50^th Annual Montana History Conference

Video Recordings

Building on the Past, the 50th annual Montana History Conference was held in Helena, September 28-30 at the Delta Colonial Hotel, the same hotel as the first conference in 1974.

If you missed a session because there were too many to choose from, or if you couldn’t make the conference, select a presentation from the links below to view a YouTube video recording. These videos can also be accessed in the 2023 Montana History Conference Playlist on the MTHS YouTube channel. In addition, you can find past conference programs or listen to session recordings here.

Friday, September 29

• Plenary Breakfast
  • 50 Things I Know about Montana, Kirby Lambert
• Concurrent Sessions (9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.)
  • Confronting the Past
    • The Dark Side of the Headwaters of the Missouri, Kira Axline
    • The Geddes Murder Trials: Gender, Race and Murder-for-Hire in Eastern Montana’s Criminal Justice System, Shane Dunning
  • Buildings with Purpose
    • Building Our Rural Schools in 1915, Lesley Gilmore
    • Grange Hall Lookouts, Sydney Bacon
• Concurrent Sessions (10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.)
  • Those Most in Need
    • Resurrecting the Dead: Helena's Poor Farm Cemetery, Jon Axline
    • Child Welfare and Rescue: Helena as a Hub of Social Services, Dr. Ellen Baumler
  • The Hidden Side
    • The Southside of Billings, 1882–1940, Kevin Kooistra
    • Forgotten Souls: The Lost Voices of Western Montana’s Restricted Districts, Sophia Etier
  • Preservation: Then, Now, Tomorrow
    • Extending Historic Preservation’s Grassroots in Montana: The Resource Protection Planning Process, 1983–1986., Carroll Van West
    • Building on the Past for a More Inclusive Future, Crystal Alegria and Sarah Rosenberg
• Plenary Luncheon
  • Apsáalooke Women and Warriors , Nina Sanders
• Concurrent Sessions (2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.)
  • Conservation Controversies
    • Dissenting Conservationist: Elers Koch and His Legacy, Dr. Mark Fiege
    • Almost Famous: The Bitterroot Controversy and the Fight for Sustainable Forest Management, Emily Swett and Matthew Werle
  • Making Montana Modern
    • Making Montana Modern, Paul Filicetti, Crystal Herzog, and Kate Geer
  • Growing Montana
    • The Big M: Montana’s Fruit Industry, the Big Fruit Boom, and Beyond, Kelsey Doncaster
    • Matador Cattle Co. Past to Present, Ray Marxer
• Concurrent Sessions (3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.)
  • What’s In a Name?
    • Renaming Montana’s Buildings and Peaks (audio only), Michael Reidy, Casey Pallister, PhD, and Carol Juneau
  • What Really Happened in Helena?
    • The Pilot Who Split the Spires (audio only), Ednor Therriault
    • Heartbreak Hotel: Urban Renewal in Montana’s Capital City, Paul Cartwright
  • Traveling Tales
    • James Hamilton Mills: A Diary from the Bozeman Trail, Charles Rankin
    • Catastrophe at Custer Creek, Ian Campbell Wilson
• Banquet and Keynote
  • Sacagawea’s Capture and the History of the Early West, Elizabeth Fenn

Saturday, September 30

• Bradley Breakfast
  • Remembering the 1977 Montana Women’s International Year Conference, Emily Arendt
• Concurrent Sessions (9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.)
  • Focus on Literature and Film
    • F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Month in Montana: Race, Class, and Western Mythology in The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, Stu Wilson and Melissa Barker
    • Film Censorship in the Treasure State: The Law of 1907, Daniel B. Wells
  • Persistence at High Elevation
    • Persistence at High Elevation: Uncovering the African American Mining Community at Homestake Pass, Mike Ryan, Ayme Swartz, Maryrose Hicko, Kaelle Daugherty, Alexandra Ore, Kristen Steadman, Janet Ore
  • Montanans You Should Know
    • Alma Smith Jacobs: An Exceptional Civil Rights Leader, Ken Robison
    • Rudy Autio: A Legacy Beyond the Studio., Jared Schmitz
    • “Dear People”: The Letters and Poetry of Harriette Cushman, Amy McKinney
• Concurrent Sessions (10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.)
  • Communist Controversies
    • Comradely Yours: Willis Wright and the Montana Communist Party and
      Disruptive Influence: Helen DeMark and the Montana Communist Party, Megan Sanford and Vernon Pedersen
  • A Woman’s Place
    • Feminists in Yellowstone: The New Woman Managers, Kathleen Michael
    • Changes in Expected Gender Roles as Reflected through Grieving Rituals, 1929–1945, Katherine Montana
  • Studying Snow and Fire
    • From Studies to Centers: Evolutions of Avalanche Research in the West, Alex Miller
    • Images, Metaphors, and Smoke: The 2000 Montana Bitterroot Fires and the Wildland-Urban Interface, Brant Short and Dayle Hardy-Short
• Plenary Luncheon
  • “A Worthy Ambition for a Chinese Girl”: The Changing Status of Chinese Women in Montana, 1860s to 1950s , Mark Johnson