FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marilyn Snyder
December 20, 2007
(701) 328-2792  
Janet Daley Jury
(701) 255-3360                                     

SENSATIONAL SUNDAYS KICKS OFF WITH FIVE MONTHS
OF PROGRAMS AT NORTH DAKOTA HERITAGE CENTER JANUARY 6

BISMARCK – Got those winter blues?  The State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND) has just the treatment for you.  The state’s history agency, partnering with other organizations, has scheduled five months of Sensational Sundays, beginning January 6 and ending May 18.

All 19 programs are free and open to the public, and will begin at 2 p.m. at the North Dakota Heritage Center, followed by refreshments.

“Our partnerships with other organizations is again paying off for North Dakota, this time with this outstanding series of programs that offer something for everyone during the next five months,” said series coordinator Marilyn Snyder, curator of education for the SHSND.

The first four Sensational Sundays programs are sponsored by the SHSND.  The next four programs will feature the Larry Remele Memorial Fellowshiplectures, sponsored by the SHSND and the North Dakota Humanities Council.  “March is for Music,” and each Sensational Sunday in March will feature a musician or musical group, with the March programs sponsored by the SHSND.  “April is for the Ancient Past,” and each Sensational Sunday in April will feature presentations on such topics as dinosaurs, archaeology along the Missouri River, the influence of geology on building, and the great potential of the state’s geothermal resources, sponsored by the North Dakota Geological Survey.  The Sensational Sundays series will conclude in May, designated as Historic Preservation Month by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  The SHSND’s historic preservation division will sponsor three programs about the preservation of historic buildings in North Dakota.

Here is the Sensational Sundays schedule, with all programs beginning at 2 p.m.:

• January 6: January is for Journeys, with the Century High School Jazz Band of Bismarck, led by Tim Fogderud.

• January 13: January is for Journeys, with Smith Stimmel, a longtime Fargo man who served as one of President Lincoln’s White House bodyguards, as portrayed by historian Steve Stark of Fargo.  Stimmel (1842-1935) also practiced law in Fargo from 1882 to 1922, and is buried in Fargo’s Riverside Cemetery.

• January 20: January is for Journeys with Gregg Marsland from Bismarck, performing on the Scottish bagpipes.

• January 27: January is for Journeys, with the Bismarck High School New Generation Jazz Choir, led by Michael Seil.

• February 3: Larry Remele Memorial Fellowship Lecture, “Government Regulations versus Individual Choice: A Case of Cattle, Ticks, and Man,” by Claire Strom, associate professor of history, North Dakota State University (NDSU).  Dr. Strom explores the federal government’s attempt to eradicate the disease-carrying cattle tick in Texas beginning in 1906, and the resistance of farmers who saw those efforts as a threat to their individual freedom.  Her lecture describes a contest over power, resulting in increased federal power.

• February 10: Larry Remele Memorial Fellowship Lecture, “Missing Voices: Women's Experience in War and Combat,” by Christina Weber, assistant professor, department of sociology and anthropology, NDSU. Using a variety of in-depth interviews with women in North Dakota who have served in recent wars, including Vietnam, Bosnia, and Iraq, as well as published memoirs and available oral histories, Dr. Weber tells of the dangers and hardships women experienced in war and the challenges they had with reintegrating into home and civilian life.

• February 17: Larry Remele Memorial Fellowship Lecture, “Religious Zeal and Exotic Mission: One Missionary’s Encounter with Nineteenth-Century Hawai'i,” by Charles William Miller, associate professor and chair, department of philosophy and religion, the University of North Dakota (UND). New England missionaries in the nineteenth century had predetermined ideas and attitudes toward Hawai’i and the Hawaiians long before they ever arrived on the islands. Using one missionary’s pre-Hawai'i journals, letters, and sermons, Dr. Miller places Ephraim Weston Clark’s early religious and intellectual development within the larger context of North American culture.

• February 24: Larry Remele Memorial Fellowship Lecture, “The Star Quilt in the Northern Plains: A Symbol of American Indian Identity,” by Birgit Hans, professor and chair, Indian Studies department, UND. Quilting, and the star quilt in particular, has emerged as an important symbol to American Indians on the Northern Plains. Dr. Hans’ study of the economic and ceremonial importance of star quilts and their complex constructions make a unique contribution to both the regional and national histories of quilting.

• March 2: March is for Music, featuring the Old Five ‘N’ Dimers from Mandan, who play acoustic music, from the classic cowboy tunes to bluegrass, with a variety of guitars, mandolin, and banjo.

• March 9: March is for Music, featuring Elvis Presley impersonator Bill Schott, named one of the Top 10 Elvis Presley impersonators in the world at the International Images of Elvis competition held in 2004 in Memphis, Tenn.

• March 16: March is for Music, featuring the Beseler Sisters from Hazelton, N.D.  This is a walk down memory lane for those who remember the Andrews Sisters, and an opportunity for the younger ones to get acquainted with some of the great music from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

• March 30: March is for Music, featuring the Fauske Fiddlers of Bottineau, N.D., playing fiddle favorites from bygone years, from the songs of the voyagers to the fiddle music of Saturday night at the hall.

• April 6: April is for the Ancient Past, featuring a program about archaeology along the Missouri River in North Dakota, by Dr. Raymond Wood, professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Missouri in Columbia.            

• April 13: April is for the Ancient Past, “A City Built on Stilts: How Geology Influences Building Construction in Fargo and Other North Dakota Cities,” by Dr. Donald Schwert, professor of geology, North Dakota State University.

• April 20: April is for the Ancient Past, “Geothermal Energy: Another Affordable Energy Source in North Dakota,” by Dr. Lorraine Manz, geologist, North Dakota Geological Survey.

• April 27: April is for the Ancient Past, “The Dinosaur Origin of Birds,” by Dr. John Hoganson, state paleontologist, North Dakota Geological Survey.

May has been designated Preservation Month by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, serving as a showcase for America’s diverse and unique heritage.  During this month, thousands of state and local community groups will honor their heritage and bring historic preservation to the forefront of daily life in the United States.  The SHSND will join this celebration by featuring Sensational Sundays programs about history and preservation in North Dakota, all beginning at 2 p.m.

• May 4: Historic Preservation Month: Historic Buildings Series, focusing on historic buildings with a new, modern purpose housed in the craftsmanship of the state’s history.  For more information, call (701) 328-2672.

• May 11: Historic Preservation Month: Historic Buildings Series, focusing on historic buildings with a new, modern purpose housed in the craftsmanship of the state’s history. For more information, call (701) 328-2672.

• May 18: Historic Preservation Month: Historic Buildings Series, focusing on historic buildings with a new, modern purpose housed in the craftsmanship of the state’s history. For more information, call (701) 328-2672.

For more information, contact Marilyn Snyder, the SHSND’s curator of education, at (701) 328-2792, Janet Daley Jury, executive director of the North Dakota Humanities Council at (701) 255-3360 or visit the SHSND’s website at www.nd.gov/hist or the North Dakota Humanities Council website at www.nd-humanities.org.

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