips this semester, during the latest of which he was invited to give a talk in St. Louis to the Mercantile Library, a library holding significant content on the West. During all his travels he has only missed one class period, he said. Milner does a great job of taking on his many responsibilities, McInerny said. If forced to carry out the same schedule as Milner does, McInerny said he couldn't do it. According to McInerny, because of Milner's various duties he has little leisure time. One of the few things Milner does that is not related to his teaching, writing and editing is attend movies with his two children, Catherine and Charlie, McInerny said. Another recreational pleasure Milner enjoys is serving as president of Logan Youth Soccer. This year he is coaching a squad of 8 and 9-year old girls with his two children, Butler said. Does Milner ever take a break from his rigorous schedule? Yes. One of those occasions is during lunchtime, where he can be seen in a back room in the history main office spreading peanut butter on rice cakes while devouring yogurt. "It's pathetic," McInerny said. "It's an argument for faculty raises."
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