Chuck Johnson, Journalist: Evan Barrett does an outstanding job of capturing this critically important era with …“In the Crucible of Change.”… Current and future generations of Montanans will be able to watch these interviews to learn first-hand from some of the participants how this state and its people underwent such a dramatic transformation. (see full statement below)

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Chuck Johnson, Journalist: Evan Barrett does an outstanding job of capturing this critically important era with …“In the Crucible of Change.”… Current and future generations of Montanans will be able to watch these interviews to learn first-hand from some of the participants how this state and its people underwent such a dramatic transformation. (see full statement below)

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Montanans reformed their state government, practically from top to bottom, from 1965 to 1980. They adopted a widely-praised new Constitution in 1972 to replace an outdated one enacted in 1889, one that critics said had been written largely by copper mining company executives. The Legislature and Governor Forrest Anderson in 1971 reorganized the entire state executive branch to pinpoint responsibility with the governor and other state elected officials, not leave decisions to unaccountable appointed boards. Through the Constitution and new laws, Montanans began cleaning up their air and water, opening up government to the public and making it easier for citizens to participate. Montana started setting aside half of the revenues from a new higher coal severance tax to go into a permanent trust fund to be invested and not frittered away. The state passed laws to allow public employees to bargain collectively, to protect Montanans’ human rights and to revamp the state’s troubled institutions. Many more key changes followed.

Evan Barrett does an outstanding job of capturing this critically important era in his 43-episode oral history project, “In the Crucible of Change,” which now is available for anyone to watch online. Better than anyone, Barrett knew which people to interview and what questions to ask. He was part of administrations of several governors who proposed many of the major changes and was an astute observer from the sidelines for other changes. Current and future generations of Montanans will be able to watch these interviews to learn first-hand from some of the participants how this state and its people underwent such a dramatic transformation. Evan Barrett, along with Montana Tech and Highlands College, deserves our — and their — thanks.

Chuck Johnson
Senior Reporter Montana State Government & Politics 1970-2015
Associated Press, Lee Newspapers, Great Falls Tribune, and Missoulian.

Publication Date

Fall 2015

Chuck Johnson, Journalist: Evan Barrett does an outstanding job of capturing this critically important era with …“In the Crucible of Change.”… Current and future generations of Montanans will be able to watch these interviews to learn first-hand from some of the participants how this state and its people underwent such a dramatic transformation. (see full statement below)

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