Retired WNC professor Doris Dwyer participates as a pioneer woman in a Chautauqua program.
Museums of Western Colorado
For more than three decades, retired Western Nevada College Fallon educator Doris Dwyer touched the lives of hundreds of students through her teaching of history and her performances in Chautauqua.
When the Cincinnati native arrived in Fallon 35 years ago, she embraced the Western way of life and assimilated into a small, agricultural city. She had earned her doctorate in history from Miami University of Ohio after completing her master’s and undergraduate degrees at Eastern Kentucky University.
REGENTS’ HIGHEST AWARD
The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents is recognizing Dwyer, who retired almost nine years ago, with its highest award. She was selected earlier this month as a Distinguished Nevadan and will be recognized at the University of Nevada, Reno’s commencement in mid-May. Dwyer, who taught history classes and the complete sequence of core humanities courses, said she was humbled by the award and the nomination put forth by Jeffery Downs, a regent who was elected in 2022 and a former WNC colleague.
“He (Downs) called me in December, and I was in Kentucky on Christmas vacation,” Dwyer recalled. “He said he needed some information from me so I sent him the information. He didn’t explain the procedure to me.”
Dwyer said Downs emphasized the need of her information based on public service.
PIONEER WOMAN
“So, I did talk about my teaching a little bit because I did rural outreach and Chautauqua … something I focused on for 27 years beginning in 1994,” she said. “I received a call from Nevada Humanities that sponsored it, and they asked me to do a pioneer woman and immigrant woman. I could choose the woman I wanted. I did several characters all together.”
As an historical figure in the programs, Dwyer performed in the Great Basin (now Nevada Humanities) Chautauqua program and performed in at least 10 states.
Among her character portrayals were Sarah Royce, a pioneer woman from the California Gold Rush of the late 1840s who became a writer, teacher and pioneer; Margaret Sanger, a pioneer in women’s rights; and Margaret Breen, a Donner Party survivor. Dwyer created the Breen character for the 150th anniversary of the park’s commemoration west of Truckee in 1996. The Donner Party encountered one of the harshest winters of its time when crossing what modern-day travelers know as the Donner Pass.
Dwyer had said in a previous newspaper article Breen was a strong woman who had an incredible devotion to her family. The Breens had joined the Donner Party midway in their journey.
“As a member of the Nevada Humanities Council’s Speaker on the Road program, she provided humanities programming in numerous Nevada venues, in large centers such as Reno, Las Vegas, Carson City and Elko as well as more remote locations," Downs said. “In connection with her Chautauqua experiences, she has offered numerous workshops in Nevada museums and elsewhere to train young students in the art of Chautauqua.”
Dwyer’s teaching also showed that same passion.
Harry “Bus” Scharmann worked with Dwyer when he was dean of the Fallon campus before retiring in 2011.
“She is so deserving,” Scharmann said of her honor. “She is one of the best professors I have met. She was great.”
Scharmann said she brought quality to the WNC campus and to the history department.
“She participated in everything; we asked her to teach in other areas and she would do it.”
Dwyer was just as passionate about her college as she was about portraying pioneer women. One of the committees on which she participated was the Restore Our College Campus Committee (ROCCC). The committee, consisting of community members and WNC staff, looked at ways to restore programs to the campus following budget cuts.
Scharmann said the ROCCC sought solutions to help restore the Fallon campus as a vibrant, contributing member of Churchill County.
REINVENTING HERSELF
In addition to classes at WNC’s main campus, she also traveled to surrounding communities.
“It was so much fun to go out to Fernley, Yerington, Hawthorne and Lovelock to teach there,” she said. “They were very good students and very reliable. I learned a lot about the state from those students.”
Dwyer also noted the six years she was on the humanities committee.
Over time, though, the personal visits to the other communities began to diminish with web classes. She said something is lost with that personal touch. Eventually, students had to show more discipline to receive their instruction via a computer.
“With the advent of interactive video classes, she embraced this technology to facilitate the completion of course requirements for outlying rural students, in addition to her core student base on the Fallon campus,” Downs said.
Dwyer continually re-invented her approach to teaching. She said interests change over time as do the classes students take.
“When I came to WNC in 1981, I was 31 years old, and the average age of my classes was 32,” she mused. “As the years went by, that age gap widened.”
She said many “wonderful” students took classes on the Fallon campus, and year after year, most of them chose to attend graduation and be recognized. Many continued their education at a four-year university.
Likewise, the WNC campus aided Dwyer’s growth as a person and educator.
“She was five times voted outstanding teaching faculty member by the Fallon campus students and received the WNC Outstanding Faculty Member by her peers,” Downs said.
From 1994 to 1999 and 2011 to 2023, Dwyer served on the Nevada Board of Museums and History and is a previous recipient of the Governor’s Humanities Award and the Nevada Regents Teaching Award. Other public service boards included the Nevada Humanities Committee, University of Nevada Press Board, Nevada Historical Society Quarterly Editorial Board, Advisory Board of Historic Preservation, and evaluator for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
Nationally, Dwyer served the of U.S. Department of Education Organization of American Historians Community College Committee and Organization of American Historians executive board.