Shannon Smith is author of Give me Eighty Men: Women and the Myth of the Fetterman Fight. Her work focuses on women in the West and in Wyoming particularly. From 2002-2009 she taught at Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

She currently serves as executive director for Wyoming Humanities, our state’s affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and one of 56 state and territorial humanities councils. She grew up in Gordon, Nebraska, 15 miles south of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and attended the University of Nebraska earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s in American History.

Meet on the museum’s lawn with your folding chair and beverage of choice to listen to regional expert Shannon Smith share her knowledge with us.

Free event and open to all ages.

Free Public Program featuring live music, storytelling, video, and discussion.

Between 1854 and 1929 over 250,000 orphans and surrendered children were sent west on trains to find new homes in every state in the US. This is their story.

“We are going to have to take upon ourselves a continuing and disciplined effort with no real hope that in our lifetime we are going to be able to take a vacation from the struggle for justice.” – Rev. James Reeb, final sermon at All Souls UU in DC, 1965.

Join The Table and the Casper Mural Project for the unveiling of a mural honoring the life and legacy of Rev. James Reeb.

The evening’s activities include:
** 5:30pm: Public Reveal & Celebration
 East-facing wall of 225 S. David Street
** 6pm: Reception inside The Lyric
  230 W. Yellowstone HWY
** 6:30pm: Storytelling & Panel Discussion

Featured Panelists:
* Investigative Journalists & co-hosts of NPR’s White Lies Podcast, Chip Brantely and Andrew Beck Grace
* Members of the Reeb family
* Ammon Medina, Wyoming author & human empathizer

What lessons from the death of Rev. James Reeb in Selma, AL in 1965 apply to Wyomingites in 2019?

Rev. James Reeb was murdered by segregationists is Selma, AL in 1965. He had responded to the call of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for allies to join civil rights workers in marching from Selma to Montgomery.  Then, as now, race relationships in America cause divisions of life and death proportions. Rev. Reeb was deeply shaped by his growing up in Casper, WY. He chose to have his ashes spread in the Shirley Basin. Wyoming cannot escape its own history of division between races and ethnic identities.

Rev. Reeb’s life and legacy is one of compassion – an ever increasing capacity for neighboring those around him. Instead of seeing fellow citizens as “other” Rev. Reeb sought to understand each person as a fellow human, with needs, loves and dreams. It was this spirit of curiosity that lead to a greater capacity for seeking justice for self and all those around him. He understood the depth to which Dr. King’s civil rights leadership and work sought lasting peace.

In this panel discussion we will explore how injustices in Wyoming then & now lead us to seek the presence of justice for ourselves and our neighbors.

Free Public Program featuring live music, storytelling, video, and discussion.

Between 1854 and 1929 over 250,000 orphans and surrendered children were sent west on trains to find new homes in every state in the US. This is their story.