DWU history written by one of its own

• Image

Jim McLaird, author of “The Dakota Wesleyan University Memory Book, 1885-2010,” stands outside McGovern Library on DWU’s campus Thursday afternoon. McLaird, a former professor at the university, spent most of his research time for the book in the archives of the library. (Chris Huber/Republic Photo)

Talk about it

More...

• More information about the book

There could be few if any better candidates to tell the story of Dakota Wesleyan University than Jim McLaird.

McLaird, a DWU history professor emeritus and 1962 graduate who still resides in Mitchell, is the author of “The Dakota Wesleyan University Memory Book, 1885-2010.”

“It helped in some sense,” he said of his ties to the college. “I was very familiar with the subject matter. But it was tough to be objective.”

He wrote the book after nearly two years of research. It’s written from the perspective of students, and McLaird said he relied on student publications for a great deal of his research.

He was struck by how DWU has reinvented itself over the decades.

“Change becomes the theme through the whole book,” he said. “Alumni want things as they were. Students want something new.”

The book, which is 294 pages long, tells the story of the first 125 years of DWU while also singling out remarkable students and staffers who passed through its doors.

McLaird said he was impressed by the number of acclaimed speakers, actors and performers who attended DWU, while admitting that every college can make such a claim.

The fact that there are so few students on campus — about 20,000 people have attended classes over the years — may provide more opportunities for success, he theorized.

United States Sens. Francis Case and George McGovern were both DWU graduates who were celebrated for their debating and speaking abilities.

Shannon Bolin attended Dakota Wesleyan before starting a career in Broadway and Hollywood. She appeared in the stage and screen versions of “Damn Yankees.”

Literary societies were all the rage in the early days on campus.

“DWU never had the fraternities or sororities,” he said. “Creative literary societies became the social groups on campus.”

The book also tells interesting stories, many quite funny, about the people and events on campus. McLaird said when he speaks to graduates and current and former staffers, they love to recount the pranks and wacky events that took place when they were at DWU.

From cows left in a building over a weekend to classroom cut-ups and the often-absurd work of college writers, the book has several humorous moments.

In the 1930s, dancing was a major issue at DWU. As a school founded by the Methodist Church, such social mingling was frowned upon.

McLaird said he learned two presidents lost their jobs over the issue, one when he allowed dancing and was dismissed by the board, and another when he tried to clamp down on it and students rebelled.

“It became a crisis,” he said with a wry smile.

The college also reflected the nation, with military maneuvers during World War I. A student was accidentally shot and killed during one such evening’s activity.

Two major fires struck the campus, one in 1888, in which two people were killed, and a second in 1955. Both caused extensive damage to the college’s main building but both times, DWU bounced back.

There have also been organizations founded to promote women’s rights and a longstanding effort to ease racial tensions.

“It’s pretty much a tradition at this school,” McLaird said.

However, Ku Klux Klan protests and graffiti have also appeared on campus.

“I found everything you could think of,” he said.

The book is intended as a keepsake and was funded by the school. But McLaird said he was never told not to discover and write the truth.

“It’s written for the alumni,” he said. “It’s pretty upbeat. But I didn’t hide things.”

McLaird will discuss his work and approach to compiling history during the annual Opperman Lecture, set for 11 a.m. today, in the Sherman Center.

The lecture, titled “Writing for Pleasure,” is free and open to the public.

After the talk, McLaird will sign copies of the book, which is for sale at the DWU bookstore. It sells for $29.95 and only 750 copies were printed.

If it is successful, and McLaird said so far a lot of copies are being snapped up, a second printing is possible. “I hope so,” he said.

It’s a big day for McLaird.

He will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Arts and Humanities tonight.

A Lake Benton, Minn., native who attended five schools as a boy and graduated from high school in Miller, he enrolled in Dakota Wesleyan University in 1958.

McLaird said he hadn’t planned to attend college but was persuaded to attend DWU. It launched him on a long and successful career on campus.

McLaird earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology in 1962. He completed his master of arts degree in history in 1966 and did additional graduate work at South Dakota State University and Utah State University.

In 1967, he returned to Dakota Wesleyan University where he taught history until retiring in 2004. And in 2005, he was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters from DWU. He is now professor emeritus of history at DWU.

McLaird said he doesn’t miss the classroom. People told him he would, and he wondered if the give-and-take with students would be hard to replace. But he said his work as a writer has given him a new focus.

The DWU book is just his latest book, and he has signed a contract to write two more, including one on legendary Old West lawman and gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok.

His earlier works include “Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend,” published in 2005, and “Wild Bill Hickok & Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends,” which came out in 2008. “Calamity Jane” won The Best Book Award from Westerners International in 2006.

Tags: memory book, dwu 125, dakota wesleyan university, jim mclaird, news, local, dwu, homecoming, history, fccnetwork