Montana Historical Society Kicks Off Fall Lectures

The Montana Historical Society announces the start of its fall lecture series with two exciting talks in honor of Labor Day and Public Lands Day.

On Sept. 7, State Archivist Rich Aarstad will present “Thugs and Thuggery: Montana Union Bosses Behaving, Badly?” Montana has long held the reputation of being the bastion of organized labor in the Rocky Mountains, seeing the birth of its first union in 1866. Organized labor helped build the Montana we know and love today, but included some rascals, scoundrels, and criminals along the way.

Join Aarstad in a romp through a century of Montana labor leaders who were charged with “behaving badly,” and judge for yourself whether they did in fact stray outside the boundaries of law and decency.

On Sept. 21, Montana-based author John Clayton will take us on a journey to discover an origin story for public lands, with a climax in Montana. Although many people today think of public lands as an American birthright, their very existence was at one point in doubt. John will draw on his experience writing “Natural Rivals: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and the Creation of America’s Public Lands” and copies of his book will be available for purchase.

Programs are co-sponsored by the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena and are held every other Thursday at 6:30 PM in the Library’s Large Meeting Room. Community members of all ages are invited to attend. Recordings will be posted on the MTHS YouTube channel.

For more information, contact Laura Marsh at laura.marsh@mt.gov or 406-444-6843.