Montana: A Cultural Medley 

by Robert R. Swartout (Author), Robert R. Swartout Jr. (Editor)

Breaking Racial Barriers - 'Everyone's Welcome' at the Ozark Club Great Falls, Montana's African American Nightclub 

by Ken Robison

Many black residents in the American West eventually settled in growing urban centers, including the Montana cities of Helena, Butte and Great Falls. Within these communities, African Americans established businesses, created various social and civic organizations, and in the case of both Butte and Helena, began their own black newspapers. As vibrant as these black communities were, living in Montana was not without its drawbacks. Although they suffered far less physical violence than those blacks remaining in the South during the Jim Crow era. African Americans in Montana were still forced to endure both social and legal discrimination, especially during the first half of the twentieth century. It was within this historical context that a nightclub known as the Ozark Club arose in Great Falls.That club, and the people who managed it, are the focal point of the following essay by historian Ken Robison. For almost three decades, the Ozark Club helped to break down racial barriers and provided an exhilarating form of music that could lift the human spirit and put a joyful smile on the listener's face.

The Mullan Road: Carving a Passage through the Frontier Northwest, 1859-62 

by Paul D. McDermott (Author), Ronald E. Grim (Author), Philip Mobley (Author) 

Completing the Mullan Road from Mullan Pass to Fort Benton - A Harbinger of Change

by Ken Robison

The Mullan Road: Carving a Passage through the Frontier Northwest, 1859-62, edited by Paul D. McDermott, Ronald E. Grim, and Philip Mobley (Mountain Press Publishing Company) is a beautifully illustrated book that is backed up with detailed annotations which represent years of research by the contributors. Even more intriguing to readers interested in the history of the roads construction from Walla Walla, Washington Territory to Fort Benton on the Missouri River (future Montana Territory) is that the book can be used as an excellent travel guide for heritage road trips across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana in search of Mullans 624-mile, military wagon road. --True West Magazine. 

Beyond Schoolmarms and Madams: Montana Women's Stories 

by Martha Kohl (Editor) 

Martha Edgerton Rolfe Plassmann: A Montana Renaissance Woman

by Ken Robison

Martha Edgerton came to Bannack as a teenager in 1863. As a teacher, musician, wife, mother of seven, clubwoman, and leader in the women's suffrage movement, she successfully balanced traditional gender roles with an active public life. Widowed young, she entered the workforce, becoming the first woman editor of a Montana daily newspaper, a local and state leader in the Montana Socialist Party, and a prolific writer. Hers was a long life of striking achievements.

Edgerton was thirteen when she arrived in Bannack after her father was appointed governor of Idaho Territory. Two years later, the family returned to Ohio, and she subsequently enrolled at Oberlin College to study music. Later, while teaching at the Ohio Institute for the Blind in Columbus, she met and married Herbert P. Rolfe. In 1876, the couple moved to Helena, where Herbert became the superintendent of public schools. Herbert and Martha Rolfe were kindred spirits: passionate advocates for equality of African Americans, women's suffrage, and the rights of the workingman.

Black Americans and the Civil Rights Movement in the West

Edited by Bruce A. Glasrud and Cary D. Wintz

Breaking Racial Barriers - Civil Rights Movements in Montana and Wyoming 

by Ken Robison

In the mountain states of Montana and Wyoming racial prejudice and discrimination existed despite their small African American communities. In 1960 Wyoming was the least populous and least diverse state in the nation. However, at least in Montana, discrimination began crumbling during World War II, due in part to the influx of black soldiers. In the cities of Casper, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula, white and black individuals, such as Alma Jacobs and Mike Mansfield, aided the movement to eradicate racial intolerance. Overall the mountain states made 'significant progress' in their endeavors to improve civil rights, as Kenneth G. Robison pointed out in his insightful article. Robison, a retired captain in the U.S. Navy and an independent historian residing in Great Falls, has published articles about Montana African Americans in Montana Magazine and Blackpast.org. Robison also is author or coauthor of nine books, including Yankees and Rebels on the Upper Missouri.