November 7, 2016
Dr. Roger Hardaway, professor of History at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, is the author of an article in a book published this fall by the University of Oklahoma Press. The book, “Black Cowboys in the American West: On the Range, On the Stage, Behind the Badge,” was edited by Professors Bruce Glasrud of Sul Ross State University in Texas and Michael Searles of Augusta State University in Georgia.
Hardaway’s article, “Oklahoma’s African-American Rodeo Performers,” was first published in the summer 2011 issue of “The Chronicles of Oklahoma.” The essay explores the great number of black Oklahomans who have excelled in rodeo arenas at all levels of competition. These include not only men and women who have competed in rodeos but also others—like clowns, bullfighters, pick-up men, and trick riders—who are also crucial to the success of any rodeo performance.
“The editors asked me to contribute to their book because I have been studying African-American rodeo personnel for several years,” Hardaway said. “I have given numerous presentations on black cowboys at historical conferences, and I have published several articles and books on the black experience in the American West.”
When Hardaway first began researching cowboys, his focus was on “working” cowhands—those who labor on ranches. Just as rodeo performances grew out of ranch work, his interest in black cowboys began to shift from those who worked on ranches to those who seek to entertain audiences in rodeo arenas.
“Black cowboys and cowgirls participate in all aspects of the sport of rodeo,” Hardaway said. “While many of them rodeo mostly for fun in their spare time, others are professional athletes who earn their livings going down the rodeo road. And, since Oklahoma has a rich western heritage and was once a territory that sanctioned slavery, it is no accident that the Sooner State has produced numerous successful African-American rodeo performers at all levels of competition and in all rodeo events.
“I was also happy to be able to give some notice to two of my former Northwestern students who have been professional rodeo contract personnel,” he said.
Hardaway’s former student Jeff Rector is the only African-American pick-up man working in Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) events. Rector has just been chosen to work the PRCA’s National Finals Steer Roping competition being held in Kansas this fall. The other student, Sam Gress, has been an award-winning bullfighter (those who protect bull riders) in several professional rodeo associations.
“I was extremely pleased with the article when I wrote it,” Hardaway concluded, “and I am doubly happy to have it reprinted in such a quality work edited by two outstanding historians and published by one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States.”
For more information on Hardaway’s research, contact him at (580) 327-8520 or
rdhardaway@nwosu.edu.
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