Story last updated at 7/15/2010 - 1:52 pm
JUNEAU - New York University professor Michelle Dent will be in Juneau this week offering a local history workshop for writers, artists and historians.
Sponsored by the Alaska Humanities Forum and several museums in the state,Dent is undertaking a local history project involving stops across the state, including Metlakatla, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines, Cordova and Valdez.
Dent's visit to Juneau will include a kickoff lecture at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 16 at the Valley library, and a workshop 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, July 17.
The event is free and open to the public. All levels of writers, artists and history buffs are invited. According to Dent, curiosity about the past is the only pre-requisite.
The description of the project offered on the Alaska Humanities Forum website is as follows: "In 1908 the Department of the Interior commissioned Mrs. Mary E. Hart as a Special Agent of to the Alaska Building of the 1909 Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition in Seattle. Mrs. Hart was convinced that the work of native and non native women was necessary to the development of a thriving Alaska infrastructure, to official territory status, and to eventual statehood. Her assignment was to organize a network of women's auxiliaries throughout Southeast and Southcentral Alaska.
"In the Summer of 2010, project director Michelle Dent will recreate Hart's steamship journey from Seattle to Alaska. Along the way she will stop in many of the original locations. At each site, there will be a kick-off presentation about the women's auxiliaries and the 1909 world's fair, which will open pathways for participants in developing their own projects. The opening lecture will be followed by workshops where participants work with photographic images, primary sources, and social networking sites."
To register or for more information, contact Michelle Dent at mld203@nyu.edu or 917-670-8217.
