Peter Norbeck: Prairie Statesman

by Gilbert C. Fite, R. Alton Lee (Afterword)

From successful well-driller to governor and United States senator, Peter Norbeck worked tirelessly for South Dakota and was rewarded with the state's highest offices. A progressive Republican and strong supporter of the policies of Theodore Roosevelt, he was a towering figure in South Dakota politics. In Peter Norbeck: Prairie Statesman, Gilbert Fite has written the definitive biography of this important man.

231 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

The son of educators and farmers, Gilbert Courtland Fite grew up in rural South Dakota. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of South Dakota, and completed his doctorate in history at the University of Missouri in 1945. From 1945 until 1971, Fite taught at the University of Oklahoma, where he established his reputation as an agricultural historian. After serving as president of Eastern Illinois University from 1971 until 1976, Fite went to the University of Georgia, where he became the inaugural first Richard B. Russell Professor of History. Over the course of his career Fite served as president of the Western History Association, the Southern Historical Association, the Agricultural History Society, and Phi Alpha Theta.