Thursday, April 28, 2005

 

Okie in Muskogee

I ... am ... outta here! Headin' to Muskogee for this, finally -- my first-ever non-student presentation at a history conference.

Dr. ER has whipped up a kick-ass Power Point slide presentation, using photos she took down in "Little Dixie" -- southeastern Oklahoma -- a couple of years ago, at Boddy Depot Cemetery, some art I acquired from the Oklahoma Historical Society, a great image of "The Guardian," the American Indian statue atop the Oklahoma Capitol Dome, and some close-ups of some 1849-1851 newspaper articles.

It will greatly enhance my patented rambling-and-reading-and-rambling-some-more delivery. She hates that I read a lot when I do these kinds of presentations.

"You know this stuff better than they do," she'll say.

Maybe, but not necessarily. Lots of armchair historians in Oklahoma can put some perfessional historians to shame.

Besides that, when I'm writing about writing, I prefer to let the writing I'm writing about speak for itself -- and the only way to get that across in a presentation is to read. It kills me to paraphrase others' persuasive writing, so I usually don't. Interpret it, sure. But I let the writers speak for themselves first.

It'll be fun. It being persuasive writing, anti-whiskey stuff mostly by a frontier preacher and a missionary's son, it's good writing -- the kind that makes for great oratory when read aloud. A little erudite redneck theater thrown in, and it'll be fine.

Be back here Sunday night. Feel free to browse my archives, he said in a shameless attempt to keep his hits up while he's gone. Wish me luck!

--ER

P.S. I've put the conference agenda in the comments for anyone interested.

Comments:
OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
2005 Annual Meeting
April 28, 29, 30
Muskogee, Oklahoma

SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES
Thursday, April 28, 2005

Bus Tour: On Thursday afternoon, the bus tour will include stops at the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah and the OHS's George M. Murrell Home in Park Hill. Buses depart from and return to the Hampton Inn. Cost is $15.00, which includes all admission fees.

Evening at the Fort: On Thursday evening, enjoy a wonderful meal and tours of the OHS's Fort Gibson Historic Site at 907 N. Garrison in the town of Fort Gibson. Following the meal, members and guests will tour Fort Gibson's buildings and exhibits and take an abbreviated candlelight tour featuring reenactors in a period setting. Cost of the meal and tours is $15.00.

SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES
Friday, April 29, 2005

Paper presentations on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, will take place in the Synar Conference Center at Northeastern State University--Muskogee Campus, 2400 W. Shawnee. The luncheon and awards banquet on Friday, April 29, will be held in the Commons of the NSU-Muskogee Administration Building.

Paper Presentations: 8:30 am - 10:00 am

Session I
"Forgotten Warriors: The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments of the Indian Home Guards," Arnold Schofield, Chief Research Historian, Fort Scott National Historic Site

"Why the Five Tribes Embraced the Confederate Cause," Mark L. "Beau" Cantrell, Attorney and Curator, Confederate Memorial Hall, OHS

Session II
"New Deal Art and the Five Civilized Tribes: The Legacy of Woody Crumbo, Solomon McCombs, and Acee Blue Eagle," Sally Soelle, Dean, School of Liberal Arts, Cameron University

"The Partnership of a College and a Nation: A Near-Century of Cooperation between Murray State College and the Chickasaw Nation," William D. Pennington, President, Murray State College

Session III
"The Last of the Seminole Tribe from Florida," Mary F. McCormick, Educator, Seminole

"The Seminole Negro Indian Scouts," Sharon Heist, Indian Historian, New Mexico

Paper Presentations: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Session IV
"Mixed-Blood Families and Everyday Life in the Old Choctaw Nation," Donna L. Akers, Assistant Professor of History, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

"Sobering News: Choctaw Temperance Reporting and Civic Journalism," Erudite Redneck, Edmond, Oklahoma.

Session V
"Ben Pikey: A Good Man Gone," Betty S. Smith, Treasurer, OKC Metro Chickasaw Community Council, Edmond

"The Jefferson Highway," Emmy Scott Stidham, OHS Board of Directors, Checotah

Session VI
"The Sequoyah Convention," Chad Smith, Chief, Cherokee Nation, and Wyman Kirk, Coordinator, Language Planning Committee, Cherokee Nation

"The Expatriate Phenomenon: Cherokee Displacement in the 1900s," Julia Coates, Instructional Designer, Cherokee Nation, and President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California

Luncheon: Meal and Address by Gary E. Moulton, Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and editor of the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His presentation entitled "Lewis and Clark's New Look" will focus on the evolving interpretation of the expedition in relation to late-20th-century interests and the new ways of judging the character and reputation of the expedition's leaders. The cost of the luncheon is $18.00.

Annual Meeting of the Membership: State of the Society Address, Announcements, and Swearing-in of new OHS Board members.

Annual Awards Banquet: Meal and Presentation of Awards. The cost of the banquet is $25.00.

SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES
Saturday, April 30, 2005

Paper Presentations: 8:30 am - 10:00 am

Session VII
"Health and Healing in the Three Forks during the 1820s," Carl K. Buckner, Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of Oklahoma

"The Hominy Indians: Oklahoma’s Professional Football Club," Sara Jane Richter, Dean, School of Liberal Arts, Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Session VIII
"Clan Revenge or Murder?: Constitutional and Social Adaptation Reflected in 19th-Century Cherokee Murder Trials," Anne E. Richardson, Doctoral Candidate, Texas Christian University

"Pursuing Justice: The Prosecution and Persecution of Chickasaw Nation Leaders in 1905," Richard Green, Tribal Historian, Chickasaw Nation

Session IX
"The Last Stand of Mary Escoe: A Fight for Ethnic Identity," Susan R. Sharrock, Attorney and Anthropologist, Bristow, and Tara L. Patrick, Social Worker and Women’s Counselor, Tulsa

"Migration and Settlement by the Five Tribes and African Americans," Robert Littlejohn, Research Scientist, Tulsa

Paper Presentations: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Session X
E. C. Boudinot: A Life on the Cherokee Border," James W. Parins, Associate Director, Sequoyah Research Center, University of Arkansas-Little Rock

"The Life and Career of Grant Foreman," William D. Welge, Director, Research Division, OHS

Session XI
"Skullduggery: Geronimo and Yale’s Skull and Bones Society," David Miller, Professor of History, Cameron University

"Geronimo: The Man and the Myth," Towana Spivey, Director, Fort Sill Museum

Session XII
"Conquest by Law: The ‘Discovery Doctrine’ and Its Implication for the Five Tribes," Lindsay G. Robertson, Professor of Law and Faculty Director, American Indian Law and Policy Center, University of Oklahoma

"Indispensable Friendship: The Southern Indians and George Washington’s Indian War," Robert M. Owens, Assistant Professor of History, Wichita State University
 
ER, this looks to be something you'd really enjoy. I hope you have fun. And I think it'd be worth poppin' by to see just how many of these folks actually do look like you.

That cloning of ER is a scary thought, that's for sure
 
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 
It's an okiemoron.
 
Dear Erudite,

You are a thinking man. Ponder this: Why are you anonymous? Isn't it because of the organization for which you work? It's right-wing. It's vindictive agin' those who aren't. You've seen how the people who stand up for honest journalism are treated there. Does this little blog of yours cleanse your conscience?
 
My conscious is not troubled. I work for hire, for a good paper. This blog gives me an opportunity to voice opinions that I would not be allowed to voice, no matter where I worked; I have suspended my right to voice my personal opinion publicly for nigh on 20 years as a professional journalist. Further, the paper I work for is not right-wing, it is conservative, in some ways the same way I am, in others not. What, pray tell, is honest journalism? The freedom of the press means nothing unless it means people who own presses -- and I do not -- can operate them as they see fit. Press freedom is not this misty, semi-mystical ideal that people think it is. It is constitutional license to do what you damn well please with a press, if you own one. This is all I have to say on this subject. No further comments, or questions, about my place of employment, please. That is one thing. This is another.
 
What about comments from those of us who still work at your work place? If I'm ousted, that'd suck.
 
Nobody is ousted, Teditor. The commenter-questioner just came as close as I care to see anyone engaging me in a conservation regarding my employer, and what I think about its views versus my own. Vague references to the work place are one thing. Specifics are another. I reserve the right to draw the line. I remain anonymous because I choose to remain anonymous on this place. Period. The commenter seemed to make an assumption that is false. I like where I work and I like that I work there. But, I just work there.
 
Dang, I feel like I live there. Or here, from whichever place I choose to blog.
 
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