About

William Francis Deverell

Professor of History

Contact Information
E-mail: deverell@email.usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-1676
Office: SOS 274

LINKS
Personal Website
 

Biographical Sketch
I am an American historian with a focus on the nineteenth and twentieth century American West. I have written works on political, social, ethnic, and environmental history. I'm currently at work on a book exploring the history of the post-Civil War American West. With David Igler of UC Irvine, I recently published the Blackwell Companion to California, and with Greg Hise of USC, I'm co-editing The Blackwell Companion to Los Angeles (forthcoming 2010). I direct the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West; please consult our website at www.usc.edu/icw for more information. My graduate students at USC work on a variety of topics on the history of the West, ranging from the West's racial and ethnic history, to the rise of conservative politics in the Southwest, and the western U.S. connections to the Pacific Rim. In 2009-2010, I will be the Beinecke Senior Fellow in Western Americana at Yale University.
 

Education
A.B. American Studies, Stanford University, 6/1983
M.A. History, Princeton University, 6/1985
Ph.D. History, Princeton University, 6/1989
 

Postdoctoral Training
Postdoctoral Instructor in American History, Caltech/Huntington Library, 1988-1990  
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Tenure Track Appointments
Professor of History, University of Southern California, 07/01/2004-  
Associate Professor of History, California Instiute of Technology, 07/01/1996-06/30/2004  
Associate Professor of History, University of California, San Diego, 07/01/1994-06/30/1996  
Assistant Professor of History, University of California, San Diego, 08/01/1990-06/30/1994  
 

PostDoctoral Appointments
Postdoctoral Instructor in American History, Caltech/Huntington Library, 1988-1990  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
William Deverell, a historian of the 19th and 20th century American West, has published numerous books and papers on the history of California and the American West. Recent books include "Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of its Mexican Past," which examines the historical relationship between the growth of Los Angeles and Southern California's complex history of racial and ethnic conflict and accommodation. With USC's Greg Hise, he recently edited "Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles," part of the University of Pittsburgh Press's series on the environmental history of urban America. He and Hise are currently at work on the co-edited "Blackwell Companion to Los Angeles." With Professor David Igler of UC Irvine, Deverell is co-editor of the "Blackwell Companion to California." Professor Deverell is the director of the newly-established Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, a collaraborative research and teaching entity between USC's College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences and the Huntington Library. Professor Deverell's current research focuses on the aftermath of the Civil War in the American West.
 

Research Specialties
(Ph.D., Princeton University, 1989) Professor of History: History of California, Los Angeles, the American West
 

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions
Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, Director,http://www.usc.edu/icw
USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute, Collaborator,http://www.usc.edu/emsi
 

Other Research
Expert Witness Testimony City of San Jose v. Union Pacific Railroad Corporation, 2008-2009   
 

Publications

Book
Deverell, W. F., Hise, G. (2009). Blackwell Companion to the History of Los Angeles. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Companion to the History of Los Angeles/Blackwell.
Deverell, W. F., Igler, D. B. (2008). Blackwell Companion to California. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Companion to California History/Blackwell.
Deverell, W. F., White, D. G. (2006). United States History: Beginnings to 1877. United States History: Beginnings to 1877/Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Deverell, W. F., White, D. G. (2005). United States History: Independence to 1914. United States History: Independence to 1914/Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Hise, G., Deverell, W. F. (2005). Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles. Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles/University of Pittsburgh Press.
Deverell, W. F. (2004). Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past/University of California Press.
Deverell, William Francis (Ed.). (2004). Blackwell Companion to the American West. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Deverell, W. F., Sitton, T. J. (2001). Metropolis in the Making: Los Angeles in the 1920s. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Metropolis in the Making: Los Angeles in the 1920s/University of California Press.
Hise, G., Deverell, W. F. (2000). Eden by Design: The 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for the Los Angeles Region. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Eden by Design: The 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for the Los Angeles Region/University of California Press.
Deverell, W. F., Hyde, A. F. (2000). The West in the History of the Nation, vols 1 and 2. The West in the History of the Nation, vols 1 and 2/Bedford/St. Martin's.
Deverell, W. F. (1994). Railroad Crossing: Californians and the Railroad, 1850-1910. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Railroad Crossing: Californians and the Railroad, 1850-1910/University of California Press.
Deverell, W. F., Sitton, T. J. (1994). California Progressivism Revisited. Berkeley and Los Angeles: California Progressivism Revisited/University of California Press.
 

Book Chapter
Deverell, W. F. (2006). Niagara Magnified: Finding Emerson, Muir, and Adams in Yosemite. (Vol. NA). Berkeley and Los Angeles: Art of An American Icon/University of California Press.
Deverell, W. F., Wild, H. M. (2006). Going Against the Grain: Multiracialism and the Fate of the Social Gospel in 1920s Los Angeles. Race, Religion, Region: Landscapes of Encounter in the American West/University of Arizona.
Deverell, W. F., Flamming, D. (1999). Race and Regional Identity: Boosting Los Angeles, 1880-1930. pp. p. 117-143. Power and Place in the American West/University of Washington Press.
 

Journal Article
Deverell, W. F. (2007). Redemptive California? Re-Thinking the Post Civil War. Rethinking History/Oxford University Press. Vol. NA
Simon, B., Deverell, W. F. (2001). Come Back, Tom Joad. California History/California Historical Society. Vol. Winter, pp. pp. 180-191.
Deverell, W. F., Igler, D. B. (1999). The Abattoir of the Prairie. Rethinking History/Oxford University Press. Vol. Fall, pp. pp. 321-323.
 

Multimedia Scholarship and Creative Works
Film Interview, Documentary Film on Simons Brickyard, Los Angeles, 2008-2009   
Documentary Film, P.I. on documentary film, Whitewashed Adobe, 2008-2009   
 

Honors and Awards
Huntington Library Research Fellowship Recipient, Fletcher Jones Foundation Fellow, 2007-2008   
USC Center for Excellence in Teaching, Faculty Fellow, 7/1/2005-6/30/2008  
Tanner Lecturer, Mormon History Association, Fall 2007   
Whitsett Lecturer, California State University Northridge, Spring 2007   
 

Service to the Profession

Editorships and Editorial Boards
Editorial Board, Western Historical Quarterly, 2007-  
Editorial Board, Pacific Historical Review, 2004-2007  
Editorial Board, San Diego History, 2005  
 

Professional Offices
Nominating Committee Member, Western Historical Association, 08/2006-  
 
 
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