Sherry L. Smith

Historian

Sherry L. Smith grew up in Northwest Indiana, a place tucked between Chicago’s cultural treasures and the natural wonders of the Indiana Dunes. Yet, the American West won her over as a subject of historical study and place to live. 

After undergraduate education at Purdue University, Smith moved to Seattle, enrolled in the University of Washington for her Ph.d., and has resided west of the Mississippi River ever since.  She is University Distinguished Professor of History (Emerita) at Southern Methodist University.  Her award-winning books include Hippies, Indians, and the Fight for Red Power and Reimagining Indians: Native Americans Through Anglo Eyes, 1880-1940, both published by Oxford University Press. Smith is a former president of the Western History Association and received the Los Angeles Times Distinguished Fellowship at the Huntington Library, which supported research for Bohemians West. She has also been honored with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Foundation, and Yale University. 

Smith lives in Moose, Wyoming, and Pasadena, California.