Hall Center awards book prize to history of civil rights movement in Wichita

LAWRENCE -- The Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas has named Gretchen Cassel Eick, associate professor of history at Friends University in Wichita, as the winner of the 2003 Byron Caldwell Smith Book Prize. Eick's book, "Dissent in Wichita: The Civil Rights Movement in the Midwest, 1954-72," was published in 2001 by the University of Illinois Press.

Eick will present a public lecture, "Dissent in Wichita: Race and Social Revolution in the Heartland," discussing her book at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, in the Spencer Museum of Art at KU. A reception and book signing will follow.

"Dissent in Wichita" chronicles the early struggle for civil rights in a state whose history bears the marks of both the North and the South. Members of the prize committee were impressed with Eick's ability to weave the story of Wichita into the broader tapestry of civil rights in America.

"The author writes not the history of a mid-sized Midwestern city during the Civil Rights era but rather explains how the larger story of the movement cannot be understood without the one she tells about Wichita," wrote the committee in its citation of the book.

Eick completed her Ph.D. in American studies at KU in 1997. She finished her dissertation while in Riga, Latvia, teaching on a Fulbright fellowship. Eick worked in public policy in Washington, D.C., for 14 years. Her research reflects this experience, as well as her interest in the process of social change.

The Byron Caldwell Smith Book Prize was established by Kate Stephens as a biennial honor to an individual who lives or is employed in Kansas and who has written an outstanding book in the humanities. Stephens, a former KU student and one of the university's first female professors, created the award in memory of Smith, the professor who taught her to love Greek language and literature while she was an undergraduate. This year's award committee considered books published in 2001 and 2002.