Speaker: Taylor Keen Picture Cave is a 1,300 year old rock art site approximately 60 miles south of present day St. Louis and the former city of Cahokia. Picture Cave was inhabited by the ancestors of the Omaha, Ponca, Kansa/Kaw, Osage and Quapaw tribes, otherwise known as the Dhegiha. The stories entombed in the rock […]

Speaker: Angel Vigil, Chautauqua scholar Why are there rodeos? Why are there cowboys? Why are there horses in America? Where did the word cowboy come from? The Stetson cowboy hat? Why were there TV shows like Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger, and The Cisco Kid? This fascinating presentation traces cowboy culture’s roots from the open plains of Spain to […]

Speaker: Dr. Catherine Biba, Associate Professor of History at Hastings College When the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 granting women the right to vote across the country, it marked a momentous expansion of American participatory democracy. But the battle to get to this point was long, contentious, and complicated; and it looked different in […]

Speaker: Vickie Schaepler, Coordinator of the Japanese Hall and History Project at Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering, Nebraska Faced by laws targeting only Asians, Japanese Immigrants began to settle in Nebraska in the early 1900’s. Many came following the railroads but stayed due to opportunities in business and agriculture. They overcame adversity, brought […]

Speaker: Rob Bozell, Retired State Archeologist Rob Bozell takes viewers back to the 15th Century, when Nebraska was populated only by Indigenous peoples. Learn their stories from their perspectives.  (Concurrent session with "Lewis and Clark: What Was Their Value Worth? – Seaman, York, Sacagawea, & Pomp Stories")

Speaker: Renae Hunt, scholar/educator The Corps of Discovery was a fascinating group of individuals. But there were four members of the corps that were “valuable” but not paid. Hunt discusses these four members and tells stories of their adventures. She also dispels a few myths about these members. This program is appropriate for all ages. […]

Speaker: Dr. Nathan Tye is the Associate Professor of Nebraska and American West History at the University of Nebraska at Kearney Writers, like sandhill cranes, return to Nebraska for inspiration and sustenance. From the poetry of Don Welch, Nancy Westerfield, and James Emanuel to novels of Willa Cather, Mari Sandoz, and Wright Morris, Nebraskans found […]

Speaker: Sara Crook, professor emerita of political science and history, Peru State College This session will discuss the history and politics of Nebraska’s admittance as the 37th state in the Union. As the first state admitted after the Civil War, Nebraska not only faced the politics within the state, but Reconstruction politics as well. (Concurrent […]

Abigail Adams played an important role in the founding of this nation. She and her husband, John Adams, were intellectual equals who discussed the complex issues of founding a nation together. She wrote him many letters that contained her astute advice while he worked with other patriots. Presented by Jessica Downing-Ford

Big Elk was chief of the Omaha Tribe during the 1800s. As the expanding U.S. threatened First Peoples, he sought ways to protect his tribe and their culture from obliteration. He created alliances and attempted to prepare for a future that he thought depended on a closer relationship with the U.S. Chief Big Elk will […]