The Montana Historical Society will kick off the fall season with the return of its popular public lecture series in September, while also joining forces with the Montana 250th Commission to host a statewide virtual book club in anticipation of the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026.
The lecture series, which regularly draws history enthusiasts from across the region, will be held on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Lewis and Clark Library, as well as on the second Wednesday of each month at Touchmark.
In addition, the new “Montana Reads: The Treasure State’s Book Club” will debut September 11 with a virtual discussion of Garrett Graff’s The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11. Graff himself will join the live Zoom event, which runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., in a program dedicated to honoring the victims of the September 11th attacks.
September Schedule
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Thursday, Sept. 4 – Rooted at the Edge: Ranching Where the Old West and New West Collide. Author and rancher Donna Erickson will discuss the tensions and opportunities on Montana’s urban-rural fringe, where farmland is both a family legacy and a target for development.
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Wednesday, Sept. 10 – Eastern Montana’s Eden: Irrigated Agriculture and the Lower Yellowstone Project. MTHS Library Manager Dan Karalus will trace how federal policy and local initiative transformed the agricultural landscape of eastern Montana.
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Thursday, Sept. 11 – Montana Reads: The Treasure State’s Book Club. The Montana 250 Commission hosts a live discussion with author Garrett Graff on his oral history of 9/11.
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Thursday, Sept. 18 – Twisted Tales: Growing Up and Old in the Mountains of Montana. Writer Ron Crawford will share vivid stories from his childhood in a mountain log cabin, with anecdotes of “old-timers, trappers, and miners” in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
All events are free and open to the public. Books featured in the September 4 and September 18 programs will be available for purchase and signing, and both sessions will be recorded and posted online.
“This series gives Montanans a chance to connect with their history while also looking at larger national stories,” organizers said, noting the lectures remain one of the Historical Society’s most popular public programs.