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State History Conference coming up April 27-28 in Rapid City

The 2018 South Dakota State Historical Society History Conference will be held April 27–28 at the Ramkota Best Western Hotel in Rapid City.

The conference theme this year is “Infinite Variety: Past, Present, Future.” Sessions will be focused on a number of themes about the variety of South Dakota’s people, both ancient and modern, and about what made us what we are.

“Our archaeology staff in Rapid City has lined up an excellent list of speakers,” said Jay D. Vogt, director of the State Historical Society, located at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. “We encourage people to attend our conference and network with other people interested in learning more about South Dakota history.”

The speaker at Friday’s luncheon will be Bill Walsh. His talk, “A Tale of Two States: Myth or Reality?” will take a look at the state’s famous East River/West River cultural gap. The results of this year’s election of the State Historical Society board of trustees will be announced during that luncheon.

Other speakers include Lynn Alex, Dr. Linea Sundstrom, M. J. Adams, Brian Stambaugh, Rick Mills, Dr. David Wolff, Mike Runge, Dr. Lilah Morton Pengra, Dr. Craig Howe, Dr. David Posthumus, Dr. Armik Mirzayan, Francis Whitebird, Dr. Molly Rozum, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve and Mike Casler.

There will be a pre-conference “Meet the Authors and Book Signing” event on Thursday evening at Arrowhead Country Club and a conference reception at the Dahl Arts Center on Friday evening.

The annual Governor’s Awards for History will be awarded at Saturday’s luncheon.

One teacher certificate renewal credit is being offered through the state Department of Education.

For more information about the conference or to register, visit history.sd.gov or call 605-773-6000.

About the South Dakota State Historical Society
The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Education. The State Historical Society, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call 605-773-3458 or visit www.history.sd.gov for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call 605-394-1936 for more information.