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The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Edited by Diana Everett and others. (2 vols.; Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Pp. xvi, 1669. $100.00 for the set, ISBN 978-0-941498-75-3.)
The past decade has seen a proliferation of state and regional encyclopedias, a trend in which the South has been front and center. These include print volumes (Kentucky, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Appalachia); online sites either complete or in progress (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, and Virginia); and versions of both (Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture (19 vols, to date; Chapel Hill, 2006- ) remains the gift that keeps on giving, as topical volumes continue to roll off the press. Oklahoma enters this outpouring with an impressive encyclopedia of history and culture, as both an online resource (http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/) and a two-volume print edition. Both were produced by the Oklahoma Historical Society; only the latter is reviewed here.
One must raise the question as to whether Oklahoma should be counted among the southern states. The encyclopedia editors are well aware of the multiple identities imposed on...