In his book The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck wrote that “the land is so much more than its analysis.” This is exactly what BYU’s Charles Redd Center for Western Studies is trying to instill in people through the upcoming Annaley Naegle Redd Lecture titled “John Steinbeck’s America and the West.” Presented by Dr. David Wrobel of the University of Oklahoma, the event will be held in the HBLL Auditorium at 7 pm on March 23.
The Event
Of the lecture, Dr. Brenden Rensink, the assistant director of the Redd Center, said: “Steinbeck wrote a number of iconic books that unfold in the American West – most notably, The Grapes of Wrath. David Wrobel’s new work on Steinbeck tries to contextualize Steinbeck’s work in broader American culture, its impact, etc. It will be a great lecture that takes a key piece of Western American literature and weaves it into broader narratives of American cultural history.” He added that the intended audience is BYU faculty and students as well as the community at large. Rensink hopes people will leave the lecture with “a better understanding of author John Steinbeck, his relationship to the West, and his impact upon it.”
Steinbeck and Wrobel
John Steinbeck is the 1962 Nobel-Prize winning author of The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and Tortilla Flat, to name only a few. Said editor Horst Frenz of the Elsevier Publishing Company in 1969, his books dealt with the economic problems of rural labour; “there is also a streak of worship of the soil in his books.” It is this worship that makes Steinbeck the perfect topic for Wrobel to speak on at the Annaley Naegle Redd Lecture. The esteemed historian is the Merrick Chair of Western American History and David L. Boren Professor at the University of Oklahoma. He is the author of three books and a plethora of essays and articles. Wrobel has participated in the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer Program and from 2007-2008 was the American Historical Association’s Pacific Coast Branch’s president. He has also in that capacity for Phi Alpha Theta. The professor was the recipient OU’s College of Arts & Sciences’s 2015 Holden Award for Teaching Excellence.
Annaley Naegle Redd
Annaley Naegle Redd was the wife of Charles Redd. Together, they founded the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at BYU. The college graduate became a teacher in La Sal, Utah, where she and her husband met and were married. Naegle was integral to his cattle business, serving as his partner, acting as secretary, store keeper, and cook, among other jobs. And, when their ranch was almost foreclosed on: “her ‘prairie fire’ beans helped save the ranch.” Naegle died in 2000. Besides the lecture, she has two awards in her name: the Annaley Naegle Redd Student Award in Women’s History and the Annaley Naegle Redd Assistantship Award (BYU Faculty Only).
