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Conference highlights Chinese history in Idaho
A conference that will highlight the influence and contributions of the Chinese immigrants to the history of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest followed by a jet boat trip to Hells Canyon will be held June 18-19 as part of the Chinese Remembering 2009, co-sponsored by the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude and Lewis-Clark State College.
The conference, which will be he held on June 18 in the Orchid Room at Morgan’s Alley in downtown Lewiston, will feature six lectures and discussions. On June 19
On Friday, June 19, participants can take part in an all-day historically interpreted jet boat trip into Hells Canyon to sites once thought occupied by Chinese miners.
A registration fee of $15 on June 18 will cover a luncheon catered by Mandarin Pine Restaurant in Lewiston. A $100 registration fee will be charged for the day-long jet boat trip that is limited to 100 passengers.
The goals of the conference are to further educate, to continue to bring cultures together, and to specifically explore and generate interest in the history and culture of the Chinese in the region.
The speakers and their topics for the June 18 conference are:
Allen Pinkham – “The Nez Perce Trail Systems: Road to the Mines.” Pinkham is a Nez Perce historian. He is currently collaborating with a retired LCSC history professor on a book pertaining to area history.
Carole Simon-Smolinski – “A Lot More Went In Than Came Out: Mining in Hells Canyon.” Simon-Smolinski is a retired professor at LCSC and a scholar of Pacific Northwest history. She is the author of the recently published history of Hells Canyon entitled “Hells Canyon & the Middle Snake River: A Story of the Land and Its People.”
Priscilla Wegars – Wegars is a recognized authority of the history of the Chinese in the West. She is the author of “Chinese at the Confluence: Lewiston’s Beuk Aie Temple” and has edited and contributed to several scholarly publications.
Garry Bush – “A Visual History of the Lewiston Clarkston Valley.” Bush is a retired educator. He is director of Idaho Historical Tours, conducts historical research, is a historical re-enactor, and is a member of the Lewiston City Council.
Terry Abraham – “Not ‘Ancestor Worship’: Chinese Funerary Customs in the West.” Abraham is retired Head of Special Collections & Archives at the University of Idaho library. He had done historical research on a variety of topic areas including the Chinese in the West.
R. Gregory Nokes – “A Most Daring Outrage: Murders at Chinese Massacre Cove, 1887.” Nokes is former associate editor of The Oregonian in Portland, Oregon. He has conducted extensive historical research. Oregon State University will be publishing his book on the massacre in the fall of 2009.
Additional support for the conference is being provided by the Idaho State Historical Society, the Idaho Humanities Council, and several local entities.
For additional information or to register, contact the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude by calling (208) 962-2050 or e-mailing at museum@stgertrudes.org
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