Magera and students present final summer lectureMuseum News

Magera and students present final summer lecture

Museum News

The final program on the summer lecture series will feature Jim Magera. The Havre High School history teacher opened this year's series with a program on Lewis and Clark in this section of Montana and now will close the series with a wrap-up of local history by two students of his special history project.

The students are 2002 graduates Kris Anderson and Katie Miller. They will show their expertise on Wednesday in the foyer of the Heritage Center at 7 p.m.

Magera will serve as program moderator, explaining the format of the class, which is an elective for juniors and seniors who have completed an earlier course on Montana history under his program. Each student will provide an audio-visual program covering the genealogy of their family. The second prong of each presentation will cover special research and/or skills developed from class.

Magera was born and grew up in St. Regis, a town close to the Idaho border and also close to the Flathead Indian Reservation, where Magera's interest in the Nez Perce tribe developed through acquaintance with the Salish and Kootenai people. He is employed as a seasonal ranger at the Bear Paw Battlefield south of Chinook and, as he puts it, "is temporarily in charge." A tour under his guidance is a must for all truly interested in the Nez Perce, Lewis and Clark, and Western history.

Choosing students to make presentations was no chore, according to Magera. The first two he asked said yes. We are, indeed, blessed.

Katie Miller will talk about both her mother's Clausen family and her father's people, the Millers. Her mother is the preschool teacher at First Lutheran Church. The Clausens came to America from the Scandinavian countries. Her father is superintendent of the Havre school system and his family emigrated from Russia. Katie has material for a book. The second portion of her presentation has to do with people associated with Fort Assinniboine who are a part of our community today. Katie researched Magera's papers to provide the material she is using. Magera is archivist for the Friends of Fort Assinniboine Association.

The second speaker is Kris Anderson, son of Cheryl and Dave Anderson. His parents are divorced and Chris lives with his mother. He is researching the history of Forest and Anna Rutledge, who immigrated to the Big Sandy area from Little Rock, Wash. His mother attended Northern Montana College, where she met her future husband. Today, she is bookkeeper for Rector, Olson and Jestrab dental clinic. The second portion of Chris' program is an illustration of how to teach a fourth-grade school class about the tepee. Seemingly, he met the challenge very well.

Both students are planning on college in the fall. Katie will enter Montana State University-Northern to major in graphic design. At present her compelling interest is animation. Anderson is, at present, in Bozeman for college orientation and plans to major in some field of botany. He has worked all through high school. His first endeavor was as a volunteer for John Brumley's archaeology research at Fort Assinniboine, where he showed great promise and initiative. He is employed at the Lon Wade ranch in the Bear Paws. September should find him at Montana State University-Bozeman.

The summer lecture program will now give way to the Great Northern Fair. But don't forget the exhibition of the Capitol restoration in October in the museum gallery, and please take part in the first Montana Historical Society Conference ever to be held in Havre, also in October.

After 12 years of heading the Summer Lecture Program, Elinor Clack is turning the direction of the program back to the present museum board. She has enjoyed the many contacts and stimulation given by the speakers and thanks those who have attended over the years, but it is time to evaluate the worth of the program, perhaps change time and format. She will always miss the days of the programs in the Faber log school.

At the present time, Clack and Hagener are looking forward to completing the restoration of the museum displays. The pressure to meet a deadline for the museum opening left some errors to correct and obsolete displays to replace to more adequately mirror the history of north-central Montana. Coal mining, bootlegging and a more accurate picture of Hill County's story in the many war periods are needed. We would like to bring you up to date on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, from its beginning to today's sophistication and growth. We shall welcome your input and advice. After all, it is your museum.