The Department of Health, Education and Welfare has awarded a $34,970 grant to the Department of Western History Collections in the University of Oklahoma Bizzell Memorial Library at Norman. Funds from the grant will be used for the acquisition of library resource materials on native Americans.

The Western History Collections have long been internationally recognized as a major repository of information on American Indians, according to Dr. Abraham Hoffman, curator of the collections and assistant professor of history. "In our printed holdings in the Phillips Collection, a division of our department, we have almost 800 separate periodical titles pertaining to western history. Many of these are magazines and newspapers published by Indian tribal councils, civil rights groups and other Indian organizations," he said.

Many scholars have utilized the collections for their research. The OU Press series, Civilization of the American Indian, has numerous works based on the collections materials. The American Indian Institute, conducting oral history interviews throughout the state, has consulted the collections for background information, and representatives of 23 tribes have used materials while doing research on land claims and treaties, according to Hoffman.

"More than 20 doctoral dissertations and master’s theses are in progress or were recently completed by students on the OU campus that used source materials on Indians, including four dissertations written by Indian students. Last year, Western History Collections received over 4,000 reference requests - in person, over the telephone and through the mail," he said.

The funds will be used to acquire missing issues of out-of-print periodicals and to purchase catalogs and guides, scarce titles, and microfilm. Finding aids will be prepared and made available to interested institutions, scholars and students.