Hendrickson, Kenneth E., Jr. 1936–
Hendrickson, Kenneth E., Jr. 1936–
PERSONAL: Born December 6, 1936, in Sioux City, IA; son of Kenneth E. and Muriel (Morton) Hendrickson; married M. Diane Forney, September 6, 1958 (marriage ended October 15, 1980); married May 11, 2000; wife's name, Natalie; children: Kirsten D., Hendrickson Lowe, Kenneth E. III, Robert S. Ethnicity: "White." Education: University of South Dakota, B.A., 1958, M.A., 1959; University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1962. Politics: Democrat.
ADDRESSES: Home—4667 Woodlawn Dr., Wichita Falls, TX 76308. Office—Department of History, Midwestern State University, 3410 Taft Blvd., Wichita Falls, TX 76308. E-mail—ken.hendrickson@mwsu.edu.
CAREER: Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, assistant professor of history, 1963–67; Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA, associate professor of history, 1967–70; Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX, professor of history and department chair, 1970–, Hardin Distinguished Professor of American History, 1988–. Texas Historical Foundation, member of editorial board; Historic Southern Tenant Farmers' Union, member of board of advisors; Texas Committee on United States-Arab Relations, executive director of council, 1997–; consultant to Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife and Lifeways International (film company). Wichita Ballet Theater, member of board of directors, 1973–, president, 1974–76, vice president for finance, 1977–80; Wichita Falls Depot Square, member of steering committee, 1976–77; Wichita County Historical Commission, member of archives committee, 1984–94; member of board of directors, Wichita Falls Symphony, 1976–80, and Wichita Falls Museum and Art Center, 1974–80; Wichita County Heritage Society, founder and president, 1984–85, and member of board of directors.
MEMBER: Middle East Studies Association of North America, Southwestern Social Science Association, Southern Historical Association, Texas State Historical Association (fellow and member of executive council), Texas Oral History Association (vice president, 1992–93; president, 1993–94), East Texas Historical Association (fellow; first vice president, 2000–01; president, 2001–), West Texas Historical Association, Rotary International, Phi Alpha Theta (vice president, 1997–99; president, 2000–01).
AWARDS, HONORS: Karl Mundt Distinguished Historical Writing Award, Dakota History Conference, 1978–79; C.K. Chamberlain Award for best article in East Texas Historical Journal, 2002, for "The Last Populist: George Washington Armstrong, the Texas Gubernatorial Election of 1932, and the 'Zionist Threat' to Liberty and Constitutional Government."
WRITINGS:
(With others) Bolivia I: A Report on Peace Corps Training at the University of Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press (Oklahoma City, OK), 1962.
The Public Career of Richard Franklin Pettigrew of South Dakota, South Dakota Historical Society (Pierre, SD), 1968.
(Editor) Essays and Commentaries in American History, two volumes, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1977–78, 2nd edition, 1981.
The Waters of the Brazos: A History of the Brazos River Authority, 1929–1979, Texian Press (Waco, TX), 1981.
(Editor and contributor) Hard Times in Oklahoma: The Depression Years, Oklahoma Historical Society (Oklahoma City, OK), 1983.
(With Michael L. Collins) Profiles in Power: Twentieth-Century Texans in Washington, Harlan-Davidson (Chicago, IL), 1993, revised edition (with Collins and Patrick Cox), University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 2004.
The Chief Executives of Texas: From Stephen F. Austin to John B. Connally, Jr., Texas A&M University Press (College Station, TX), 1995.
The Spanish-American War, Greenwood Publishing Group (Westport, CT), 2003.
The Life and Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: An Annotated Bibliography, two volumes, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), in press.
Contributor to books, including Socialism and the Cities, edited by Bruce Stave, Kennikat Press (New York, NY), 1975; The Depression in the Southwest, edited by Donald W. Whisenhunt, Kennikat Press, 1980; Agricultural Legacies, edited by R. Alton Lee, University of South Dakota Press (Vermillion, SD), 1986; Leaders in South Dakota History, edited by Herbert Hoover, University of South Dakota Press, 1989; Texas through Time, edited by Robert Calvert and Walter Buenger, Texas A&M University Press (College Station, TX), 1991; Presidential Administration Profiles for Students, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000; History in Dispute, edited by David Lesch, Manly (Columbia, SC), 2003; and Tales of Texoma, Midwestern State University Press (Wichita Falls, TX), 2005. General editor, "Recent American History" series, Peter Lang Publishing (New York, NY). Contributor to periodicals, including Journal of the West, Labor History, Pacific Historical Review, Pennsylvania History, New York History East Texas Historical Journal, Minnesota History, Agricultural History, Chronicles of Oklahoma, Upper Midwest History, North Dakota History: Journal of the Northern Plains, South Dakota History, and Historian. Editor-in-chief, Sound Historian, 1995–; newsletter editor, Texas Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations, 1997–.
WORK IN PROGRESS: A biography of George Washington Armstrong, an eccentric Texas millionaire.
SIDELIGHTS: Kenneth E. Hendrickson, Jr., told CA: "I am a professional historian. My primary motivation for writing is to produce material that can be read and enjoyed by other historians, students, and the general public. I was deeply influenced by my mentor at the University of Oklahoma when I was a graduate student from 1959 to 1962. His name is Gilbert Fite. He is now retired and lives in Florida. He was a great teacher and a prolific author. By the time my Ph.D. was awarded in 1962 I knew that I wanted to be like him. He advocated hard work and inspired me to want to be the best that I could be. For any success that I have achieved I owe him thanks as my inspiration.
"As for my writing process, it is similar to that of any competent historian. I seek out the evidence and then attempt to create the best possible product. My topics generally reflect my training in American history and the history of the South."