James Michener served as an associate professor of Social Studies and director of Hadden Hall dormitory at the Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado) from 1936-1940.
Michener’s time in Colorado gave him the opportunity to discover the arid beauty of the American West. Michener and his wife Patti traveled extensively through Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Texas, and Mexico and his experiences later became the inspiration for Centennial and Mexico.
As a teacher, Michener quickly established a reputation as a progressive educator and taught courses on topics ranging from consumer habits to sex education. His 1938 article Sex Education: a Success in Our Social-Studies Classes describes the course, and one student remarked in the article:
“I believe the past two weeks has brought me the best education I have got out of high school. It has given me something that I never had told to me and probably would have had to discover for myself later in life.”
His experiences as a teacher were the inspiration for his first short story Who is Virgil T. Fry? which he published in 1941. During his tenure at the Colorado State College of Education, Michener published fifteen articles about social studies and education and he was invited to teach at Harvard University as a visiting lecturer from 1939-1940 (May, 2005).
After leaving Harvard, Michener began to feel as though his time in education was over, writing to H. Wilson in 1941 that he had “used up academia and realized it was not going to have too much to offer me” (May, 2005). He taught for one more year at the Colorado State College of Education, then was recruited by Macmillan Publishing and moved to New York with Patti in 1940.
Though he taught at the college for just a few years, he left a lasting impact on the institution. He was an inspiration to his students, a vital part of the Greeley community, and his journal articles brought the college national attention. In 1972, the University of Northern Colorado named their new library in honor of Michener and, in 1978, library archivists created the James A. Michener Special Collection to highlight the 37 linear feet of papers he donated to the university. In 1997, Michener designated the University of Northern Colorado as the official repository for his papers, which make up the bulk of the current 900-linear foot collection.
Michener in front of the library, ca. 1972. Photo credit: University of Northern Colorado
Michener's 1939 faculty portrait in the Cache La Poudre yearbook. Photo credit: courtesy of James A. Michener
Students working on a project for Michener's class, ca. 1939. Photo credit: courtesy of James A. Michener.
Michener at a Colorado State College of Education faculty gathering, ca. 1940. Photo credit: courtesy of James A. Michener
Michener sitting at a desk in a Michener Library office, ca. 1972. Photo credit: University of Northern Colorado
Michener shared his recollections of teaching at the Colorado State College of Education in the forward to Robert's Lawson history of the university, Shaping educational change: the first century of the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley. To read the forward written by Michener click here, or find the full text at the library.
May, Stephen J. Michener: A Writer's Journey. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. Print.
Michener, James A. "Sex Education: A Success in our Social-Studies Classes." The Clearing House 12.8 (1938): 461-5. Print.