The Prairie Village Museum is hosting Dr. Stephanie Coontz on Sunday, November 10th, 2019 at the Rugby High School Auditorium. She is the second speaker in a three-part lecture series focused on the American Dream. The talk begins at 2:00pm and is open to the public and free. It will be hosted at the Rugby High School Auditorium.

Dr. Stephanie Coontz will speak on about the history of marriage and wedding traditions with her fun lecture “Courting Trouble”. The talk is in conjunction with an exhibit featuring wedding dresses from 1880-1930 from the Prairie Village Museum collection. Stephanie Coontz is the Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families and emeritus faculty of History and Family Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She currently serves as an advisor to MTV for its anti-bias campaign. She is the author of five books on gender, family, and history, including Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage, which was cited in the US Supreme Court decision on marriage equality. She has edited and contributed chapters to more than 25 other books, and her writings have been translated into a dozen languages. In addition to long-form and academic writing, you may have seen her on television, including Oprah Winfrey, the Today Show, and PBS News Hour, or heard her interviewed on NPR. Coontz’s articles have appeared in both popular and academic media, from The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Journal of Marriage and Family.

Dr. Tom Isern will speak about the state of the farmer in North Dakota for the third and final part of the series. The Dakota Farmer lecture will be in conjunction with the travelling exhibit from the National Endowment for the Humanities titled “American Farmer” which will be on display at the Prairie Village Museum during April and May of 2020. Isern’s lecture is proving to be incredibly timely and relevant considering current conditions in the agricultural community. All three lectures are free and open to the public and funded by Humanities ND.

Humanities North Dakota is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to providing lifelong learning opportunities to the citizens of North Dakota. Established in 1974 as a partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, we are not a state agency. For more information please see their website.

The Geographical Center Historical Society’s mission is to document, preserve and interpret the history and ongoing story of North Central North Dakota for the people of the region and for visitors from around the world, through educational and entertaining programming and through displays of artifacts and historic buildings at Prairie Village Museum. More information about our programs and exhibits available on our website or check out our social media.

– Prairie Village Museum