Published Friday, September 22nd, 2023
The public is invited to the “Marking Nebraska: Our (Mostly) Hidden Historical Monuments” program Oct. 10 sponsored by Humanities Nebraska.
Author/photographer Jeff Barnes shares the images and stories of Nebraska’s lesser-known historical monuments, placed far off the beaten path, during his “Marking Nebraska: Our (Mostly) Hidden Historical Monuments” program at Wayne State College on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Admission is free and the public is invited.
The program, at 3:30 p.m. in the lower-level study area of Conn Library, is funded in part by Humanities Nebraska. Guests may park in any available spots, except reserved spots.
Humanities Nebraska provides major funding for this program. It receives support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Nebraska State Legislature, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, and private donations.
A fifth-generation Nebraskan, 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.”
Barnes will share Nebraska’s “hidden history,” with long-forgotten stories and rarely seen landscapes, such as the impact of glaciers on our community monuments, or how Nebraska’s first marker nearly went to the bottom of the Missouri River and – once placed at its permanent site – still disappeared for 50 years.
The historical marker located just west of Wayne State’s Benthack Hall will also be featured in the program.
“Marking Nebraska: Our (Mostly) Hidden Historical Monuments” is one of approximately 300 programs offered through the Humanities Nebraska Speakers Bureau. The more than 165 available speakers include acclaimed scholars, writers, musicians, storytellers, and folklorists on topics ranging from pioneer heritage to ethics and law to international and multicultural issues, making it the largest humanities speakers bureau in the nation.
Speakers are available to any non-profit organization in Nebraska. Each program lasts 30 minutes to an hour, plus a question-and-answer period.
The most frequent users of the Humanities Nebraska Speakers Bureau are primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, libraries, museums and historical societies, agencies for the elderly, rural organizations, churches, arts organizations, and ethnic organizations. Humanities Nebraska sponsors the largest Speakers Bureau program in the United States, according to the National Endowment for the Humanities.
For information regarding available speakers and guidelines for booking them, visit www.humanitiesnebraska.org (Speakers section), or contact Humanities Nebraska at 215 Centennial Mall South, Suite 330, Lincoln, NE 68508; phone 402-474-2131, fax 402-474-4852, or email [email protected].
