DR. STEPHEN DOW BECKHAM
Photo by David Hume Kennerly
Stephen Dow Beckham is a noted American historian known for his work with Native Americans and the American West, especially the Pacific Northwest and the Lewis & Clark Expedition. He has authored many works and is Pamplin Professor Emeritus at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Beckham earned his B.A. in history at the University of Oregon. He earned his MA. in 1966 and Ph.D. in 1969 in History/Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1977 he joined the faculty at Lewis & Clark College. For forty-two years, Beckham taught undergraduates and students in the Indian Law Program at Lewis & Clark’s law school. He has served as an expert witness in more than forty court cases involving tribal treaty rights, reservation boundaries, tribal status, fee-to-trust land issues, and casinos. He has also worked as an expert in ten navigability cases in the state of Oregon. Beckham is recipient of the Asher Distinguished Teaching Award by the American Historical Association and is a former Oregon Professor of the Year. He has written numerous exhibits and museum master plans and written scripts and narrated documentaries for public and network television. He is chair of the Oregon Committee on Historic Preservation handling the National Register program.