Speakers

Speaker Post Type

Lucy Adkins (Read More)

Lucy Adkins grew up in rural Nebraska, attended country schools, and received her degree from Auburn University and her MFA in Creative Writing is from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her poetry has been published in journals which include Rhino, Northeast, South Dakota Review, Concho River Review, and several anthologies. Her chapbook, One Life Shining: Addie Finch, Farmwife was published in 2007 by Pudding House Press. In addition, she co-authored Writing in Community: Say Goodbye to Writer’s Block and Transform Your Life which won a Silver “Ippy” in the Independent Publishers Book Awards.

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Title: Poet and Writer
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Barry Anderson (Read More)

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Title: Retired professor of Journalism and former radio and television producer
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City: Omaha

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Broc Anderson (Read More)

Broc Anderson is originally from Alliance, Nebraska, and found a niche for history early on through many of Mari Sandoz's writings. Like Sandoz, Broc shares the same passion for northwest Nebraska with his own family ties. Additionally, Broc graduated from Chadron State College with his bachelors in Social Science Education and has since explored more of his Lakota heritage through his current research. As the Sandoz Scholar 2020 - 2021, Broc continues building on Sandoz's research through his master’s thesis at the University of Nebraska Kearney, the relationships between the Lakota from Pine Ridge and non-natives in northwest Nebraska during the late nineteenth century.

Contact Information

Title: Director of Historic Sites for the Nebraska State Historical Society
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City: Kearney

Presentations

Timothy G. Anderson (Read More)

Tim Anderson, who grew up in Oakland, Neb., has taught visual literacy, news design, advanced editing, magazine editing and design, beginning reporting, depth reporting, NewsNetNebraska and a graduate seminar in media management. Currently he is focused on Nebraska Mosaic, a website that seeks to give voice to Lincoln's growing refugee community. Before returning to teach at University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2005, Anderson worked for more than 30 years in newspapers in Nebraska, Missouri, Florida and New York. He got his start on his hometown weekly newspaper, the Oakland Independent, and also worked for the Albion News and the Seward County Independent, two other Nebraska weeklies. In addition, he worked for the Lincoln Journal and the Omaha World-Herald in Nebraska, the Kansas City (Mo.) Times, the Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press and the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle. He later spent nine years at New York Newsday, eventually becoming executive news editor, and another nine years at The New York Times, where he served as the news design editor. He earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1974 and a master's degree in history from University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2007. In his spare time, Anderson is writing a biography of John G. Neihardt, one-time Nebraska poet laureate and author of "Black Elk Speaks."

Contact Information

Title: Professor emeritus, University of Nebraska -Lincoln
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City: Lincoln

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Jeff Barnes (Read More)

Jeff Barnes Bio A fifth-generation Nebraskan, Jeff Barnes is a former newspaper reporter and editor, trustee with the Nebraska State Historical Society, past chairman of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission, and former marketing director for the Durham Museum. He is the author of “Forts of the Northern Plains,”, “The Great Plains Guide to Custer,” and “The Great Plains Guide to Buffalo Bill.”

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Title: Independent Historian
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Website: www.jeffbarnesauthor.com
City: Omaha

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Diane R. Bartels (Read More)

Diane Bartels is a lifelong Nebraskan who grew up wanting to fly airplanes. She earned her pilot certificate in 1966 and with that evolved a commitment to aerospace education and the preservation of Nebraska’s rich aviation heritage. In 1991, Diane was recognized as Nebraska’s Teacher-Scholar by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The award made it possible for her to write and publish “Sharpie: The Life Story of Evelyn Sharp, Nebraska’s Aviatrix.” Diane belongs to several aviation organizations, has been published in journals and periodicals and has presented at national conferences. She served as principal consultant for the NETV documentary film “Sharpie: Born To Fly.”

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Title: Retired Teacher
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City: Lincoln

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Beaverly Beavers (Read More)

Born and raised in Superior, Beverly Beavers was fascinated by the tale of the Superior girl who became the world’s highest paid female executive of her era.

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Title: Retired teacher
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City: Superior

Bill Behmer (Read More)

Bill Behmer is a founder of the Lincoln Association of Traditional Arts, (LAFTA.) He served as that organization's artistic director for more than ten years and received a 1998 Mayor's Arts Award from the Lincoln Arts Council for his volunteer work promoting old-time folk music. Bill plays the mountain dulcimer and harmonica and is a three-ime Midwest Dulcimer Champion. He has done extensive research into the history and playing styles of this American folk instrument.

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Title: Musician
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Sally Bisson-Best (Read More)

Sally is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Nebraska College of Law.  She worked as a professor and director of the Legal Studies Program at the College of Saint Mary from 1992 until her retirement in 2020.  A published author, she speaks at conferences and community groups about legal careers, women’s legal rights, and the suffrage movement.

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Title: Retired Director of the Legal Studies Program at the College of Saint Mary
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City: Omaha

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Gail Shaffer Blankenau (Read More)

Gail Shaffer Blankenau is a professional genealogist, historian, speaker, and author. She is the author of Journey to Freedom: Uncovering the Grayson Sisters’ Escape from Nebraska Territory (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2024). She holds an MA degree with honors in history from the University of Nebraska–Kearney and in 2023 she received the James L. Sellers prize for her article about the Grayson sisters in a volume of Nebraska History magazine. Blankenau is from Nebraska and currently lives in Lincoln, where she also serves on the state advisory board for the digitization of historic Nebraska newspapers.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar
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City: Lincoln

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Jerry Bockoven (Read More)

Dr. Bockoven has a master's in Divinity from the North American Baptist Seminary, and a masters in counseling and a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Oregon.  He has worked as a pastoral counselor, professor, researcher and psychologist.

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Title: Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Nebraska Wesleyan University
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City: Lincoln

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Pat Boilesen (Read More)

Pat is a native Nebraskan, a writer, and a musician with an interest in her historical heritage. She found that the old traditional songs that tell stories (ballads) often tell the story of our ancestors and how their trials and their endurance shaped life on the Plains. Pat began writing her own ballads, knowing that her stories will also help contribute to keeping our heritage alive. She writes of real people, places and events, past and present, some exciting, some sad, and some simply fun! In her presentation, Pat shares the old ballad with the new and lets her audience share in the story those ballads tell. She presents her program to suit any age group, making certain it is full of learning for school children, full of nostalgia for the adult, and thought provoking for all. Pat has won countless awards for her songwriting and poetry and conducts workshops at festivals and events across the plains. During the winter months, Pat’s workshops find her in Arizona. She is a recording artist with international airplay, and videos of her songs can now be found on YouTube, Pat will perform her original songs in the Dick Clark Theater in Branson, MO. in November of 2015.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Musician & Composer
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City: Albion

Presentations

Marci Broyhill (Read More)

Marci Broyhill, Prairie Poet & Storyteller grew up with burrs on her jeans along Cedar-Dixon County Line between Highway 20, Nebraska’s Cowboy Railroad Line and Highway 12, Nebraska’s Outlaw Trail. Marci visits small town museums, giving life to stories waiting to be shared. Marci has participated at poetry gatherings in six states. She has published two CDs of her original poetry. She balances her presentations with information, reflection and humor. Marci is a member Western Music Association and Nebraska’s Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway Highway 12.

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Title: Prairie Poet & Storyteller
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City: Dakota City

Presentations

Dianne Bystrom (Read More)

Dr. Dianne Bystrom is director emerita of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University. In addition to directing the center for 22 years, she founded and directed Iowa State’s Leadership Studies Program for 10 years. At Iowa State, she taught courses on women and politics, political campaigns, and women and leadership. Dr. Bystrom has contributed to 28 books—including "Gender and Politics: Changing the Face of Civic Life"; "Women in the American Political System: An Encyclopedia of Women as Voters, Candidates, and Office Holders"; and "Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics" as a co-author, co-editor or chapter author. She also has written journal articles on women and politics, youth voters and the Iowa caucus. Dr. Bystrom speaks often to community groups and professional organizations about political and women’s issues. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Kearney (NE) State College and a master’s degree in journalism and Ph.D. in communication, both from the University of Oklahoma.

Contact Information

Title: Director Emerita, Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics
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City: Plattsmouth

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John Calvert (Read More)

Dr. John Calvert is Professor at Creighton University, where he teaches courses on medieval and modern Middle Eastern history. His research has focused on Islamic movements in the Middle East, including Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and radical jihadi groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, in addition to Britain’s imperial involvements in the Middle East in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dr. Calvert’s most recent book, Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism, received critical acclaim. Dr. Calvert is interviewed regularly on Middle Eastern affairs by major world newspapers and has appeared in documentaries produced by BBC and National Public Radio.

Contact Information

Title: Professor of History - Creighton University
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Paul Campbell (Read More)

Paul Campbell has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., a master’s degree in sociology and a doctorate in sociology and social psychology from Utah State University. Paul has done research on emotionally disturbed teenagers, death row inmate families, gender socialization of careers among preschool, second-grade and fourth-grade students, cross-gender violence among pre-teens, rural crime reporting, campus violence, crime victimization of tourists and dating violence. For more than 20 years, he has been a volunteer for Haven House, a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter agency. On the Wayne State College faculty since 1980, Paul teaches about family violence, the war on drugs, rural sociology, juvenile delinquency and technology. He is a six-time nominee for the State Colleges Teaching Excellence Award, and students twice have selected him the Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year.

Contact Information

Title: Retired Professor Criminal Justice - Wayne State College
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City: Wayne

Presentations

Gregory I. Carlson (Read More)

Rev. Carlson is a Jesuit priest with bachelor and master’s degrees in Classics from St. Louis University and a doctorate in Classics from the University of Heidelberg in Germany.  He is an Associate Professor at Creighton and has been Chairman of the Classics and Modern Languages Department.  He now teaches in the Theology Department and is Associate Director of the Deglman Center.  For over 40 years, Rev. Carlson has been developing the Carlson Fable Collection at Creighton, which now contains over 10,800 books in 79 languages and some 10,000 objects representing fables.   He is eager to share the delights of the collection!

Contact Information

Title: Associate Professor, Creighton University
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Deb Carpenter-Nolting (Read More)

Deb Carpenter-Nolting expresses herself in a number of ways. She is a poet, essayist, newspaper columnist, songwriter, performing artist, and teacher.Deb is the author of three books: Grizzly Attack in Colorado: The Ed Wiseman Story (P.L.A.N. Publishers 2013); Nature’s Beauty Kit (Fulcrum Publishing 1995); and Chadron (with Ken Korte and Composition I students. Arcadia Publishing 2004). She has published articles in Nebraska Life Magazine, Colorado Life Magazine, Plains Song Review, and Cattle Business Weekly. Many of her stories and poems can be found in anthologies. She has recorded several poems and songs. Some of her work has been featured on radio and television programs. Her most recent album is Windblown, produced by Martin Gilmore in 2012. Deb has performed at a variety of venues, including libraries, museums, festivals, schools, poetry gatherings, brandings, cancer walks, conferences, banquets, and private events. She also conducts workshops for all ages. She has taught all grades, from one-room schools in rural Nebraska to high schools in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, to a tribal college in South Dakota and Chadron State College in Nebraska. Deb holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Literature and a Masters of Arts in Education. She is listed in Who’s Who Among American Teachers and was awarded Instructor of the Year at Oglala Lakota College. Other awards include Master Storyteller (Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival) and Individual Fellowship Merit Awards from Nebraska Arts Council (Performing Arts: Composition 1996), (Literature: Fiction 1995).

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Title: Writer and Songwriter
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City: Bushnell

Presentations

James P. Cavanaugh (Read More)

James P. Cavanaugh is a fifth generation Nebraskan, practicing attorney, and independent historian. He was elected to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners in 2014. Jim currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Douglas County Hospital Foundation, Douglas County Health Center Board of Trustees and the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency Board. He has served on the boards of directors of the Nebraska Repertory Theater, the Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorneys Association, the Center for Missouri Rivers Studies, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish American Cultural Institute of Nebraska and Justice for Our Neighbors. He holds degrees in history and law from Creighton University. Jim has been a Humanities Council speaker since 2002.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Historian & Attorney
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Dirk Chatelain (Read More)

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Title: Journalist/author
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Bill Clemente (Read More)

Bill Clemente earned a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Oregon and is a professor of English at Peru State College, where he has taught since 1993. Bill teaches a wide variety of classes, including creative writing and children’s literature. He also enjoys Caribbean literature and science fiction, on which he continues to publish articles. His hobbies are photography and bird watching—and toying with blogs and podcasts. You can see some of his bird pictures at the website listed above. In addition to working with college students, Bill has for the past 20 years given creative-writing sessions at elementary schools. “Feathers and Verses” combines creative writing with his hobbies. Bill also enjoys sharing his bird pictures and talking with adult groups.

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Title: Certified Nebraska Master Naturalist/Emeritus Professor of English.
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City: Auburn

Presentations

Sara Brandes Crook (Read More)

Sara Crook is a professor of Political Science and History at Peru State College. She has taught Nebraska History at the college since 1984. Dr. Crook served 6 years on the Nebraska State Historical Society’s Board of Directors, with 2 years as the President of that board. She also was on the Council for Humanities Nebraska for 7 years, including one year as the Chair. She currently is serving a 2nd term on the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission. The latest committee commitments will take her to Nebraska’s 150th Statehood Anniversary, as she serves as Chair on the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission, on the Executive Committee for the Nebraska 150 Foundation, as well as the Sesquicentennial Committee at Peru State College which will also celebrate its status as Nebraska’s 1st college in the year of 2017. Her love of Nebraska history and Nebraska politics goes back to her childhood. As a farm girl growing up in a country church and attending a one-room country school in the 1950s and 60s, she developed a deep appreciation for Nebraska, and its people, that continues to this day

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Title: Professor of Social Sciences
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City: Peru

Presentations

Spencer Davis (Read More)

Spencer Davis has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a doctorate from the University of Toronto. He has published articles on Olaudah Equiano and Ma Rainey and reviews in “Nebraska History”. His areas of specialization are Civil War and African-American history.

Contact Information

Title: Professor of History - Peru State College

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City: Peru

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Descendants of DeWitty (Read More)

The Descendants of DeWitty is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that promotes and keeps the memory of the founders of DeWitty, Nebraska, alive through research, education, and outreach.

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Title: Independent Scholars
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Website: www.decsendantsofdewittyne.org
City: Omaha

Presentations

Beth Dotan (Read More)

Beth Dotan, from Omaha, joined the UNL Harris Center for Judaic Studies as Research Assistant Professor in the Spring of 2023. Her research focuses on Digital Holocaust Memory and Education, cultivating the stories of Holocaust survivors who settled in Nebraska and World War II liberators of Nazi camps who hailed from the state. Understanding the need to provide Holocaust educational frameworks to teachers and students in Nebraska, she served as the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Holocaust Education (IHE) in Omaha for 13 years. To gain a broader perspective on this work, she also worked as the Director of the International Department at the Ghetto Fighters’ House Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum in the Western Galilee, Israel. Returning home after many years in Israel, Beth earned her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Contact Information

Title: Research Assistant Professor, UNL, Harris Center for Judaic Studies
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City: Omaha

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Darrel Draper (Read More)

Darrel W. Draper, a fifth generation Nebraskan, retired Navy officer and University of Nebraska at Omaha graduate, uses his talents as storyteller and actor to educate and entertain. He has performed for national and state government agencies, museums, schools, youth groups, festivals and is a popular banquet and luncheon speaker. He specializes in costumed portrayals of historical figures that played major roles in the events that shaped our state and nation. He is considered an expert on the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition and has personally retraced thousands of miles of their trail by canoe and on foot.

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Title: Living History Re-enactor
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City: Omaha

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Karen Wyatt Drevo (Read More)

Seven generations of Karen Wyatt Drevo’s family have lived in Otoe County, Neb. Karen grew up on a farm north of Unadilla and received her early education in one-room Otoe County schools. She has degrees in English and history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She currently lives in Norfolk, where she is a librarian at Norfolk Public Library. Her life-long interest in her family history was sparked by the family stories told by her grandmothers.

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Title: Librarian - Norfolk Public Library
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City: Norfolk

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Lorraine J. Duggin (Read More)

Dr. Lorraine Duggin is a poet and writer who teaches language arts/writing to refugees, immigrants and international students in the English-as-second-language Department at Metro Community College in Omaha. She has been publishing her own poetry, fiction and essays for many years and has taught at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Creighton University as well as offering many readings and workshops throughout the Midwest. She is a master artist with the Nebraska Arts Council’s Artists in Schools/Communities program and also in the Iowa Arts Council’s AIS/C program. Duggin also dances with the Omaha International Folk Dancers and three other folk dance groups that perform in Nebraska and the region. She has taught folk dancing from many cultures through the Presbyterian Outreach School for the Arts and through the Nebraska Arts Council.

Contact Information

Title: Poet, Writer, Lecturer, & Folk Artist
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Charlotte Endorf (Read More)

Charlotte Endorf is a lifelong Nebraskan.  As a member of Toastmasters International she earned the Distinguished Toastmaster award twice.   She specializes in speaking at museums, libraries, town festivals and senior centers throughout Nebraska, accurately revealing stories of amazing Nebraskans. Her family has written and published a dozen books and five documentaries that keep Nebraska history alive.  She created a poetry CD with an actual Orphan Train rider after the two returned to New York City and uncovered her records dating back to 1917.  Charlotte was selected as Nebraska's 2011 Mother of the Year. Charlotte's husband Kevin, who was also an avid Toastmaster, joins her on the speaking trail as she continues to heal after a serious injury.   The team is keeping the promises made to more than 50 interviewees over the last two decades.  They have two grown, married children who live within an hour and enough grandchildren to keep them young.

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Title: Independent Scholar & Author
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City: Magnet

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Christine Erlander Beard (Read More)

Hailed as “…not only having a beautiful tone and phrasing, but the capacity to reveal the deep soul of a composition” (Martin Rokeach, composer), flutist Christine Erlander Beard enjoys an active international career as a soloist, chamber artist and teacher throughout North and South America and Europe. She has appeared as a concerto soloist with orchestras in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Peru, Russia, and the USA, and was awarded Second Place in the 2019 American Prize Professional Soloist division. Launched in 2019, her #flutistactivist initiative is an ongoing project to commission new works with current social [in]justice themes and present them in workshop-recital formats that aim to educate audiences about how and where to get involved rather than simply being passive listeners. In Fall 2023, she partnered with the Omaha’s Samuel Bak Museum and Learning Center for which she curated pre-lecture recitals featuring composers and music of the Holocaust in conjunction with the spring 2024 exhibit. An international performing artist for Sankyo Flutes (Japan) and Hernandez Flutes (Spain), Dr. Beard is the Kayser Professor of Flute and International Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she is Coordinator of Woodwind Studies and teaches flute, chamber music, and courses in contemporary music. Her research interests include music by persecuted composers.

Contact Information

Title: Kayser Professor of Flute & International Studies, The University of Nebraska at Omaha
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Website: www.christiebeard.net
City: Omaha

Presentations

Michael Farrell (Read More)

Michael Farrell formerly managed Special Projects for NET, Nebraska’s statewide public broadcasting network. He is a 51 -year veteran of public media, 49 of which have been spent in the production and management of documentaries about the culture, history and environment of Nebraska and the Great Plains. He is involved with major grant-funded initiatives as well as developing new projects and partnerships for the Platte Basin Timelapse Project. His degrees include an M.S. from Illinois Institute of Technology in Visual Communications and A.B. in Fine Arts (Graphic Design and Photography) from Indiana University. He lives in Lincoln with his partner Lynne Ireland and has three grown children, and two granddaughters. He is currently engaged for a half-time contract as a Project Manager for PBT and lecturer at the School of Natural Resources at UNL.

Contact Information

Title: Assistant Professor of Practice in the ALEC Department at UNL and Co-founder, Platte Basin Timelapse
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Amy Forss (Read More)

Faculty Professor Amy Helene Forss teaches History and Art History at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha. She has a PhD in African American History from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her first book, Black Print with a White Carnation: Mildred Brown and the Omaha Star Newspaper, 1938-1989, was published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2014. In 2017, she published Newspapers & Butter Pecan Ice Cream, which is the children’s picture book version of it for 2nd to 4th graders. Omaha Public Schools, Lincoln Public Schools and Boys Town have Newspapers as part of their curriculum studies. Her third book, Borrowing from our Foremothers, a material culture comparison between suffragist and modern feminist visual strategies and artifacts was published by University of Nebraska Press in 2021. Her upcoming children’s illustrated book, Micropreemie Baby: I Am Not Alone, will be published in 2026.

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Title: History Professor, Metropolitan Community College
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City: Omaha

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Dr. Richard Fruehling (Read More)

Dr. Richard Fruehling set up and served as director of Grand Island’s family practice residency program, which was the first residency in the Rural Health Education Network. Fruehling’s program has graduated highly qualified physicians into rural practice, the vast majority of whom are now practicing in Nebraska.

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Title: Physician

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City: Grand Island

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Bill Ganzel (Read More)

Bill Ganzel is the author of the book “Dust Bowl Descent.” In the book, he tracked down some of the same people and places that were first photographed during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Through his contemporary photographs and oral history interviews, an audience can get a sense of what it was like to live through one of the most desperate times in our nation’s history. Ganzel is the owner of The Ganzel Group Communications of Lincoln.

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Title: Author & Photographer
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City: Lincoln

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José Francisco Garcia (Read More)

José Francisco Garcia is of the 3rd generation with direct paternal and maternal Mexican descendants settling in the Mid-west in the early 20th Century.  A Vietnam veteran, retired railroader, long-time Chicano activist, José and his wife Linda  are the founders of the Mexican American Historical Society of the Midlands.  Now retired their time is spent on  curating a research library of folk art, historical artifacts and media,  focused on the art and civic accomplishments  of Spanish-speaking/surnamed peoples of the Americas, with a focus on the Heartlands. José puede presentar sus programas en inglés o español.

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Title: Cultural Historian
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Website: mahsm.org
City: Omaha

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Linda Garcia-Perez (Read More)

Linda M. Garcia-Perez, a 1971 College of St. Mary graduate and a retired Children’s Librarian, is an artist, instructor and storyteller of Latino arts and culture. Linda is with the Nebraska Arts Council’s Artists in Schools and Communities roster; Nebraska StoryArts Board; Nebraska Humanities Council’s Speakers Bureau; City of Omaha Public Art Commissioner; and occasional instructor and docent with the Joslyn Art Museum. Linda and her husband, Jose, have an extensive collection of Mexican folk arts and literature and are co-founders of the Mexican American Historical Society of the Midlands.

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Title: Storyteller & Retired Children's Librarian
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City: Omaha

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Bruce Garver (Read More)

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Title: Professor Emeritus of History - UNO
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Website: tp://www.unomaha.edu/history/garver.php
City: Omaha

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Peg Gilbert (Read More)

I am a retired Registered Nurse who has taught nursing and infection control topics for over 40 years. I have an extensive background in public speaking and teaching with over 100 conference presentations and courses throughout the United States. Since my retirement I have been a docent at Joslyn Castle, sharing the history of the home and Joslyn family. My Great grandfather was Peter Sandoz. His father, Paul was a brother to Ami Sandoz, (“Old Jules” father) one of the uncles he recruited to live in the sandhills. You will find my great grandfather Peter mentioned several times in the book Old Jules and especially connected to the rattlesnake bite episode. My father was an identical twin and was born in Rushville while living on the Peter Sandoz ranch near the Jules Sandoz ranch. My grandmother and her sister played with Mari as children. My father and his brother spent many summers working on the ranch under the care of Peter. When my father’s twin died, he left all his Sandoz information to me. I have a personal scrapbook that Peter kept just on Mari and several personal letters to him from Caroline (Mari’s younger sister). I have given many items to the Sandoz Center in Chadron but have pictures, land deeds and more to personalize a presentation on the life of Mari Sandoz. In 2015, my husband and I attended the fifth international reunion in Neuchatel, Switzerland to experience the Sandoz history prior to their immigration to the United States.

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Title: Independent Scholar
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Nancy Gillis (Read More)

Nancy S. Gillis is the former Executive Director of the John Neihardt State Historic Site, March 1997 - July 2019. She continues presenting to schools and civic groups on Neihardt’s work and a variety of related topics such as Native American history, cultures, and education.  She also served on faculty of Wayne State College, Northeast Community College, Nebraska Indian Community College, and Little Priest Tribal College from 1990 through 2017 teaching History, Anthropology, and Sociology, and honors courses on Neihardt’s life and work. Of Cherokee and Choctaw heritage, Gillis moved to Winnebago, Nebraska in 1987 to work with the Winnebago people for the Reformed Church in America and has served as their delegate to its Native American Council. She stays active in various civic organizations, currently or previously serving on the board of the Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Hospital Board, State of Nebraska Historical Preservation Office, Nebraska Folklife Network, Atlas of Winnebago, and the Walthill Village Planning Commission.

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Title: Independent Scholar
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City: Walthill

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Joyzelle Gingway Godfrey (Read More)

Joyzelle Godfrey is a retired college professor who taught Lakota Studies for Sinte Gleska University in South Dakota as well as English and Writing. Her storytelling is based on the historical culture of her tribe and the information collected by the well known author and ethnographer Ella Deloria who wrote the historical novel Waterlily and who is Godfrey’s Dakota grandmother. The first of Deloria’s anthropological textbooks, Dakota Way of Life, is edited by Godfrey and published in conjunction with Mariah Press of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

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Title: Storyteller
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Deborah Greenblatt (Read More)

Deborah Greenblatt has been teaching, performing, composing, recording and writing professionally since 1971. She is a master artist with the Nebraska Arts Council’s Artist in the Schools/Communities Program. Deborah was the first woman to win the Nebraska State Fiddling Championship, the first woman to win the Mid-America Fiddle Championship and is a member of the Mid-America Old-Time Fiddler’s Hall of Fame. She performs with her husband as Greenblatt & Seay, and with the Greenblatt String Trio. She is a consultant for the Denison School of Strings in Iowa and past president of the Nebraska American String Teachers Association

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Title: Independent Scholar & Musician
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City: Avoca

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Donna Gunn (Read More)

Donna Gunn, teaching-artist and founder of Focus On Piano, LLC, is dedicated to actively engaging music lovers of all ages, at all stages. Her programs are interactive experiences that invite audience members to sing songs from various points in history and re-visit timeless music. Donna interweaves music with relevant primary-source historical information to further bring the music to life. From here, she segues into classical genre solo piano performances based on the music. Donna’s research is global in scope taking her from various points on The Oregon Trail to the Netherlands, Italy, and Hungary. Her work culminated with the 2016 publication of Discoveries from the Fortepiano with Oxford University Press. Donna holds a M.M. in piano performance and pedagogy.

Contact Information

Title: Artist-Educator and Founder of Focus On Piano
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Twyla M. Hansen (Read More)

In 2023, Twyla M. Hansen’s newest poetry book Feeding the Fire won a Nebraska Book Award and was finalist for a WILLA Literary Award. Three previous books won Nebraska Book Awards, WILLA Literary Awards, and a Nebraska 150 Notable Book designation. She serves on the board for Larksong Writers Place and was the Nebraska State Poet 2013-2018. Recent honors include the Nebraska Literary Heritage Award, Nebraska Center for the Book President’s Award, and Lincoln High School Distinguished Alumni Award. Twyla’s writing is published recently in literary magazines: Briar Cliff Review, Prairie Schooner, South Dakota Review; in anthologies: More in Time: A Tribute to Ted Kooser, The Night’s Magician: Poems About the Moon, and Nebraska Poetry Sesquicentennial Anthology; and on websites: Academy of American Poets, Poetry Foundation, and Poetry Out Loud; plus many more. Twyla was raised in northeast Nebraska on land her grandparents farmed as immigrants from Denmark. She resides in Lincoln on a wooded and wildflowered acre maintained as an urban wildlife habitat.

Contact Information

Title: Nebraska State Poet, 2013-2018
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Bill Hayes (Read More)

Bill Hayes grew up in the historic town of Brownville. He received his B.A. in History from Peru State College in 2005 and his M.A. in History from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He was involved in with the Mayhew Cabin historic site from 2006 to 2020 and served as the Volunteer Director for many of those years. He performed research on the Underground Railroad in the region while involved with the Mayhew Cabin. He presented a paper at the 2010 National Underground Railroad Conference in Topeka and helped coordinate the 2011 Nebraska Network to Freedom Conference in Nebraska City. He is a past member of the Brownville Historical Society Board and the 1848 Venture Crew (Civil War reenacting group). In addition, he is the Coordinator of the Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Reenactors Corps in Nebraska City.

Contact Information

Title: Coordinator of the MRB Lewis & Clark Center Reenactors Corps in Nebraska City, NE and Independent Historian
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City: Auburn

Presentations

Donald Hickey (Read More)

Don Hickey is a retired professor of history who now concentrates on writing and public speaking. Called "the dean of 1812 scholarship” by the New Yorker, Don has published twelve books and more than a hundred articles. He is best known for Nebraska Moments: Glimpses of Nebraska's Past (1992) and The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (rev. ed., 2012).  His latest book is Tecumseh's War:  The Epic Conflict for the Heart of America (2023).  For promoting the public's understanding of history, Don received the prestigious Samuel Eliot Morison Award from the USS Constitution Museum in 2013.

Contact Information

Title: Retired Professor of History - Wayne State College
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Website: http://hickeyhistory.com/
City: Omaha

Presentations

Mary M. Hines (Read More)

Mary M. Hines is the author of “Who Cries for Mother Earth,” and is a writer and poet who has won numerous awards including an Independent Publisher Book Award in Visionary Fiction, a Next Generation Indie Book Award, and a National Telly Award. Hines grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and her ancestry and writing are based on the Lakota ways as were gratefully taught to her by a Medicine Man from the Sicangu Lakota tribe. Her purpose in writing and speaking is to help conservation efforts to save Mother Earth. Previously she’s worked as a copywriter and advertising executive. Hines currently serves on the John G. Neihardt Board of Directors. She has served on the Boards of the American Federation of Advertising, American Women in Radio and TV, and was President of the Board of Directors of ICAN.

Contact Information

Title: Writer and Poet
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Matt Holland (Read More)

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Title: Author
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Dan Holtz (Read More)

Dan Holtz is a recently retired professor of English at Peru State College, where he taught from 1987 to 2016. He is the recipient of the 2000 Nebraska State College System Teaching Excellence Award and the 2015 Addison E. Sheldon Award for the preservation and interpretation of Nebraska history. He is also a past president of the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State Historical Society and currently serves as a member of the Nebraska 150 Foundation, a statewide committee involved in planning Nebraska’s Sesquicentennial celebration/commemoration. He has performed and presented programs for civic, historical, and literary organizations across Nebraska as well as at the Nebraska State Capitol, the Nebraska State Historical Society, the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, Scottsbluff National Monument and the John Neihardt Center. Additionally, he has appeared at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and at the Bob Devaney Center for the state quarter dedication ceremony in 2006. In June of 2016, he released his second CD, “All Original, All Nebraska,” a collection songs he wrote about people, places, and events in Nebraska.

Contact Information

Title: Emeritus Professor of English - Peru State College
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Website: https://www.storysingerdanholtz.com
City: Nebraska City

Presentations

Renae Hunt (Read More)

Renae Hunt is a native Nebraska farm girl. She graduated from Stromsburg High School and received a bachelor’s degree in education from Utah State University. She attended Gallaudet University for the Deaf in Washington, D.C., and is a qualified American Sign Language interpreter. She has been an active historical re-enactor and worked as a museum educator for several years. She traveled on the Mormon Trail in 1997, and followed the Lewis and Clark Trail as a graduate student in summer 2003. In 2002, she co-founded Traveling Historical Programs Inc., which presented hands-on living history programs and has done educational programs in a tri-state area. She has also been a visiting professor at several colleges and universities.

Contact Information

Title: Scholar, Educator
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City: Grand Island

Presentations

Janet Jeffries (Read More)

Native Nebraskan and descendant of Czech immigrants, Janet Jeffries has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in American history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her areas of study include Nebraska history and the state’s architectural history, Czechs in Nebraska, Czech costumes and folk art, genealogy, and other related topics. Jeffries directed a Czech studies Elderhostel program at Doane University for 18 years, owns a Czech costume collection that is exhibited periodically, and regularly leads tours to the Czech Republic. She also serves on the Czech Heritage Program Advisory Committee at UN-L. Jeffries is president of the Crete Heritage Society, and does exhibits and programming for that organization. She is the author of several articles on Crete and Doane University history, and wrote a pictorial history book Crete, released by Aracadia Publishing in their Images of America series. Jeffries, also a musician, performs a variety of music, including old time traditional and Czech, both solo and with The Kramer Sisters. Her professional career has been spent at the Nebraska State Historical Society, Doane University, and Berggren Architects.

Contact Information

Title: Historian and Lecturer
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City: Crete

Presentations

Andrew Jewell (Read More)

A lifelong Nebraskan, Andrew Jewell is the editor of The Willa Cather Archive. He has published several articles on Cather and American literature and is the co-editor The Selected Letters of Willa Cather (Knopf, 2013). He is a professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries.

Contact Information

Title: Professor UNL Libraries, Editor
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Website: http://cather.unl.edu (Willa Cather Archive)
City: Lincoln

Presentations

Donald-Brian Johnson (Read More)

Donald-Brian Johnson is co-author of the books Deco Décor; Higgins: Poetry in Glass; Higgins: Adventures in Glass; Moss Lamps: Lighting the ‘50s; Whiting & Davis Purses: The Perfect Mesh; Popular Purses: It’s In The Bag!; Specs Appeal: Extravagant Eyewear of the 1950s and 1960s, and Ceramic Arts Studio: The Legacy of Betty Harrington. Additional titles include a four-volume series on the American Art Deco giftware and lighting lines of the Chase Brass & Copper Co: Chase Complete; 1930s Lighting: Deco & Traditional by Chase; The Chase Catalogs:1934 & 1935, and The Chase Era. His most recent book, Postwar Pop: Memorabilia of the Mid-Twentieth Century, is a collection of his syndicated columns. All are published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. Mr. Johnson received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in English and Speech from Northwestern University. Prior to his career as an author, he worked in the Midwest as an award-winning theatre director, television/radio reporter, and advertising writer. In addition to his books on mid-twentieth century decorative arts, Johnson has been a frequent seminar speaker for such groups as the Art Deco Society of New York, the Ceramic Arts Studio Collectors Association, the Whiting & Davis Co, and the Nebraska Speakers Bureau. His monthly column, “Smack Dab in the Middle: Design Trends of the Mid-20th Century,” is syndicated throughout the United States. A native of Chatfield, Minnesota, Mr. Johnson lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

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Title: Author
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Helen Waring Johnson (Read More)

Helen studied piano starting age 4 with her grandmother who graduated from the UNL School of Music in 1918 with a Piano Pedagogy Degree. Helen is a classically trained vocalist who studied voice and piano in Germany, she was a 2 year member of The Young Nebraskans, a singing group out of Doane College that toured and performed overseas. She is a past member of the UNL School of Music – University Singers who traveled to NYC & performed on stage at Carnegie Hall, she performed with the Lincoln Light Opera, performed on stage in productions at the Lincoln Community Playhouse and performed in 2 separate years Solo Vocal Shows sponsored by the Nebraska Arts Council. Helen has been a piano, voice and guitar teacher. Waring Johnson graduated from UNL with BA in English with an emphasis on poetry writing and a Vocal Music Minor studying formal voice training, music composition and musical theatre. She was the sole editor of The Phantom issue of LAURUS, the UNL undergraduate creative writing magazine, published in 2003. Helen also had a solo vocal jazz performance with the UNL Jazz I Band. For the past 5 years, Helen has been a professional performer in an entrepreneurial solo show called “Helen’s Musical Hats! Show”. With her variety of musical shows Helen Waring Johnson has entertained over 700 audiences in 120 towns and cities across Nebraska, Iowa and Florida. The Nebraska State Fair has hosted Helen with her Musical Hats to perform on Older Nebraskans Day at the Fair for the past 4 year

Contact Information

Title: Singer/Songwriter/Museum/Artist
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City: Geneva

Presentations

Nancy B. Johnson (Read More)

Nancy B. Johnson is an independent scholar with a special interest in the history and literature of women and the Great Plains. With bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, she is currently engage in research and writing while maintaining an active role as a community volunteer. A fifth generation Nebraskan, she lives in Central City with her husband C. Richard Johnson.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar of Great Plains & Women's Studies
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City: Central City

Presentations

Nolan Johnson (Read More)

Nolan Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota and a master’s of professional archaeology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He works at the Nebraska State Historical Society, doing archeological surveying, report writing, mapping and cataloging.

Contact Information

Title: Archaelogist - Nebraska State Historical Society
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Patrick Jones (Read More)

Patrick D. Jones is an Associate Professor of History and Ethnic Studies (African and African American Studies Program) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, though he lives in Omaha with his wife and two daughters. Among his publications are, The Selma of the North: Civil Rights Insurgency in Milwaukee (Harvard University Press) and In Their Own Image: Artifacts from the Great Plains Black History Museum (Donning Company Publishers).

Contact Information

Title: Associate Professor of History and Ethnic Studies, University of Nebraska -Lincoln
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Peggy Jones (Read More)

Peggy Jones is an associate professor of theatre and former interim Chair of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Black Studies Department. She is also the former Associate Director of the Women and Gender Studies Program. She received an individual artist fellowship from the Nebraska Arts Council for her play, “The Journey,” about Aaron Douglas, which has been performed locally and regionally.

Contact Information

Title: Associate Professor Theatre - UNO
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Jeff Kappeler (Read More)

Jeff Kappeler, a native Nebraskan, became interested in the state’s history before the age of 10 and this topic has been a life long pursuit. Jeff graduated from Midland Lutheran College with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and taught for several years. He has served as curator of exhibits at John Brown’s Cave Museum in Nebraska City, has taught Elderhostel sessions through Midland College and has independent research projects on a continuing basis to gain a better understanding of 19th century life in Nebraska. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Dodge County Historical Society/May Museum in Fremont.

Contact Information

Title: Research Historian and Activist

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City: Valley

Presentations

Jerome Kills Small (Read More)

Jerome Kills Small is an Oglala Lakota from Porcupine, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation. A 1997 graduate from the University of South Dakota, with an M.A. in Selected Studies, and retired after 20 years at USD. He taught Lakota Language, American Indian Thought, Siouan Tribal Culture, Early Native American History. He is featured in the book, Wounded Warriors: A Time for Healing, and has a story in the Silver Anniversary Anthology published by the SD Humanities Council. Mr. Kills Small has parts in the videos: Sucker Punched, Nagi Kicopi (Calling Back the Spirit,) Lost Landscapes, and Bones of Contention: Repatriation and Reburial (BBC.) Jerome is a storyteller for public schools, museums, and colleges. Jerome translates, explains, and sings Lakota ceremonial, sweatlodge, powwow, rabbit, round dance, warrior, vision quest, and sundance songs. He sings with the Iron Wing Singers of Wagner, SD. He is a powwow organizer, announcer, arena director, and helps in conducting Lakota ceremonies. He portrayed Tecumseh, a Shawnee Chief and British General. He also portrayed Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman, the first Dakota Medical Doctor. Mr. Kills Small is on the board of Directors for the Native American Advocacy Program, www.lakotanaap.org.

Contact Information

Title: Instructor of Language, Philosophy and Native Amercan Thought - USD
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City: Utica, SD

Presentations

James Kimble (Read More)

Contact Information

Title: Professor of Communication & the Arts, Seton Hall University
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Presentations

Thomas N. King (Read More)

Thomas N. King has degrees in history and secondary education from Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Oklahoma State University. He is a retired Professor Emeritus at Doane University in Crete, Nebraska.

Contact Information

Title: Retired Professor Emeritus of Instructional Design - Doane College
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City: Crete

Presentations

Brian Kokensparger (Read More)

Brian Kokensparger was born and raised in Perry County, Ohio, which also was the childhood home of Edward and John A Creighton. He was raised on a Christmas tree farm, and was the first in his family tree (no pun intended) to attend a university and complete a college degree. He came to Creighton as a student in 1985, and began working full time here in 1988, taking on several staff roles in the Fine & Performing Arts department (as department administrative assistant and promotion coordinator), the College of Arts & Sciences Deans’ Office (as academic advisor, technology coordinator, and assessment coordinator), and the computer arrhythmia monitoring department (as systems programmer) on the hospital side. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Creighton in English – Creative Writing, his Masters of Computer Science degree from Creighton, and more recently his Ph.D. in Education Studies (Instructional Technology) from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He has two daughters who are both off doing wonderful things in the world, and his wife and two cats to which to return home.

Contact Information

Title: Associate Professor of Computer Science - Creighton University
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Lisa Kramme (Read More)

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar
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City: Fremont

Presentations

Jody Lamp (Read More)

Born and raised in Scotts Bluff County, Lamp earned her bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in December 1993 with minors in psychology, anthropology and history. She worked as a photographer for the Daily Nebraskan and as an agriculture writer for the Department of Ag Communications at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. After college, she was hired as the agricultural reporter and photographer for the Beatrice Daily Sun and later was recruited by Bader Rutter & Associates, the leading agricultural-based public relations and advertising agency in the United States. She moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived there for three years before moving to Montana, where she continued to work for the agency. In 2009, Lamp opened Lamp Public Relations & Marketing and continues to maintain the office she started at Billings Livestock Commission. Lamp and her husband, Mike, moved to Mitchell, Nebraska, in May 2015 with their children Mark and Jessie. The American Doorstop Project is a joint-venture agriculture advocacy collaboration between Lamp and Melody Dobson. The project preserves and promotes historical stories through the identification formula of the Space, Place, Invention, Commodity or Event, and the People that have shaped the U.S. over the past hundreds of years. American Doorstop Project features a collection of stories that were instrumental in shaping America’s agricultural roots. They have published a book “A History of Nebraska Agriculture: A Life Worth Living,” in June of 2017.

Contact Information

Title: Co-Founder and Author of American Doorstop Project/Nebraska's Agricultural History
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City: Ashland

Presentations

Terry Lane (Read More)

Terry Lane has portrayed Buffalo Bill Cody since 1998 and has been the official Nebraska State Buffalo Bill and the Nebraska Division of Travel and Tourism “Nebraska Bill” since 2001. Lane’s education is in U.S. history. Lane appears nationwide with his 1st person stage play “Meet Buffalo Bill”.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Craig Larson (Read More)

Craig Larson has been telling stories and making people laugh his whole life.  A career broadcaster, he knew at an early age he wanted to be on the radio.  After his 4th-grade class took a field trip to a local station, he was hooked.  Few professions provide better stories than radio, given the on-air bloopers, the colorful characters and the unpredictable listeners who call the station.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar
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Presentations

Carole Levin (Read More)

Carole Levin is Willa Cather Professor of History emerita and former Director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program at the University of Nebraska where she specializes in early modern English women's and cultural history. She received her Ph.D. from Tufts University.

Contact Information

Title: Professor of History Emerita - UNL
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Helen M. Lewis (Read More)

Helen M. Lewis teaches literature and humanities online for Western Iowa Tech Community College, Sioux City, Iowa. She received her degrees from Wilkes College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and the University of Maryland at College Park. While teaching at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, she received a 1990 NEH Summer Fellowship to study women Romantic poets at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.  Serving on the board of the Popular Culture Association, Lewis remains an active public speaker in humanities, in such areas as women in Westerns; frontier history, including Theodore Roosevelt in the West; and women’s history during the Progressive Era and World War I. Since 1999, Lewis has portrayed Jane Addams for Chautauqua and humanities audiences from Oklahoma to North Dakota. She also has developed Nebraska native Grace Abbott for Chautauqua portrayal.  Lewis adapts the portrayals to themes desired by the individual audiences.

Contact Information

Title: Instructor of English & Humanities - Western Iowa Tech Community College
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City: Council Bluffs, IA

Presentations

Carol Lomicky (Read More)

Contact Information

Title: Professor Emerita in Journalism, University of Nebraska at Kearney
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City: Kearney

Presentations

Preston Love Jr. (Read More)

Preston Love Jr. was formerly an IBM marketing executive and Atlanta’s commissioner of planning under Mayor Andrew Young. In 1984 he became the national campaign manager of the Jesse Jackson for President campaign. Preston is a community activist, Adjunct Professor at UNO, Author of Economic Cataracts (2015), and black History lecturer.

Contact Information

Title: Author and Adjunct Professor of Black Studies, University of Nebraska- Omaha
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Thomas J. Lynch (Read More)

Following graduation from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Tom Lynch became a museum associate in the newly opened Boys Town Hall of History museum. Today he is Director of Community Programs for Boys Town; Chair of the Servant of God Father Edward Flanagan Cause for Beatification: and volunteer coordinator for Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home.

Contact Information

Title: Director of Community Programs, Marketing, and Communication, Boys Town
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City: Boys Town

Presentations

David Marsh (Read More)

David Marsh is an experienced musician and presenter who has delighted Nebraska audiences for many years.

Contact Information

Title: Musician
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Website: https://www.facebook.com/paddywhackirishband/about/
City: Denton

Presentations

Matt Mason (Read More)

Matt Mason was Nebraska State Poet from 2019-2024 and was Executive Director of the Nebraska Writers Collective from 2009-2022. Through the US State Department, he has run workshops in Botswana, Romania, Nepal, and Belarus. Mason is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and the Nebraska Arts Council. His work can be found in The New York Times, on NPR’s Morning Edition, in American Life in Poetry, and more. Mason's 4th book, At the Corner of Fantasy and Main: Disneyland, Midlife and Churros, was released by The Old Mill Press in 2022. Matt is based out of Omaha with his wife, the poet Sarah McKinstry-Brown, and daughters Sophia and Lucia.

Contact Information

Title: Nebraska State Poet
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Website: https://matt.midverse.com/
City: Omaha

Presentations

Marla Matkin (Read More)

Marla Matkin comes by her love of history honestly having been born in Dodge City, Kansas and raised nearby.  She is on a continuing search to expand her knowledge and understanding of the legend and lore surrounding the region and its people.  This deep connection to the area can be traced back to her great-grandparents who homesteaded in Southwest Kansas in 1877.  Add to this her love of drama and she makes a compelling case for the ladies she portrays and the history she imparts as teacher, historian, living historian and now children’s author.  A graduate of Fort Hays State University with a degree in education she has informed, inspired as well as entertained her audiences for twenty-five years from the heartland to the Smithsonian.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar & Performer
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City: Hill City, KS

Presentations

Bernard “Barney” McCoy (Read More)

Barney McCoy teaches documentary, multimedia, broadcast news and depth reporting courses in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Kansas and Michigan State University. Before arriving at UNL, McCoy was a fulltime journalist and continues to direct and produce award-winning news and documentary projects to news organizations across the country.

Contact Information

Title: Professor, College of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Nebraska- Lincoln
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Website: https://youtu.be/Q_K9CHJtoFc
City: Lincoln

Presentations

Mike McCracken (Read More)

Mike hails from Nashville, TN, with over thirty five years of professional playing, recording and touring experience.  He attended college earning jazz scholarships, giving Mike the ability to study and cross genres on a regular basis covering styles like: blues, bluegrass, rock, rockabilly, R&B, gospel, etc.. especially focusing on slide guitar. Resophonic (resonator) guitar is one of his main passions. Mike has also taught High School for many years, and is very comfortable in a lecture setting.

Contact Information

Title: Instructor and Full-Time Musician
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Michael F. McDonald (Read More)

Michael McDonald hails from Yankton County, S.D., growing up on a couple of farms with six brothers and a sister. He is a Vietnam era veteran, a graduate of the University of South Dakota, and is the Yankton County Veterans Service Officer. He and his wife, Deb, are parents of three, grandparents of three, and live in Yankton.

Contact Information

Title: Singer, Songwriter, Storyteller
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City: Yankton, SD

Presentations

Jim McGee (Read More)

Jim McGee received a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska.  His career has involved transportation research, freeway operations, homeland security planning, and multi-state operations.  He has been active speaking at national conferences, publishing articles and serving with the Nebraska Attorney General's Amber-Endangered Missing Adult Committe, Jim has served as an adjunct lecturer for the UNO School of Public Administration and instructor in traffic incident management for the Nebraska Fire School.  He continues as historian for the Dundee Memorial Park Association and historical consultant to the Omaha Parks Foundation.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar
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Presentations

Jim McKee (Read More)

Jim McKee is owner of Lee Booksellers. He is the author of more than 1,400 articles and books on Lincoln and Nebraska history and numismatics including “Lincoln: A Photographic History,” “Visions of Lincoln,” “Lincoln: The Prairie Capital,” “Havelock: A Photo History and Walking Tour,” and “Remember When.” His weekly history column has appeared in the Lincoln Journal-Star Sunday newspaper since 1993. He has been a local history adjunct professor at Southeast Community College in Lincoln since 1970. He presents about 50 talks a year to church, civic, professional and historical groups.

Contact Information

Title: City of Lincoln Historian
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Sue McLain (Read More)

Sue McLain, owner of Yesterday’s Lady, a vintage fashion museum/store in Beatrice, has been traveling the Midwest since 1991 sharing her extensive collection of clothing from 1840 through 1980 and teaching groups about the history of fashion. Sue has been collecting fashions since 1985 and they are currently housed in an 1887 historic building in downtown Beatrice. Her collection is so large, she can do multiple presentations, each focused on a particular type of clothing, such as beachwear, evening wear or lingerie. www.yesterdayslady.com

Contact Information

Title: Collector of Vintage Clothing
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Website: http://www.yesterdayslady.net/
City: Beatrice

Presentations

Jolene McLaughlin (Read More)

Jolene McLaughlin has lived the majority of her life in the Elmwood, Nebraska area, home of author Bess Streeter Aldrich. Jolene graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees in physician’s assistant and nursing from the University of Nebraska-Medical Center. After retiring, she became an active volunteer at the Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation. Through reading many of her works, biography, letters and journals, Jolene has learned much about the multiple gifts, talents and strengths Mrs. Aldrich possessed and she enjoys sharing this information through the portrayal of Mrs. Aldrich. Her goal is to make more people aware of Bess Streeter Aldrich, a hidden gem of Nebraska history. Jolene and her husband, Jim, are blessed with three grown children and three grandchildren.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar
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City: Elmwood

Patrice McMahon (Read More)

Patrice McMahon is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research interests include the causes and effects of identity on international relations, transnationalism, democracy promotion, and human rights. Her recent publications include Getting its Act Together? The International Community and Statebuilding (Routledge 2012)l; and Taming Ethnic Hatred: Ethnic Cooperation and Transnational Networks in Eastern Europe (Syracuse University Press, 2007).

Contact Information

Title: Assistant Professor Political Science - UNL
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Carrie Meyer (Read More)

Carrie J. Meyer is a dedicated museum curator, material culture historian, and library special collections administrator with over 19 years of combined experience. She is driven by a passion for making history accessible. She takes pride in partnering with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the Omaha community to preserve the history and legacy of the many faculty, staff, and students who have impacted the university. In addition to her primary job functions, Carrie has been recognized for her exhibition work integrating public history with oral history and living memory, and for digital exhibition and online learning resource creation. She holds two master’s degrees, museum studies (Baylor University) and history (University of Nebraska at Omaha) and serves on three national organization steering committees. She resides in Gretna, Nebraska, with her husband, two children, and four fur babies. Away from the office, she enjoys cross-stitching, true crime documentaries, and volunteering year-round for Operation Christmas Child.

Contact Information

Title: Associate Professor & Associate Dean of the Robert S. Wigton Department of Special Collections and Archives, UNMC’s McGoogan Health Sciences Library
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Miss V (Ruby Bell) (Read More)

A bona fide troubadour, Miss “V” offers intriguing glimpses into American culture, history and lore. Her musical performances pair a diverse selection of original ballads with traditional cowboy, country and Americana covers. Compelling lyrics accompanied by solid rhythms on the guitar and her homemade “Plank Banjo” define “V”s signature Genuine Cowbilly sound. Her subtle humor, engaging personality, creative spirit, and penchant for discovering ‘the road less travelled’ culminate in unique performances that entertain and provoke thought in equal measure. Listeners enjoy stepping back to rural places and simpler times. While caretaking a homestead ranch for fourteen years, Miss “V” honed skills such as driving teams, making tack, running pack strings, building banjos, and cowboying. Two decades spent exploring rural America and her backcountry have afforded “V” her rich understanding of the land and its people. As comfortable entertaining Wyoming’s First lady as she is playing for teamsters on wagon trains, “V” has shared the stage with legends such as Baxter Black and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot. Her propensity for engaging listeners of all ages has charmed audiences from coast to coast for over two decades. Well-versed at performing at a wide range of venues, some of her specialties include festivals, living history exhibitions, museums, historical societies, libraries, dude ranches and campfires. Most important, Miss "V" remains true to her moniker: Nothing Fancy But Guaranteed Authentic!

Contact Information

Title: Independent scholar and performing artist
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Website: www.gypsycowbelle.com
City: Thermopolis, WY

Presentations

Wynema Morris (Read More)

Wynema Morris is a member of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and lives on the Omaha Reservation at Walthill. She is an active speaker and teacher regarding traditional, historical and political issues of American Indians. She is an associate fellow for the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As a former executive tribal administrator and vice chairman of the Omaha tribal government, she speaks on a wide range of subjects regarding American Indians. Morris received both her BS and her MA from the Northern Arizona University at Flagstaff, Ariz., where she grew up on the Navajo Reservation.

Contact Information

Title: Independent Scholar & Associate Fellow - UNL
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Fred Nielsen (Read More)

Fred Nielsen earned his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas. A member of the history department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha since 1992, he has taught numerous courses, including environmental history, “The Civil War and Reconstruction,” “America in the Sixties,” and “American History Viewed Right and Left.” From 2001 to 2006, he was an interviewer on “Talking History,” a nationally syndicated radio program.

Contact Information

Title: History Lecturer - UNO
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Dawn Nielsen (Read More)

A 1974 graduate of Dana College, Dawn Nielsen is a retired teacher having taught 12th grade English and English literature at Blair Community High School for thirty-five years. In 1977 she received a Marshall Fellowship for study in Denmark, where she worked with a number of Danish children’s theaters. In May 1989, she was selected by the students of Blair High School to receive their teacher of the year award, and in June 1992, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars named her a distinguished teacher. She is and has been an active board member of the Blair Historic Preservation Alliance and the Washington County Historical Society.

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Title: Retired High School Teacher
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City: Blair

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John Mark Nielsen (Read More)

John Mark Nielsen is executive director of the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, Iowa, and emeritus professor of English at Dana College. In 2012 Queen Margrethe II of Denmark bestowed on him “Knight of the Order of Dannebrog” for building relationships between Denmark and the United States. A 1973 Dana graduate, Nielsen received his M.A. from Creighton University and his Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 1977 he was awarded a Marshall Fellowship for study in Denmark, and in 1983-84 he was a Fulbright lecturer in American literature at several colleges in Denmark. During that time he was a consultant to the National Museum of Denmark in preparing “The Dream of America,” an exhibit on Danish emigration to the United States. In 1999 the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named him the 1999 Nebraska professor of the year, and in 2000 he was a Fulbright senior lecturer in American literature at Mercy College of Calicut University in India.

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Title: Executive Director Emeritus, Museum of Danish America
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City: Blair

Presentations

Teresa Kay Orr (Read More)

Teresa grew up on the family's century old farmstead within the spokes of the Cedar-Dixon County Line in northeast Nebraska, which encompasses the Outlaw Trail, Highway 12. The rolling hills and winding roads were the landscape in which she worked by her father's side rounding up cattle on horseback and becoming a steward of the land on a Farmall and Ferguson tractor. Her father offered a hands-on education through hard work and responsibility. Teresa picked up a guitar and developed a true appreciation for many styles of music because of her mother's influence. As a singer/songwriter, her original music stirs the heart with intimate songs of family, history, and love of country. Some of her originals, "Riding West", "The Hopeful Cowgirl", "Four Stars", and others, have been heard over the radio airwaves.

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Title: Prairie Poet & Storyteller

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City: Uehling

Presentations

Julie S. Paschold (Read More)

Julie S. Paschold (Tansy Julie the Soaring Eagle) is a poet and artist from Nebraska. She has her BS and MS in agronomy from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She has published three poetry books. Horizons (Atmosphere Press: paperback & audiobook) honors soil through family, identity, and nature, and won a Nebraska Book Award in 2024. Her chapbook You Have Always Been Here (Bass Clef Books: paperback) is an unconventional love story. Human Nature (WSC Press: paperback & Atmosphere Press: audiobook) explores humanity’s ecological and environmental connection to nature and the planet earth. Julie is the resident poetry instructor at Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens. Julie has been published in a wide range of publications, most recently in The Awakenings Review and The Guilded Weathervane. Their poem “Multitudes of Blue Arrows” was a semi-finalist in the first Kate Sommers Memorial Prize in 2023, and two of their chapbooks won honorable mention in contests by Writer's Digest in 2021 and 2022. They volunteer for the international Human Library Organization.

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Title: Poet, Author, Agronomist
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Website: https://medium.com/@jpaschold and https://jpaschold.blogspot.com/
City: Norfolk

Presentations

Oscar Rios Pohirieth (Read More)

Oscar Rios Pohirieth is a professional musician and has performed throughout Mexico, the United States and Europe. With over 30 years of experience, he specializes in the music of the Andes. Pohirieth is also a traveling and teaching artist through the Nebraska Arts Council and Humanities Nebraska. Pohirieth helps his audiences learn information about unique instruments that they have often never seen or heard before. He analyzes the history, development and playing techniques of various Native Andean instruments such as the Zampoñas (Andean Pan Pipes), the Quena (a recorder-like flute) and the Bombo (drum from African influence) to name a few. Through this process, Pohirieth hopes to create curiosity, cooperation and collaboration for exploring new music and culture. In addition, Pohirieth finds that performing in Nebraska creates cultural bridges to Latin America and fosters an understanding of Andean culture. Oscar puede presentar sus programas en inglés o español.

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Title: Musician
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Mary Kay Quinlan (Read More)

Mary Kay Quinlan, Ph.D, freelance journalist and oral historian, is editor of the Oral History Association Newsletter, and had been active in regional and national oral history activities for many years. She was a Washington corespondent for the Omaha World Herald and Gannett News Service for 15 years and has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Maryland and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has also mentored highly gifted students for Lincoln Public Schools. Quinlan is a past president of the National Press Club and is a member of the Gridiron Club of Washington, D.C. She has conducted oral history workshops, presented at regional and national academic conferences, and has been a National Endowment of the Humanities peer reviewer for oral history project proposals. She holds a B.A. with high distinction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and M.A. in journalism from the University of Maryland, and a PhD. in American Studies, also from the University of Maryland.

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Title: Associate Dean Emerita, College of Journalism and Mass Communications, UNL
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Gary Rath (Read More)

Gary was an educator for 46 years in Nebraska, Maryland, Virginia, and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.    He has for many years had a passionate interest in the Civil War, and especially in Civil War surgery.  He is a member of the Society of Civil War Surgeons, and has worked with the Blue-Gray Hospital Association, the National Museum of Civil War Medicine,  and the National Park Service in Gettysburg to present programs on Civil War Medicine to the public. He holds a B.S with High Distinction and a M.A from the University of Nebraska.    Gary and his wife Kathy have 2 grown children and now live in Hastings, Nebraska.

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Title: Retired Educator
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City: Hastings

Presentations

Laureen Riedesel (Read More)

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Title: Retired Director, Beatrice Public Library
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City: Beatrice

Presentations

Jewel Rodgers (Read More)

2025 - 2029 State Poet of Nebraska

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Title: 2025 - 2029 State Poet of Nebraska
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City: Omaha

Presentations

Marge Saiser (Read More)

Marjorie Saiser is the author of five books of poetry. Her book, Lost in Seward County, is on the Nebraska 150 List for the Sesquicentennial. She co-edited a book of writings by women on the Great Plains and a book of interviews featuring Nebraska writers who teach. Her poems are found in American Life in Poetry, The Writer’s Almanac, Prairie Schooner, Cimarron Review, Chattahoochee Review, Nimrod, Rattle, Rhino, and other publications. Saiser’s awards include four Nebraska Book Awards and the Literary Heritage Award. Her website is poetmarge.com

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Title: Poet
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

Ben Salazar (Read More)

Omaha businessman Ben Salazar is a native of Scottsbluff. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology and his juris doctorate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Salazar is a Chicano activist, having worked with Nebraska organizers of farm workers since the late 1960s. He has worked with such diverse organizations as Legal Aid in Phoenix, where he represented the elderly and disabled; Lincoln Action Program; Chicanos por la causa; the public defender’s office; and the Arizona attorney general’s office. He is the publisher of Nuestro Mundo, a Spanish-English newspaper in Omaha. He is also a mediator and continues in his role as an advocate for Latinos and Spanish-speaking people.

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Title: Publisher -Nuestro Mundo Newspaper

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City: Omaha

Presentations

Chuck Salestrom (Read More)

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Title: Associate VP of Public Information and Marketing, Mid-Plains Community College
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City: North Platte

Presentations

Chris Sayre (Read More)

Lincoln native Chris Sayre has been performing music professionally for over 40 years. He has dedicated much of that time to the promotion and preservation of traditional folk music from Western Europe and North America. His awards include three time Folk Artist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year and Hall of Fame recipient, as well as several first-place finishes in contests throughout the Midwest. Presenting on Button Accordion, Concertina, Dulcimer, Guitar, Mandolin and saw, Chris endeavors to leave his audience with a greater appreciation of who we are and where we came from.

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Title: Musician
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City: Lincoln

Presentations

David Seay (Read More)

Combining his passions for music, history, and storytelling, David has presented HN Speakers Bureau programs since 1997. He is a master artist with the Nebraska Arts Council’s Artist-in-the-Schools Communities Residency Program and performs with his wife, Deborah Greenblatt, in the popular musical duo Greenblatt & Seay, which has participated in the Nebraska Arts Council’s Touring Program for more than 30 years. David plays over a dozen instruments, teaches private music lessons, and conducts workshops in harmonica.

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Title: Independent Scholar & Musician
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City: Avoca

Presentations