February 4, 2010
Historian Seth Lesser
American historian Seth Lesser (15 May 1895 – 21 November 1961) had written 6 books and almost one hundred essays on the history, culture and traditions of the Native American people. His most famous work was the Tracing the Beginnings of Native American Nations, a book which reached the height of its popularity a few years after its publication in 1931.
Born in Wellington in Summer County, Kansas, Lesser grew up in a family of farmers and stock raisers that settled in the territory 15 years before he was born. He was the 6th son of Aaron Lesser, a mason, and Josephine McCarey Lesser.
In 1914, Seth Lesser moved to Edmond, Oklahoma to earn his degree in history at the Territorial Normal School (present-day University of Central Oklahoma). He then pursued his M.A. degree at the University of Chicago where he obtained his master’s degree in history after finishing his thesis on the genealogy of the Oklahoma Indian tribes.
Realizing that he wanted to uncover the past of the original settlers, Seth Lesser headed back to Oklahoma to research and finish his life’s work, Tribes and Confederacies while teaching at the University of Oklahoma. During these years, he managed to produce five books that detailed the history of Oklahoma Territory and the history of the Indian nations in the area beginning from the pre-Columbian period to post-World War II.
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