[136] Visiting historian examines history of ‘half-breeds’ on ‘MTSU On the Record’

MURFREESBORO — A Pulitzer Prize-nominated historian of the American West will be the guest on the next “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Anne Hyde will air from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, and from 6 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.

Hyde will deliver MTSU’s 2017 Strickland Visiting Scholar Lecture in History at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building. A 5 p.m. reception will precede the lecture in the building’s SunTrust Room, and a book signing will follow the lecture.

This event is free and open to the public. A printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

Hyde will address the topic of so-called “half-breeds” and their role in the settlement of the West. The intermarriage of white descendants of Europeans and Native Americans will be examined in terms of family, commerce and their impact on both white and Native American societies.

“Early on, the fur trade required native expertise, and it brought huge numbers of young, single, available white men into Indian country,” Hyde said. “They took up with native women, but it was encouraged by native groups as a way to make new alliances with these new white arrivals.”

Hyde, a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma, is editor-in-chief of “Western Historical Quarterly.” She specializes in the history of the North American West, specializing in the 19^th century, and is particularly interested in race and family history.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to http://bit.ly/mtsu-otr.

For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.