April 2012—Marquette University Libraries presents Dr. Herman J. Viola, curator emeritus at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The public lecture, in conjunction with the "Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country" exhibition, will be held in the Raynor Library Conference Center.
"The View From the River Bank"
April 25 (Wednesday), 2012, 4:30 p.m.
Conference Center, Beaumier Suites B/C
John P. Raynor, S.J., Library, Lower Level
1355 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee
Dr. Viola, a Marquette alumnus (B.A. and M.A.), received his Ph.D from Indiana University and was a curator at the Smithsonian Institution from 1972 until his retirement in 1998. He is a specialist in the history of the American West, the American Indian, and the Civil War. Dr. Viola will reveal how Native Americans contributed to the success of the Corps of Discovery. Lewis and Clark did not venture forth into an unknown wilderness. They actually had a Trip Tik of the region they explored based on a Blackfoot map collected by the Hudson's Bay Company. In truth, the expedition succeeded because the various tribes Lewis and Clark encountered formed a chain of friendship from St. Louis to the Pacific, providing them with food, guides, and geographical information along the way.
Dr. Viola has authored numerous books in his areas of specialty, including Exploring the West (1987), After Columbus: The Smithsonian Chronicle of the North American Indians (1990), Warrior Artists: Historic Cheyenne and Kiowa Indian Ledger Art (1998), and North American Indians (1996). He is also author of a middle school social studies textbook, Why We Remember (1997). His most recent book, Little Bighorn Remembered: the Untold Indian Story of Custer's Last Stand (1999), was selected by both Book of the Month Club and the Quality Paperback Club, and was a primary selection of the History Club.
Dr. Viola's lecture is the final event supporting the traveling Lewis and Clark exhibit, installed in
Raynor Library March 14 to April 27, 2012. Based on original documents in the rich
Native American collections of the Newberry Library and other institutions, the
exhibit examines Lewis and Clark's 1804 to 1806 expedition to the Pacific Ocean and
its encounter with more than 50 native tribes along the way. Read more about the exhibit
The lecture is free and open to the Marquette and Milwaukee communities. Members of the public without a Marquette ID should telephone the library archives by noon on April 24 to pre-register: (414) 288-7256. Two parking structures (Wells Street between 12th and 13th; and 16th St. between Wisconsin and Wells) are open to visitors for a fee; a campus map and driving directions to campus are here. Questions about any of the events may be addressed to archivist Bill Fliss by e-mail or phone (414) 288-5906.
Dr. Viola's lecture is sponsored by Raynor Memorial Libraries and the Badger State Chapter of the Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. The sponsors of the traveling exhibit, "Lewis & Clark and the Indian Country," are represented below.