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Evening Lectures
Evening
Lectures
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The Kittitas County Historical Museum hosts an annual Evening Lecture Series that features a variety of interesting topics and great presenters from all across the Pacific Northwest. Topics reflect ongoing exhibits, community and member interest, and aspects of local, state, and national history that spark conversation in a constructive manner.
Our presenters often come to us through the local community or through partnerships with organizations like the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau, a nonprofit organization dedicated to opening minds and bridging divides by creating spaces to explore different perspectives.
Our Evening Lecture Series is also made possible through the continued support of our Museum members and the generous donors who have made the Evening Lecture Series possible. Consider getting involved and supporting this great endeavor!
We truly appreciate everyone’s support and thank all of the members, attendees, supporters, and partnering organizations that make our Evening Lecture Series possible!
Please note: Each lecture in the series is scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM and is expected go for about 90 minutes, including Q&A (ending around 7:30 PM). Each lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets are requested for onsite/in-person attendance due to limited seating. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis through our online ticket processor, website, and social media pages. Standing room access and/or Virtual access may also be available depending on the evening lecture. Information on each specific lecture will be made available prior to each event. If a presentation is cancelled, there is no guarantee that it will be rescheduled.
Our annual Evening Lecture Series is certainly one not to miss!
2025 Evening Lecture Series:
Join us for this great, free evening lecture series! We will be announcing more information soon!
Dates: Presenters and Topics TBA!
For tickets or more information, visit the event calendar by clicking here!
Please note:
While these dates have been largely confirmed by our presenters, they are always subject to change. Information, including any rescheduling or cancellation, will be published prior to each respective lecture event.
Seating space is limited in the Kittitas County Historical Museum. All onsite/in-person events are limited to 75 seats. Tickets for onsite/in-person events can be found here.
Tickets are highly recommended for all evening lectures and are free and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Standing room may be available but is not guaranteed.
Any updates to ticket information, event details, and any hybrid or live-streaming options (and possible recordings) will be posted online prior to each lecture event.
In the event a presentation is cancelled, there is no guarantee that it may be rescheduled.
We greatly appreciate everyone’s support and thank the members, presenters, attendees, supporters and partnering organizations like Humanities Washington for making our lecture series possible!
2024 Evening Lecture Series:
We have concluded the 2024 Annual Evening Lecture Series and we greatly appreciate everyone’s support who made this year possible!! We especially thank the members, presenters, attendees, supporters, and partners like Humanities Washington; and look forward to seeing everyone again next year!
March 28, 2024: Chris Herrera, “Ellensburg Blue Agates” (click for YouTube video)
**April 19, 2024: Special Author Event: Eric Vickrey, “Season of Shattered Dreams” (click for YouTube video)
May 9, 2024: Harriet Baskas, “Weird, Wonderful, and Worrisome Objects in Washington State’s Museums”
May 23, 2024: Ana Maria Spagna, “PUSHED: Miners, a Merchant, and (Maybe) a Massacre” (click for YouTube video)
September 26, 2024: Amanda Van Lanen, “Big Apples, Big Business: How Washington Became the Apple State”
October 1, 2024: John Halliday, “What is a Chief? How Native Values Can Teach Resilience”
October 3, 2024: Diane Johnston, “And It Has Pockets! The Battle for Women’s Clothing Equality”
October 17, 2024: Steve Edmiston, “UFO Northwest: How Washington State Spawned the Men In Black”
October 29, 2024: Julia Stringfellow, “Impactful Women and Their Contributions in Ellensburg History” (click for YouTube video)
November 14, 2024: (CANCELLED DUE TO PRESENTER ILLNESS): Nikolai J. Simurdak and Patrick T. McCutcheon, “Working with What You Have: Re-assessing Archaeological Data Potential in the Grissom Site (45KT301), Kittitas County, WA”
2023 Evening Lecture Series: Placed on Hiatus
2023 Special [Onsite] Lectures and Programs:
October 28, 2023 & November 4, 2023: Alma Gómez, “Pine Needle Basketry | The Journey of Master Artist Alma Gómez”
December 16, 2023: Randy Lewis, “The Healing Power of Remembering”
2022 Evening Lecture Series:
April 21, 2022: Eric Wagner, “After the Blast: Mount St. Helens 40 Years Later”
May 12, 2022: Ross Reynolds, “How Audio Technology Changed the World”
June 2, 2022: Rebecca Hom, “Mary Louise Webster and the WASP | Women’s Airforce Service Pilots” (click for YouTube video)
September 22, 2022: Dave Benscoter, “The Lost Apples of the Inland Empire” (click for YouTube video)
October 13, 2022: Steve Olson, “Atomic Washington: Our Nuclear Past, Present, and Future”
November 3, 2022: Karl Lillquist, “Mountain Snowshoes and the Kittitas Basin: The Prater Family Link” (click for YouTube video)
2021 [Onsite] Evening Lecture Series: Cancelled
2020 [Onsite] Evening Lecture Series: Cancelled
2020 Special [Virtual] Lectures and Programs:
August 21, 2020: In partnership with the Washington State Historical Society, “Suffrage Special Whistle Stop Tour: Ellensburg,” (click the link to visit their YouTube page for video)
November 19, 2020: In partnership with the Key City Public Theatre, May’s Vote
2019 Evening Lecture Series:
March 28, 2019: “The Gamble: The Washington Potato Story” documentary showing (click for YouTube video)
April 11, 2019: Ty Phelan, “African American Baseball History in Central Washington (1888-1941)” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
April 25, 2019: Kelsey Doncaster, “Apple A Day: A History of Apple Box Labels” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
May 9, 2019: Trillium-239, “Music with a Message: Songs of Social Change”
May 23, 2019: CANCELLED due to presenter illness
June 5, 2019: Hank Cramer, “FIRST IN: Green Berets In Vietnam, 1957” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
September 26, 2019: Feliks Banel, “Storm Warning: Historic Weather in the Evergreen State”
October 10, 2019: Nick Zentner, “Plant Fossils of the Pacific Northwest”
October 24, 2019: Harriet Baskas, “Washington on Wheels: Odd and Innovative Transportation Ideas from the Pacific Northwest”
November 7, 2019: Rex Buck, Jr., “Story of the Wanapum People”
2019 Special Event/Lecture:
October 11, 2019: Nick Zentner, “Central Washington’s Greatest Hits….Geologically” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
2018 Evening Lecture Series:
March 29, 2018: Nick Zentner, “Is Mt. Stuart from Mexico?” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
April 19, 2018: John Lundin, “Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
May 10, 2018: John Jensen, “Hollywood and the Homefront: Tinsel Town’s Contribution to World War II”
May 31, 2018: John Marshall, “Fire and Forests through the Lens of Time” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
September 20, 2018: Trillium-239, “Bandanas to Badges: Songs and Stories of Northwest Workers”
October 4, 2018: Harriet Baskas, “The Ancient Fruitcake: What Really, Really Old Food Tells Us about History, Culture, Love, and Memory”
October 18, 2018: Kelsey Doncaster, “Lost Photographs of the Kittitas Division of the Yakima Project” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
November 1, 2018: Allen Aronica, “The Kittitas People” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
2017 Evening Lecture Series:
April 13, 2017: Kelsey Doncaster: “Dynamite, Draglines and the Unexplained Cracking of a Pressure Tunnel: Building the Kittitas Division of the Yakima Project” (recorded; click for video)
May 11, 2017: Feliks Banel: “Diamonds in the Ether: Tuning In to Northwest Radio History”
September 21, 2017: Mick Qualls, “The Life and Times of Ben Snipes” (recorded; click to visit our Facebook page for video)
October 12, 2017: David George Gordon: “Sasquatch: Man-Ape or Myth?”
November 2, 2017: Lorraine McConaghy: “Washington at War: The Evergreen State in World War I”
