Film screening and discussion: From Swastika to Jim Crow (Read More)
In conjunction with the Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibition, the 2000 film “From Swastika to Jim Crow” will be screened at the Calvin T. Ryan Library on the University of Nebraska Kearney campus. The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion. From Swastika to Jim Crow (2000) explores the similarities between Nazism in Germany and racism in the American south during Jim Crow. It does this through the stories of Jewish scholars expelled from Germany who found teaching positions in historically Black colleges when the rest of academia was aloof or hostile. Their shared experience of oppression united the two groups leading to impactful collaborations that influenced the nascent Civil Rights movement and had broad societal impact. For more information about the exhibit and other related events, visit the exhibit website.
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Film screening and discussion: Most Honorable Son (Read More)
In conjunction with the Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibition at the Calvin T. Ryan Library on the University of Nebraska Kearney campus, the 1970 film "Most Honorable Son" will be screened at the Kearney Public Library. Most Honorable Son tells the story of Nebraskan Ben Kuroki. Kuroki was the only Japanese American in the US Army Air Forces to serve in combat in the Pacific. The post-film panel discussion features Vickie Sakurada Shaepler, Japanese Hall Coordinator, Dr. Donna Andersen, UNL, and Dr. Nathan Tye, UNK, discussing Japanese Americans, Nebraska, and World War II. For more information about the exhibit and other related events, visit the exhibit website.
In conjunction with the Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibition at the Calvin T. Ryan Library on the University of Nebraska Kearney campus, a panel discussion will be held at the Kearney Public Library. During World War II, Nebraska was the site of several prisoner of war (POW) camps. Join expert panelists for a discussion of German POWs in Nebraska, POW sites such as Camp Atlanta and Fort Robinson, and World War II in Nebraska. The Americans and the Holocaust exhibit asks “what did Americans know?”, a question learning about German POWs, and what they knew and shared with Nebraskans, can help us answer. In addition to talking about events of the 1940s, panelists will also discuss how historic sites interpret this fascinating history. Panelists include Dr. Cole Kruger - Kilgore College, Melissa Amateis - University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Will Kessen - Ft. Robinson State Historical Park, and Micah Hueser - Nebraska Prairie Museum. For more information about the exhibit and other related events, visit the exhibit website.
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Film screening and discussion: The Great Dictator (Read More)
In conjunction with the Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibition at the Calvin T. Ryan Library on the University of Nebraska Kearney campus, the 1940 film "The Great Dictator" will be screened at the World Theatre. The Great Dictator (1940), directed, produced by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, is a political satire and black comedy that vehemently condemned Hitler and Mussolini as well as their ideologies. It was wildly popular and is in the National Film Registry. Following the film, Dr. Torsten Homberger, UNK History, and Prof. Jacob Rosdail, UNK Communication will discuss the historical context of the film as well as its cultural impact. For more information about the exhibit and other related events, visit the exhibit website.
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Kearney Area Storytelling Festival 2026: Stories for Adults (Read More)
At the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival, professional storytellers—along with area tellers—present the art of storytelling in many area venues. Lyn Ford and Paul Strickland - Stories for Adults 7:00 pm | Kearney Country Club 2800 19th Ave, Kearney, NE *Non-members are welcome to order food and drinks from the menu before and after the show. **Dinner Reservations Recommended - Contact 308-234-3151 or [email protected] Please visit the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival website for the full range of events in Kearney. Lynette (Lyn) Ford, an American storyteller, teaching artist, author and creative narrative workshop presenter was the first storyteller in the state of Ohio to be nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts. She is a regular performer at regional and national storytelling festivals and conferences, including the National Storytelling Festival, Hawaii’s Talk Story Festival and the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. Lyn has also shared keynote presentations, performances and workshops in Australia and Ireland, and for the Transformative Language Arts Network’s and Ohio Literacy Resource Center’s annual conferences and events. Lyn is a two-time recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s ORACLE award, receiving both its Leadership and Service and Circle of Excellence awards. Lyn is a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers Circle of Elders. Lyn’s first publications as an individual author are Affrilachian Tales and Beyond the Briar Patch. Both books are compilations of stories from Lyn’s childhood memories, enriched with information on Affrilachian culture. She has written several other books alone and has been a co-author on other books. Paul Strickland is a professional storyteller and theatre artist from Kentucky. He has a large repertoire of unique family friendly stories, including reupholstered folk tales, fairytales for adults and future adults, tall-tales and even historical stories that just happened to have never happened. Paul was a Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center in 2024. He was a Featured Teller: New Voice at the National Storytelling Festival in September of 2023. He was a Featured Teller at Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in September 2023, Cave Run Storytelling Festival in 2022 and many other major storytelling festivals. In November of 2018 he made his NYC stage debut Off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse with his shadow and flashlight ghost story play, “13 Dead Dream of Eugene.” Always adapting to whatever audience is in front of him, Paul loves telling stories in every imaginable environment, from comedy clubs to elementary and middle schools, corporate events and even two prisons - where he was NOT an inmate at the time. Collections of his stories have won “Best of Fest” honors more than 18 times at Fringe Theatre Festivals in the US and Canada. Selections from his comedy performance “Levels of Difficulty” are still played nearly every day on Sirius XM radio.
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Kearney Area Storytelling Festival 2026: Stories for Seniors (Read More)
At the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival, professional storytellers—along with area tellers—present the art of storytelling in many area venues. Wednesday, February 4 Lyn Ford - Stories for Seniors 2:00 pm | Peterson Senior Activity Center 2020 W 11th St, Kearney, NE 68845 Please visit the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival website for the full range of events in Kearney. Lynette (Lyn) Ford, an American storyteller, teaching artist, author and creative narrative workshop presenter was the first storyteller in the state of Ohio to be nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts. She is a regular performer at regional and national storytelling festivals and conferences, including the National Storytelling Festival, Hawaii’s Talk Story Festival and the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. Lyn has also shared keynote presentations, performances and workshops in Australia and Ireland, and for the Transformative Language Arts Network’s and Ohio Literacy Resource Center’s annual conferences and events. Lyn is a two-time recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s ORACLE award, receiving both its Leadership and Service and Circle of Excellence awards. Lyn is a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers Circle of Elders. Lyn’s first publications as an individual author are Affrilachian Tales and Beyond the Briar Patch. Both books are compilations of stories from Lyn’s childhood memories, enriched with information on Affrilachian culture. She has written several other books alone and has been a co-author on other books.
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Storytelling workshop: CREATE Questions. THEN Answer Them! (Read More)
At the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival, professional storytellers—along with area tellers—present the art of storytelling. Storyteller Paul Strickland will present a storytelling workshop entitled "CREATE Questions. THEN Answer Them!" at the Regional Engagement Center in UNK's University Village Development - Upstairs Gala Rooms. Parking is available on both sides of the building. Paul Strickland is a professional storyteller and theatre artist from Kentucky. He has a large repertoire of unique family friendly stories, including reupholstered folk tales, fairytales for adults and future adults, tall-tales and even historical stories that just happened to have never happened. Paul was a Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center in 2024. He was a Featured Teller: New Voice at the National Storytelling Festival in September of 2023. He was a Featured Teller at Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in September 2023, Cave Run Storytelling Festival in 2022 and many other major storytelling festivals. In November of 2018 he made his NYC stage debut Off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse with his shadow and flashlight ghost story play, “13 Dead Dream of Eugene.” Always adapting to whatever audience is in front of him, Paul loves telling stories in every imaginable environment, from comedy clubs to elementary and middle schools, corporate events and even two prisons - where he was NOT an inmate at the time. Collections of his stories have won “Best of Fest” honors more than 18 times at Fringe Theatre Festivals in the US and Canada. Selections from his comedy performance “Levels of Difficulty” are still played nearly every day on Sirius XM radio. Please visit the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival website for the full range of events in Kearney.
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Storytelling Workshop: Laughter and Storytelling! Interactive Stories and Play! (Read More)
At the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival, professional storytellers—along with area tellers—present the art of storytelling. Storyteller Lyn Ford will present a storytelling workshop entitled "Laughter and Storytelling! Interactive Stories and Play!" at the Regional Engagement Center in UNK's University Village Development - Upstairs Gala Rooms. Parking is available on both sides of the building. Lynette (Lyn) Ford, an American storyteller, teaching artist, author and creative narrative workshop presenter was the first storyteller in the state of Ohio to be nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts. She is a regular performer at regional and national storytelling festivals and conferences, including the National Storytelling Festival, Hawaii’s Talk Story Festival and the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. Lyn has also shared keynote presentations, performances and workshops in Australia and Ireland, and for the Transformative Language Arts Network’s and Ohio Literacy Resource Center’s annual conferences and events. Lyn is a two-time recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s ORACLE award, receiving both its Leadership and Service and Circle of Excellence awards. Lyn is a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers Circle of Elders. Lyn’s first publications as an individual author are Affrilachian Tales and Beyond the Briar Patch. Both books are compilations of stories from Lyn’s childhood memories, enriched with information on Affrilachian culture. She has written several other books alone and has been a co-author on other books. Please visit the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival website for the full range of events in Kearney.
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Kearney Area Storytelling Festival 2026: Stories for All Ages (Read More)
At the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival, professional storytellers—along with area tellers—present the art of storytelling in many area venues. Paul Strickland and Lyn Ford will present Stories for All Ages on February 3 and 7. Tuesday, February 3 Paul Strickland – Stories for All Ages 5:00 pm | Calvin T. Ryan Library-UNK 2508 11th Ave, Kearney, NE Lyn Ford - Stories for All Ages 7:00 pm | Kearney Public Library 2020 1st Ave, Kearney, NE Saturday, February 7 Paul Strickland and Lyn Ford - Stories for All Ages with Local Teller Janice Polk 1:00 pm | Kearney Public Library 2020 1st Ave, Kearney, NE Lyn Ford and Paul Strickland - Stories for All Ages with Local Teller Rick Brown 3:00 pm | Kearney Public Library 2020 1st Ave, Kearney, NE Please visit the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival website for the full range of events in Kearney. Lynette (Lyn) Ford, an American storyteller, teaching artist, author and creative narrative workshop presenter was the first storyteller in the state of Ohio to be nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts. She is a regular performer at regional and national storytelling festivals and conferences, including the National Storytelling Festival, Hawaii’s Talk Story Festival and the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. Lyn has also shared keynote presentations, performances and workshops in Australia and Ireland, and for the Transformative Language Arts Network’s and Ohio Literacy Resource Center’s annual conferences and events. Lyn is a two-time recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s ORACLE award, receiving both its Leadership and Service and Circle of Excellence awards. Lyn is a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers Circle of Elders. Lyn’s first publications as an individual author are Affrilachian Tales and Beyond the Briar Patch. Both books are compilations of stories from Lyn’s childhood memories, enriched with information on Affrilachian culture. She has written several other books alone and has been a co-author on other books. Paul Strickland is a professional storyteller and theatre artist from Kentucky. He has a large repertoire of unique family friendly stories, including reupholstered folk tales, fairytales for adults and future adults, tall-tales and even historical stories that just happened to have never happened. Paul was a Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center in 2024. He was a Featured Teller: New Voice at the National Storytelling Festival in September of 2023. He was a Featured Teller at Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in September 2023, Cave Run Storytelling Festival in 2022 and many other major storytelling festivals. In November of 2018 he made his NYC stage debut Off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse with his shadow and flashlight ghost story play, “13 Dead Dream of Eugene.” Always adapting to whatever audience is in front of him, Paul loves telling stories in every imaginable environment, from comedy clubs to elementary and middle schools, corporate events and even two prisons - where he was NOT an inmate at the time. Collections of his stories have won “Best of Fest” honors more than 18 times at Fringe Theatre Festivals in the US…
In conjunction with the Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibition at the Calvin T. Ryan Library on the University of Nebraska Kearney campus, the 2016 film "Race" will be screened at the World Theatre. "Race" explores Jesse Owens' quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history. His quest thrusts Owens onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy. Dr. Rachel Silverman – UNK Kinesiology & Sport Science, Dr. Lina Homberger-Cordia – sports historian, and UNK students will discuss themes raised in the film. For more information about the exhibit and other related events, visit the exhibit website.
This family entertainment event features live performances and interactive activities for all ages: music, art, theatre, dance, bounce houses, face painting, fire trucks, Disney princesses, and so much more. One of the featured performing groups is Garan Coons and his family. Garan is a professional Native American dancer, singer, flute player, and storyteller. Each of his performances will include traditional Native American dancing, narration, and storytelling, as he explains the meaning behind each dance, costume, and movement. Coons’ dances offer an educational experience featuring the art of Fancy Feather dancing and Traditional Prairie Chicken dancing, allowing him to bring history to life.
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Pride and Joy: Nebraska History traveling exhibit @ Calvin T. Ryan Library (Read More)
Pride and Joy: Nebraska History is a 13-panel traveling exhibit that examines the history of LGBTQIA2S+ communities, events, and organizations in Nebraska. The exhibit introduces several topics and themes related to this history, including pre-Stonewall, religious organizations, rural experiences, colleges and universities, and publications such as newsletters and community calendars of events. The banners sharing this history are illustrated with archival materials including newspaper clippings, photographs, advertisements, and ephemera such as a brick from Omaha’s Diamond Bar. The Ryan Library hours are: 7:30 a.m. to 12 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday. Closed university holidays and breaks. Check library website for details.
An afternoon of free family fun filled with music, art, theater, culture and more. Featured Attractions: Edgerton Explorit Center demonstrations Garan Coons (Native American, Oglala Lakota dancer, singer, flute player and storyteller) Interactive stations hosted by Kearney Cultural Partners
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The Pawnee at Fort Kearny – Share the History, Share the Harvest (Read More)
A history-making return of the Pawnee to Fort Kearny will be celebrated at a "Share the History, Share the Harvest" event at Fort Kearny State Historical Park and the nearby State Recreation Area. The focus will be a long-overdue recognition of the Pawnee Scouts' U.S. military service at Fort Kearny from 1864-1871. Overall, an estimated 1,000 Pawnees served as military allies from 1864-1877. There also will be a celebration of the 2023 harvest of Pawnee crops and of the 20th anniversary of the Pawnee Seed Preservation Society, a partnership between Nebraska growers and the Pawnee in Oklahoma to restore more than 20 Pawnee corn varieties. There is no admission fee, but a Nebraska State Park entry permit is required at both sites. The historical park and SRA are one mile apart on Highway 50A. For more information, visit the website or call 308-865-5305. At Fort Kearney Historical Park 9 a.m. to noon Living history reenactments and demonstrations. At Fort Kearny State Recreation Area noon to 1 p.m. lunch available for purchase At Fort Kearny State Recreation Area 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pawnee singers, drummers, and dancers Pawnee harvest display Recognition of Pawnee Scouts
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Letters From Home Performance and Discussion (Read More)
Letters From Home was founded in 2010, featuring music from the soundtracks of WWII, Vietnam, and beyond. This vaudevillian-style singing and tap-dancing duo has honored our veterans, active military heroes, and their families by uniting the nation through music. There will be a talkback with veterans following the show. Topics will include the history of USO tours, the significance of boosting morale for Americans overseas, the power of music and performance, and the importance of honoring our military heroes and veterans today. Tickets are required for this show. For more information, visit the event website.
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Henrietta Solway – Performance and Discussion (Read More)
Animal Engine Theatre Company’s "Henrietta Solway" is an original play for all ages that was inspired by the works of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather and commissioned by the National Willa Cather Center. "Henrietta Solway" brings to life an exciting and heartfelt tale of ambition, sacrifice, and reconciliation in small towns, big cities, and vast landscapes. The event will include a panel discussion by Dr. Charles Peek, Dr. Steve Shively and the writers and performers of "Henrietta Solway". There will be two performances - one at 9:45 a.m., and one at 1 p.m. The performances are free and open to the public. For 30 years Dr. Charles Peek has led the service at Grace Church, Red Cloud, that accompanies the Cather Spring Conference. He was President of the Board Of Governors from 2005-2010 and served on the board for five years after and has presented papers at three International Cather Seminars, as well as taught four Roads Scholar classes on "My Antonia". Steve Shively enjoyed a 44-year career as a high school teacher and university professor, most recently at Utah State University, from which he retired in 2019. His work focused on American literature and preparing future teachers. A long-time member of the Board of Governors of the Willa Cather Foundation, Steve’s contributions include co-editing Teaching the Works of Willa Cather and serving as an issue editor of the Willa Cather Review. His research interests include Cather and religion, pedagogy, and Cather in Nebraska. He has written papers on several Nebraska authors in addition to Cather including Mari Sandoz, Alvin Johnson, Weldon Kees, John Janovy, and John Neihardt.
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Willa on Wheels: Cather’s Characters Travel from Page to Stage (Read More)
Rachel Olsen, director of education and engagement at the National Willa Cather Center, will give a talk about a selection of Willa Cather’s novels and short stories featured in the play, “Henrietta Solway,” adapted by Animal Engine Theatre Company.
