Elaine Marie Nelson

a woman with long brown hair, wearing a black shirt with her arms crossed while smiling at the camera
  • Assistant Professor
  • Executive Director, Western History Association
  • United States, North American West, Environment, Women and Gender, Borderlands, Great Plains, Native American and Indigenous

Contact Info

Biography —

I am an Assistant Professor in the KU History Department, where I specialize in the North American West, the Great Plains, Native American and Indigenous history, and United States history. I also serve as Executive Director of the Western History Association, a position I have held since 2017. Originally from South Dakota, I joined KU in 2020 after previous academic appointments at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Minnesota Morris. 

Outside of my professional work, I enjoy traveling, reading, baking, staying active, and spending time with family and friends. 

Education —

B.A. in English and History Education, University of Nebraska at Kearney
M.A. in History, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ph.D. in History, University of New Mexico

Research —

My research focuses on the history of the North American West, with particular interests in memory, landscape, tourism, and the intersections of Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in the Great Plains. My work has appeared in academic journals, edited volumes, and public history exhibits. I regularly present my research at professional conferences and have received fellowships and grants from a variety of institutions and organizations. I am currently completing my first book, which examines the history of memory and landscape in the Black Hills.

Teaching —

I teach undergraduate and graduate courses on United States history, the North American West, and women and gender history. I am committed to experiential learning and enjoy developing courses that connect students with local archives, regional landscapes, community partners, and the history of the places they live and learn. I advise M.A. and Ph.D. students whose research spans a wide range of historical topics, and I welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students interested in working with me in 2027. 

Selected Publications —

"Mni Luzahan and ‘our beautiful city’: Indigenous Resistance in Rapid City and the Black Hills up to 1937,” in Cathleen Cahill and Andrew Needham, Eds., Indian Cities: Histories of Indigenous Urbanism, University of Oklahoma Press (Winter 2022)

“‘No where to be found’: Myth-Mapping, Empire, and Resistance in the Black Hills Country, 1800-1860,” South Dakota History (Summer 2021)

Women in Omaha: An Exhibit Catalog of a Biographical Sketch of Persistence Through History, 2019

“Draft by Draft: The Battle of Sandoz and Her Big Horn Manuscript,” Great Plains Quarterly (Spring 2019)

“The Legacy of Black Hills Tourism and Native American Performers,” in Matthew J. Hill, ed., Reinterpreting Mount Rushmore’s Heritage: Native Engagements with a National Memorial in the Context of the Black Hills (Cooperative Agreement #P14AC00888, Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Park Service and The University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2019)

“Cultural Survival and the Omaha Way: Eunice Woodhull Stabler’s Legacy of Preservation on the Twentieth-Century Plains,” Great Plains Quarterly (Summer 2009)

Exhibitions —

Co-Curator, “Women in Omaha: A Biographical Sketch of Persistence through History,” The Durham Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, February 3-July 29, 2018. Awarded the Alice Smith Public History Prize, Midwestern History Association, May 24, 2019.

This collaborative teaching and public engagement project featured the stories of women from diverse backgrounds and highlighted their experiences as advocates, leaders, and professional. Read more about the exhibit here and here.