HELENA — Historians from throughout the state and beyond are gathered in Helena for Montana Historical Society’s 50th annual Montana History Conference.
“It gives us kind of one event that people can come to. Montana's a big state. Sometimes people can only attend one conference. So, we try to get some of that professional training in, some of that networking time, and some of that learning time all into one space,” says the Director of Montana Historical Society, Molly Kruckenberg.
This year’s theme is Building on the Past. The theme builds on the idea of the work that has gone into researching and understanding Montana’s history throughout the past 5 decades during this conference and beyond. It also alludes to the building of the Montana Heritage Center.
Three hundred and fifty attendees are taking part in the conference which spans from Thursday through Saturday. The conference began on Thursday with field trips, workshops, and trainings. Friday consisted of various lectures and talks. And Saturday will be a combination of both.
Kruckenberg says that bringing historians from all around the state and beyond allows for all these people to gather in one spot face to face and share ideas and research.
“We bring people from across the state, really across the country, who are studying Montana history, learning about Montana history. We bring all those folks together so we can share our stories and share what we're learning with one another and just kind of create a network for Montana history,” says Kruckenberg.
Bruce Mihelish is from Missoula and helps educate over 2,000 kids annually as a volunteer out at Traveller’s Rest State Park. He speaks to them about Indian education and Lewis and Clark. He says that it’s important to keep our history in mind as we head into the future.
“It’s keeping the story alive. We need to know where we came from and how we got here. And these conferences keep the story alive,” says Mihelish.
