The University of North Texas Libraries invite applications for the 2017 The Portal to Texas History Research Fellowship. Research using the Portal is relevant to studies in a variety of disciplines including history, journalism, political science, geography, and American studies. We encourage applicants to think creatively about the opportunities that research with large digital library collections can enable. Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate the greatest potential for publication and the best use of The Portal to Texas History.

The Portal to Texas History 2018 Research Fellowship Awardee

Kenna Archer

Project Title

Keeping Cool in Texas: A History

Project Description

The state of Texas is known for its highly variable weather and for the extraordinary heat that periodically roasts crops, accosts livestock, and challenges public morale. Keeping cool in this state has become both science and art, but efforts to beat the heat are nothing new. This project studies the long history of keeping cool in Texas from a social, environmental, and cultural perspective, paying special attention to the shifting relationship between technological dependence and climatological adaptation.

Biography

Dr. Kenna Lang Archer is an instructor at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas, where she teaches U.S. environmental history, Texas history, and American history. Her first book, Unruly Waters, was published by University of New Mexico Press. She recently finished writing an updated edition of Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land with John Opie and Char Miller. She will be presenting her current research project at the Western History Association meeting in October.