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295:. Fite spent 26 years at the University of Oklahoma as an instructor and a researcher until he took over the position of college president at Eastern Illinois University. Fite was president of the institution until 1976, at which time he took the Richard B. Russell Chair in American History at the University of Georgia. While at Georgia, Fite authored more monographs on agricultural history, including
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of the century due to increased farm consolidation and greater technological innovations, which put more money into the pockets of a select few who were fortunate or smart enough to keep expanding. Additionally, this new economic environment coupled with political changes and a decline in the cultural myth of
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Both works focused heavily on how the political and economic power of agricultural peoples shrank in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In the former work, Fite argued that those who made their livelihoods on agriculture held less power at the end of the twentieth century than in the early decades
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environment rather than the other way around. Fite's work was one of the first to bring ideas of historical agency to those who chose to live in the Great Plains while also explaining how agriculture became the dominant economic engine of the region due to decisions made by these early
American
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came in the field of agricultural history. Most of his historical analyses focused on either farming impacted the direction of the United States or how farmers and farming communities responded to larger societal changes in
American life. The most prominent of these works are
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continued this sort of analysis, shifting the focus to the southern United States after the Civil War and argued in a similar vein that political and technological changes caused small-scale farmers to leave agriculture.
346:. Due to his influence in the shaping of American agricultural history, the Agricultural History Society created an annual award in 2000 named after Fite for the best dissertation on agricultural history in honor of him.
299:, which won the Theodore Saluoutos Award for the best book in agricultural history in 1985. Fite retired from teaching in 1986 but continued to research and write on agricultural history.
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366:, a South Dakota politician, helped secure federal support for agricultural programs and the Mount Rushmore National Monument. In 1991, Fite completed a biography of
291:. During his early years at the institution, Fite published numerous articles and monographs, including the first carving records and major study done on the
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In addition to his teaching and research, Fite held numerous leadership positions in various historical societies. He was president of the
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focused on the development of the Great Plains region during the latter part of the 19th century. In the work, Fite rebuked the
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218:. Fite's lengthy catalog included works that focused heavily on how farmers affected the political environment and broader
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271:, and graduated with his master's degree in 1941. In the spring of 1945, Fite earned his Ph.D. in history from the
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hospital, Fite met
Alberta June Goodwin. The two married on July 24, 1941, and later had two sons: Jack and Jim.
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370:, a prominent Georgia politician for whom the chair that Fite occupied at the University of Georgia was named.
222:, both of which examined the political power that farmers wielded in various eras. Fite was a professor at the
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Born on May 14, 1918, to a couple of poor homesteaders, Fite spent his childhood and teenage years in western
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In total, Fite authored, co-authored, or edited over eighteen monograph-length works and fifty articles.
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until medical issues forced him to attend an institution closer to his family's farm. He enrolled in the
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In 1945, Fite began teaching at the
University of Oklahoma alongside other prominent historians such as
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and instead argued that it was the people- farmers in this instance- that shaped the culture of the
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214:(May 14, 1918 – July 13, 2010) was an American historian best known for his numerous works on
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The two other influential works of Fite in regard to
American agricultural history were
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to shift political attention away from farmers and farming political organizations.
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His first work, an expansion of his doctoral thesis, was an investigation into how
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Adelson, Roger; Fite, Gilbert (Autumn 1993). "Interview with
Gilbert C. Fite".
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won the 1985 Theodore
Saloutos Award for Best Book in Agricultural History.
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The
Farmers' Frontier, 1865-1900, American Farmers: The New Minority,
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226:, held the Richard B. Russell Chair in American History at the
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522:
Cotton Fields No More: Southern
Agriculture, 1865-1980.
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Cotton Fields No More: Southern
Agriculture, 1865-1980.
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Cotton Fields No More: Southern Agriculture, 1865-1980.
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Cotton Fields No More: Southern Agriculture, 1865-1980
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Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991.
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Cotton Fields No More: Southern Agriculture, 1865-1980
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510:Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1977.
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536:Richard B. Russell, Jr.: Senator from Georgia.
524:Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1984.
501:The Agricultural Regions of the United States.
494:George N. Peek and the Fight for Farm Parity.
482:Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1948.
460:Richard B. Russell, Jr., Senator From Georgia
517:Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981.
724:Academic Professor, Author, & Historian
693:. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
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503:Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963.
489:Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952.
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496:Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1954
790:Presidents of Eastern Illinois University
529:An Economic History of the United States.
674:. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
659:. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.
77:Memorial Gardens, First Christian Church
591:. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
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606:"Champion of Excellence: Gilbert Fite"
473:Notable works (in chronological order)
718:Wall, Donna Lee (December 22, 2010).
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527:Fite, Gilbert C. and Jim E. Reese.
515:American Farmers: The New Minority.
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805:20th-century American male writers
672:American Farmers: The New Minority
570:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1993.tb01292.x
499:Haystad, Lee and Gilbert C. Fite.
418:American Farmers: The New Minority
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770:University of South Dakota alumni
750:American male non-fiction writers
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508:The Farmers’ Frontier. 1865-1900.
480:Peter Norbeck; Prairie Statesman.
745:20th-century American historians
657:The Farmers' Frontier, 1865-1900
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395:The Farmers' Frontier, 1865-1900
326:In 1939, while in a hospital in
293:Mount Rushmore National Monument
257:Wessington Springs, South Dakota
172:The Farmers' Frontier: 1865-1900
531:Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973.
338:Fite died on July 13, 2010, in
308:Southern Historical Association
780:University of Oklahoma faculty
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785:University of Georgia faculty
775:University of Missouri alumni
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216:American agricultural history
800:Historians from South Dakota
635:Agricultural History Society
342:. In 1990, Fite entered the
304:Agricultural History Society
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312:Western History Association
232:Eastern Illinois University
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378:Fite's greatest impact to
265:University of South Dakota
128:University of South Dakota
755:Historians of agriculture
685:Fite, Gilbert C. (1984).
670:Fite, Gilbert C. (1977).
655:Fite, Gilbert C. (1977).
610:South Dakota Hall of Fame
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399:environmental determinism
344:South Dakota Hall of Fame
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720:"Gilbert Courtland Fite"
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243:Early life and education
458:interview with Fite on
380:American historiography
314:from 1985-1986, and of
306:from 1960-1961, of the
261:Seattle Pacific College
230:, and was president of
583:Fite, Gilbert (1952).
403:Walter Prescott Webb's
273:University of Missouri
251:. He graduated from a
224:University of Oklahoma
133:University of Missouri
33:Gilbert Courtland Fite
436:Cotton Fields No More
431:Cotton Fields No More
228:University of Georgia
795:Historians from Ohio
374:Agricultural history
255:secondary school in
180:Alberta June Goodwin
162:Agricultural History
340:Fort Myers, Florida
285:Edward Everett Dale
234:from 1971 to 1976.
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67:Lee County, Florida
368:Richard B. Russell
148:Academic Professor
97:35.2178°N 97.446°W
48:Logan County, Ohio
16:American historian
534:Fite, Gilbert C.
520:Fite, Gilbert C.
513:Fite, Gilbert C.
506:Fite, Gilbert C.
492:Fite, Gilbert C.
485:Fite, Gilbert C.
478:Fite, Gilbert C.
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358:Political figures
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188:Jack Preston Fite
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406:The Great Plains
334:Death and legacy
318:from 1981-1983.
310:in 1974, of the
220:American economy
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269:Vermillion, SD
253:Free Methodist
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58:July 13, 2010
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728:Find a Grave
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638:. Retrieved
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613:. Retrieved
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249:South Dakota
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168:Notable work
74:Burial place
65:Fort Myers,
60:(2010-07-13)
43:May 14, 1918
23:Gilbert Fite
765:2010 deaths
760:1918 births
640:November 4,
615:November 2,
564:(1): 1–16.
289:Carl Rister
142:Occupations
113:Nationality
100: /
739:Categories
543:References
413:settlers.
401:set up in
199:Clyde Fite
88:97°26′46″W
85:35°13′04″N
46:Santa Fe,
39:1918-05-14
456:Booknotes
238:Biography
151:Historian
631:"Awards"
350:Writings
185:Children
116:American
393:Fite's
193:Parents
697:
465:C-SPAN
322:Family
177:Spouse
695:ISBN
642:2018
617:2018
420:and
387:and
287:and
55:Died
29:Born
566:doi
267:at
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