Courses Taught
- United States History to 1877
- United States History Since 1877
- World History
- World Cultural Geography
- American Government and Politics
- Modern World History
Education
- A.S., SWOSU
- B.S.Ed., SWOSU
- B.A., Interdisciplinary Studies, SWOSU
- B.A., Political Science, SWOSU
- M.Ed., SWOSU
Books Published
Cold War Texas, The History Press, August 2022
Cold War Kansas, The History Press, August 2020
Cold War Oklahoma, The History Press, April 2019
Journal Articles/Book Reviews Published
“Nike Missile Fail: When Elk City and Clinton Almost Went Nuclear,” Chronicles of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Historical Society, Fall 2023 edition, November 2023: https://dc.swosu.edu/caap_general_articles/10/
“The Missiles of Oklahoma” about the Atlas F intercontinental ballistic missiles that were housed near Altus Air Force Base in southwest Oklahoma during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was published in the Western Oklahoma Historical Society blog August 21, 2022
“Kansas Missiles: Central Kansas and the Nation’s Nuclear Arsenal, 1959-1965,” Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains, Kansas Historical Foundation and the Kansas State University Department of History, Spring 2020 edition, May 2020: https://dc.swosu.edu/caap_general_articles/7/
“Sooner State Civil Defense: Oklahoma Community and College-Campus Cold War Preparedness, 1960-68,” Chronicles of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Historical Society, Summer 2019 edition, September 2019: https://dc.swosu.edu/caap_general_articles/6/
Review of Publisher for the Masses: Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, by R. Alton Lee (University of Nebraska Press, 2018), published in the Winter 2018-19 edition of the quarterly journal of the Oklahoma Historical Society, The Chronicles of Oklahoma, March 2019.
“Maurice Halperin: From Sooner Subversive to Soviet Spy,” Chronicles of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Historical Society, Summer 2018 edition, September 2018: https://dc.swosu.edu/caap_general_articles/3/
“The Missiles of Oklahoma: Southwest Oklahoma’s Role in the American Cold War Nuclear Arsenal, 1960-65,” Chronicles of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Historical Society, Fall 2017 edition, December 2017: https://dc.swosu.edu/caap_general_articles/1/
Presentations/Conferences
Discussed my book Cold War Oklahoma and further Cold War research for political science students and faculty at Cameron University in Lawton, OK, on October 26, 2023.
Appeared with SWOSU History professor Dr. Becky Bruce at the October 25, 2022, SWOSU symposium “Oklahoma and the Cuban Missile Crisis” and discussed Oklahoma’s role within the nation’s nuclear deterrent during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as well as state civil defense measures taken to survive nuclear attack.
Presented my book Cold War Kansas October 28, 2021, for History faculty and undergraduate and graduate students at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS.
Presented my book Cold War Kansas via Zoom March 21, 2021, for the Shawnee County Historical Society in Topeka, KS.
Presented my book Cold War Kansas via Zoom February 4, 2021, for the Smoky Hill Museum in Salina, KS. The presentation was recorded and is offered free of charge to Kansas educational entities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsvGq8_aSRY&t=11s
Presented “Fallout Boys: Western Oklahomans’ Cold War Survival Preparations” November 13, 2020, for the SWOSU Research and Scholarly Activity Fair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymGS6ZPHtDE
Panel discussant with Dr. Nyla Ali Khan, Rose State College professor and author of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s Reflections on Kashmir, and moderator Dr. Deena K. Fisher, Northwestern Oklahoma State University history professor, at the 2019 Oklahoma Book Festival: https://okbookfest.oklibraries.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/book-festival-program-2019.pdf
Presented the paper “Maurice Halperin: From Sooner Subversive to Soviet Spy,” April 27, 2018, at the Oklahoma History Conference, Oklahoma City, OK.
Presented the paper “The Missiles of Oklahoma: Southwest Oklahoma’s Role in the American Cold War Nuclear Arsenal, 1960-65” October 26, 2017, at “Missiles of Oklahoma” seminar at SWOSU in Weatherford. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS2OVJUQcHw&t=9s
Presented the paper “The Missiles of Oklahoma: Southwest Oklahoma’s Role in the American Cold War Nuclear Arsenal,” October 16, 2017, at “Missiles of Oklahoma” seminar at SWOSU in Sayre.
Presented the poster “Oklahoma Missile Site: Aiming for the Historic Marker” at the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History, Austin, TX, September 8, 2017: https://dc.swosu.edu/caap_general_articles/2/
Public History
Using Cold War artifacts donated by the City of Elk City (OK), in January 2021 I created the public display “Preparing to Survive Nuclear Attack: Western Oklahoma Cold War Civil Defense” in Mackey Hall on the SWOSU campus in Sayre. Read more
I facilitated the transfer of Civil Defense artifacts in storage from the City of Elk City (OK) to the Oklahoma Historical Society in November 2020. A story about this titled “Cold War artifact donations made to OHS” was also featured in the January/February 2021 edition of Mistletoe Leaves, the bulletin of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Read more
The Oklahoma Historical Society approved my application to place a historical marker at the site near Willow that housed an Atlas F Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from 1962 to 1965, which I did in October 2017. One of 12 missile sites attached to the 577th Strategic Missile Squadron at Altus Air Force Base, the Willow missile site was part of the American Cold War nuclear arsenal. All 12 missiles were put on alert for the first time during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. In addition to securing permission from the OHS, I wrote the marker text, raised the money to pay for the marker, oversaw its installation, and spoke at the dedication ceremony. Read more
Fun Facts
Born the fifth of six children, I’m an identical twin. Since 2006, my twin brother, Nathan, and I have co-hosted “The Early Morning Show” on KECO Radio in Elk City, OK.
I’m named for former Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry. My parents didn’t know they were having twins when we were born, so they scrambled to come up with Nathan’s name. Supposedly he was named for an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution, but I haven’t seen documentation, so, frankly, I’m skeptical.