Princeton University History Professor Martha Sandweiss is the featured speaker for the 2011-2012 C. Ruth and Calvin P. Horn Lecture in Western History and Culture, presented by the UNM Department of History's Center for the Southwest.

Sandweiss presents, "Lost Tales, Forgotten Women, and the Violence of Everyday Life in the Nineteenth Century West," on Thursday, Feb. 2, 6 p.m. in the Student Union Building, Lobo A/B. This event is free and open to the public. A reception follows the lecture.

Sandweiss received her Ph.D. in history from Yale University and began her career as a photography curator at the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas. She later taught American studies and history at Amherst College for 20 years.

Sandweiss is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Beinecke Library at Yale University. She is the author or editor of numerous books on American history and photography. Her publications include Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line (2009), and Print the Legend: Photography and the American West (2002), winner of the Organization of American Historians' Ray Allen Billington Award for the best book in American frontier history and the William P. Clements Award.

Sandweiss's other works include Laura Gilpin: An Enduring Grace, winner of the George Wittenborn Award for outstanding art book of 1987, and the co-edited volume The Oxford History of the American West (1994), recipient of the Western Heritage Award and the Caughey Western History Association prize for the year's outstanding book in western history.

The C. Ruth and Calvin P. Horn Endowment Fund supports the C. Ruth and Calvin P. Horn Lectures in Western History and Culture, a distinguished lecture series now in its 25th year. Calvin and Ruth's vision for the series was to provide the campus and the larger community access to inspiring speakers who brought history to life by providing perspectives on the West. By understanding the past we gain new insight into the history of such matters as land use, conservation, access to water, regional identity, the creative arts and actions of historical figures.

Past lectures have highlighted well-known western historians such as Patricia Nelson Limerick, Marc Simmons, David Weber, Vicki Ruiz, Philip Deloria, Hal Rothman and Paul Hutton. The late Calvin Horn was one of New Mexico's most beloved civic leaders. Calvin and Ruth shared a passion for learning and became lead supporters of Manzano Day School and the University of New Mexico.

Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu