27 January 2010

PNW Historians Guild Conference in March

On Saturday, March 6, 2010, Seattle's Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) will host the 24th annual conference of the Pacific Northwest Historians Guild. This year's topic is "The Northwest Borderlands":

The Pacific Northwest is a diverse region geographically, politically and culturally. Its history is therefore equally diverse. What does the Northwest's past mean to the various and varied populations living with the region? At this annual full day conference, history lovers can experience new work by academic historians and independent scholars as well as by community historians, journalists, filmmakers, genealogists, oral historians, students and folklorists.

Nearby Norwegian member, Luci Baker Johnson, will speak at this year's conference on "The Reindeer Expedition: the missionaries, teachers, reindeer herders, government officials, and indigenous peoples of Alaska, 1890-1900." Luci's research on this topic involves the Sami from northern Norway, the Esquimaux (Yupick and Inuit) from Siberia and Alaska, and Caucasions from Washington D.C., Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Seattle, Washington. "Between 1890 and 1900, there were two inter-continental expeditions of people and reindeer that journeyed from northern Norway to New York; New York to Seattle by train; Seattle to San Francisco (by boat), with the final destination as the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Both expeditions were initiated by the U.S. Governement through the Department of Interior and expenses covered by the Department of Eduation." See image.

This year's PNW Historians Guild Conference marks yet another participation by Nearby Norwegians. During last year's conference, dealing with Seattle's Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition of 1909, Luci Baker Johnson and Barbara Holz Sullivan offered a presentation on "Scandinavians at the AYP," including Norway Day at the Fair, and Cathy Lykes presented her in-depth research on "Health and Medicine and the AYP."

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Chery Kinnick

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