Montana Historical Society September Programs

The Montana Historical Society once again is offering a wide range of programs at its Helena facility, but you don’t have to attend most of them in person to enjoy history.

The programs range from information on the reality of childbearing in the Old West to the MTHS director’s vision for the new Montana Heritage Center. The programs are at the MTHS auditorium at 225 No. Roberts St., and livestreamed on the MTHS YouTube channel unless otherwise noted.

Programs include:

• September 1, 4:30 PM. Midway Bravery – A talk and book signing with Dennis Gaub. Army Air Force pilot Jim Muri flew his torpedo-equipped B-26 bomber on a daring mission of survival that helped win the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Lt. Col. Muri became a household name to a nation yearning for heroes in the dark early months of World War II. He grew up during the Great Depression in drought-stricken Eastern Montana, and wanted a better life, so Muri pursued his dream of becoming a pilot, and survived an iconic mission in the Pacific that helped turn the tide of battle in World War II.

• September 8, 4:30 PM. Waiting for the Revolution – A talk and book signing with Jo Anne Troxel. Homesteading and the land; the communist/socialist movement in Northeastern Montana; and a love affair that shocked the mores of a small Montana town are woven together in this fascinating true tale of the author’s parents, who were communist/socialist organizers in the 1920s and 1930s in Plentywood, Montana. Although each was married to someone else, and had young children, they fell in love and caused a scandal, especially when it was rumored that they had children together.

• September 10, 1:30-3:30 PM. Pop-Up Exhibit, back by popular demand. Join collectors at this Second Saturday Pop-up Exhibit, at which community members from Helena and the surrounding areas will showcase their private collections from 1:30 PM -3:30 PM. Admission is free on Second Saturdays, so after viewing the popup exhibit, visitors are invited to tour the Society’s other exhibits. This session will not be recorded or shared live.

• September 14, 4:30 PM. A Black Woman’s West: The Life of Rose B. Gordon – A talk and book signing with Prof. Michael Johnson. Born in the Barker mining district of central Montana Territory, Rose Beatrice Gordon (1883-1968) was the daughter of an African American chef and an emancipated slave who migrated to the West in the early 1880s, eventually settling in White Sulphur Springs, where Rose lived most of her life. She operated a restaurant, was a massage therapist, caregiver, writer, and so much more. Rose Gordon established a distinctive public voice as an African American woman, as a Montanan, and as a writer of local and western history.

• September 21, Noon – Vision of the New Montana Heritage Center. Join Molly Kruckenberg, director of the Montana Historical Society, as she updates the community regarding the new Heritage Center and shares her vision for this awe-inspiring building. Kruckenberg also will discuss the importance of preserving the objects that tell our stories, some of which date back to the Ice Age, as MTHS prepares to transfer them into the new facility, which will open in 2025.

• September 22, 4:30 PM. East of the East Side – A talk and book signing with Christy Leskovar. Two world wars shook the lives of a Slovenian peasant boy who became a concert bassoonist and had to flee Paris when the First World War began; a Viennese kitchen maid who received money from a mysterious benefactor and moved to America; a scrappy undaunted saloon owner (the old Rock Hut in East Helena) who faced off against one of the most powerful men in Montana; and an outrageous girl who grew up in a Wild West saloon.

• September 29, 4:30 PM. Mothers and Midwives in the Rockies and Plains – A talk and book signing with Jennifer Hill. In Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming childbirth had historically high rates of maternal and infant death. Often miles away from physicians, women turned to other women, fellow mothers, and midwives, to help deliver their babies. Hill will explore how women exercised control over their own health and wellbeing and how they lost that power as physicians claimed more authority over reproductive health.