Dr. Elyssa Ford

Professor of History

Honors Program Director, Public History & Museums Studies Director

Education

• Ph.D. History; Arizona State University
• M.A. History; Arizona State University
• Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies; Arizona State University
• B.A. International Studies; Colby College

Courses Taught

• U.S. to 1877 & U.S. since 1877
• U.S. since 1877 (Honors section)
• Public History in the U.S.
• Practicum in American Local History
• Women and Gender in U.S. History
• U.S. since 1945
• Research Seminar in U.S. Sport History
• Research Seminar in Genealogy

Academic Interest

As a social and cultural historian, I am interested in gender, sexuality, and the American West. Much of my work focuses on questions of identity and memory. My first book Rodeo as Refuge, Rodeo as Rebellion (University Press of Kansas, 2020) looks at race- and group-specific rodeos in the United States, including Black, Indigenous, Hawaiian, and gay rodeo circuits. Rodeo’s ties to the past allow people to connect to it in a way that is deeply personal and to see it as culturally and historically relevant. Because of this, race- and group-specific rodeos not only have continued far beyond the time of segregation, but have become even more relevant for the communities that support them.

My second book, co-authored with Rebecca Scofield at the University of Idaho, dived more deeply into gay rodeo. Slapping Leather: Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo (University of Washington Press, 2023) shows how gay rodeo has been an arena filled with tensions between offering an inclusive environment (for men and women, for trans and cis competitors, and more) and one that still was created by gay men for gay men. Topics examined include hypermasculinity, sex and AIDS, drag queens and camp events, political and consumer power, and the position of women within this setting.

As a public historian, I work with students to promote their learning and provide real-world experiences and projects for them. I have led oral history projects to gather the stories of long-time Northwest employees, military veterans on campus, and Nodaway County farmers. These oral histories are housed at the Northwest University Archives and at the Nodaway County Historical Society. I have also worked with students to prepare National Register nominations, document local historic cemeteries, research and design museum exhibits, and create various websites and digital history projects that document local histories.

Scholarly Activity

Books

• Co-authored with Rebecca Scofield, Slapping Leather: Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo (University of Washington Press, 2023).
• Rodeo as Refuge, Rodeo as Rebellion: Gender, Race, and Identity in the American Rodeo (University Press of Kansas, 2020).

Articles

• “‘For Women Only!’: A Radical Message of the Black Middle Class in Kansas City,” Middle West Review, special edition: Midwestern Women’s History, 9:2 (Spring 2023): 77-89.
• "'Fine Herds of Cattle’: Rural Nuns and Farmwork at the Missouri Convent, 1874-1963" Missouri Historical Review 116:4 (July 2022): 145-165.
• "Profession-Based Learning and Collaborative Community Projects with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street Program," Leading Professional Development: Growing Librarians for the Digital Age, ABC-Clio, 2020.
• "Alma Nash & the Maryville Milieu," Podcast with the State Historical Society of Missouri, Summer 2020.
• "'We Sure Led the Parade': Alma Nash, the Missouri Ladies Military Band, and the Push for Women's Suffrage from Rural Missouri to the Nation's Capital," Missouri Historical Review 113:3 (April 2019): 145-165.
• "Woman Suffrage in the Midwest," National Park Service (print and web), 2019.
• "Alma Nash" and "Laura Runyon" (author) and editor of 19 student biographies, Women and Social Movements: Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States, editor Thomas Dublin (Alexander Street, ProQuest), 2019.
• "Becoming the West: Cowboys as Icons of Masculine Style for Gay Men," Special Issue: Fashion and Style Icons, Critical Studies in Men's Fashion5:1-2 (May 2018): 41-53.

• "Bringing Town and Gown Together: Using Local History to Engage Students and Create Collaborative Partnerships," Journal of Museum Education 41:4 (Oct. 2016): 262-274.
• "Pa'u Riding in Hawai'i: Memory, Race, and Community on Parade," Pacific Historical Review 84:3 (Aug. 2015): 277-306.

Popular Media

• With Rebecca Scofield, “Colorado is Home to the Longest Running Gay Rode in the World,” The Conversation, 02 July 2024
• With Rebecca Scofield, “Beyonce Backlash is Part of a Century of Cowboy Gatekeeping,” TIME Magazine, 12 April 2024.
• With Rebecca Scofield, “How Gay Rodeos Upend Assumptions about Life in Rural America,” The Conversation, 18 August 2022.

Other Professional Experiences

• Public History Committee Co-Chair, Western History Association, 2022-Present
• Steering Committee, Missouri Conference on History, 2018-Present
• Public History Liaison, Coordinating Council for Women’s Historians, 2017-Present
• Development Committee, National Council for Public History, 2017-Present
• President, Nodaway County Historical Society Museum, 2013-Present
• Fulbright Award, Romania, 2009-2010
• Leadership Resident, Harpswell Foundation, Cambodia, Summer 2009