Nancy Westlake Honored

Nancy Westlake

Nancy Westlake is a long time volunteer at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. She researched in the Laura Ingalls Wilder/Rose Wilder Lane Papers at the Hoover Library and constructed 4 lesson units on Wilder that are available for free on the Hoover Website. They are: “Pioneering Journeys of the Ingalls Family,” “De Smet, South Dakota in the 1880s,” “Farmer Boy,” and “Pioneer Counting Book.” These lesson units have proven very popular with teachers and were used extensively by the teachers at the first Teacher Day sponsored by the Ingalls Homestead.

Read them here:

http://hoover.nara.gov/LIW/index.html#educators

Westlake also works with Hoover Education Curator Mary Evans to put on interactive Iowa Communications Network presentations for classes of school children across Iowa. Westlake also does special tours with the Christmas exhibit and portrays Mary Todd Lincoln and Friendly Lucas (Iowa’s 1st Governor’s wife) when needed. Recently Westlake was honored by the NARA. She was chosen the 2009 Weidman Outstanding Volunteer Service Award. The ceremony was held at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. on December 3, 2009.

Celebrate Laura’s Birthday

Laurapoloza T-Shirt

Happy Birthday Laura! Celebrate the day by learning about Laurapoloza 2010, a Laura Ingalls Wilder Conference in Mankato, Minnesota this July. Please help spread the word. Registration is now open. You can also purchase one of these great T-Shirts for the celebration this summer.

http://beyondlittlehouse.com/2010/02/07/registration-begins-today

Notice who’s speaking on the publishing industry on Laura’s books.

New Laura Documentary Announced

Rocky Ridge Farmhouse

The Winter 2009/2010 issue of Rocky Ridge Review announces that the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum was partnering with Ozark Public Television to produce a documentary on Laura Ingalls Wilder. Tentatively titled Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Life Stories of a Pioneer Girl, the documentary will be filmed mostly around Mansfield, it will cover all of Laura’s life. It will feature both reenactments and a collection of archival images and documents. Tess Harper will narrate the documentary that is scheduled for release in Spring 2010.

OPT reports that they expect to have the documentary to the museum by April. They haven’t yet set an airdate yet, but plan to broadcast it on OPT. You may want to express your interest in seeing this production to your local PBS station.

Vote for Humanities Iowa

Vote for Humanities Iowa to receive a grant from Pepsi. Vote up to 10 times a day. You do have to register with an e-mail address.

http://www.refresheverything.com/humanitiesiowa

Well Done Ingalls Homestead!

Wagon at Ingalls Homestead

It looks like the slump in visitors to Laura sites in 2008 reversed itself in 2009. The South Dakota State Office of Tourism reports that tourism increased statewide, but among the particular examples they cited The Ingalls Homestead that reported a 13.5 percent increase in visitors in 2009 compared 2008. I was one of those visitors and will be again this year. I hope you will be too! Congrats to Tim, Joan, Ann and all our friends there!

http://www.ingallshomestead.com

Kitty Latane

Kitty Latane

I just got the sad news that Kitty Latane, the longtime editor of the Notes from Pepin – the official newsletter of the Laura Ingalls Wilder organization in Pepin, Wisconsin, has resigned from her position. Latane has done a marvelous job with this newsletter and I’m sure all of Laura fandom will join be in giving her a round of applause for all her hard work.

Kitty has been a major force in keeping the Laura in the Laura Ingalls Wilder Days in Pepin. She organizes the Buckskinner Rendezvous/traditional craft demonstration, the essay contest, and presents a fascinating program on Pepin’s history at the time Laura lived there and which buildings still remain from that time. Kitty is also the co-author of  The Village of Pepin at the Time of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Kitty is known worldwide as a tinsmith and she makes a limited edition tin cookie cutter in a Laura design each Laura day. Here’s Kitty’s website about her tinsmithing.

http://www.metalsmith.org/gall/lataneC/index.htm

Her husband Tom, who also does a lot with the craft demonstration, has a separate page with photos of their shop and forge. Be sure to visit their shop on the main street of Pepin if you visit.

http://www.metalsmith.org/gall/latane/index.htm

Number of One-Room Schools

Greenmead One-Room School

I’m often asked about the number of one-room schools in the United States. Bill Sherman, head of the one-room school branch of the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance

http://www.iowapreservation.org

and author of Landmarks of Education, gives his estimate.

“About 200 public one-room schools are operating in U.S. Number is declining. More than 1400 schools are operated by Amish groups.  Number is increasing.  There are about 400 one-room school programs operated by other religious groups–Mennonite and others plus some home schooling groups.  I use the figure approximately 2000. “

Winterfest 2010

The Johnson County Historical is part of Coralville’s Winterfest again this year and once again I’m going to be a part of it. I’m going to be doing a special Laura Ingalls Wilder Craft I invented, frost pictures without the frost. This is a photo of me working on it last year. Not the most flattering photo of me, but shows the kids enjoying making the frost pictures. Come by and join us.

Frost Pictures Craft

3rd Annual Coralville WinterFest, Sunday, January 31, 1-4 PM at the Coralville River Landing:

http://www.jchsiowa.org

Favorite Purchase

Loftus Suspenders

During my programs, I often point out how dangerous Laura collections are. Once you get to a certain tipping point, it gets harder to justify to yourself why you shouldn’t buy that 9th version of a stuffed Jack. (OK, it gets to be impossible – trust me – it’s an addiction.) That brings me to the point of today’s blog entry. Of all the stuff I got this summer just because I couldn’t bear not to my absolute favorite was this little number from the Loftus Store. It’s miniature mounted suspenders on a cardboard cutout of Pa’s shirt. It’s just too cute for words.

1876 Suspenders

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum in Burr Oak, Iowa has a pair of flowered suspenders from 1876.They are a good example of the kind of suspenders that the Ingalls women pooled their money to get Pa for Christmas during The Long Winter. This is what they look like.

Feel free to leave a comment with one of your favorite buys or finds.

Silver Dollar City Exhibit

A few times over the years Silver Dollar City has put on exhibits about Laura Ingalls Wilder. They had another one this fall. It was called Missouri’s Favorite Sons and Daughters. It not only featured Laura, but many other famous Missourians. Read more about it here:

http://www.explorebranson.com/media/article.php?id=49

See photos of the Laura part of the exhibit in the Winter 2009-2010 issue of Rocky Ridge Review.