FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 5, 2020
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — For the second time in three years, Tarleton State University’s Dr. Deborah Liles has been named winner of the Liz Carpenter Award given by the Texas State Historical Association.
Liles is an assistant professor and the W. K. Gordon Endowed Chair in Texas History at Tarleton. She is a co-editor of Texas Women and Ranching: On the Range, at the Rodeo, and in Their Communities, which won the 2020 award.
The historical anthology explores the variety of roles women played on the Western ranch. The book’s essays cover topics from early Tejana businesswomen and Anglo philanthropists to rodeos and fence-cutting range wars.
The women featured include notable ranchers like Alice East and Frances Kallison, while others came from less well-known families. In every case, they proved themselves to be resourceful women and unique individuals who survived by their own wits in cattle country.
The award, given annually by the TSHA, recognizes the best scholarly book on the history of women and Texas. It is named for Texan Mary Elizabeth Sutherland Carpenter, a writer, reporter, media advisor and political humorist who stood at the forefront of feminist issues.
Women in Civil War Texas: Diversity and Dissidence in the Trans-Mississippi, also co-edited by Liles, was the Liz Carpenter Award winner in 2017.
Tarleton, founding member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven education marked by academic innovation and a dedication to transform today’s scholars into tomorrow’s leaders. It offers degree programs to more than 13,000 students at Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian, RELLIS Academic Alliance in Bryan, and online, emphasizing real-world learning experiences that address societal needs while maintaining its core values of tradition, integrity, civility, excellence, leadership and service.
Contact: Phil Riddle
817-484-4415
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