Celebrate Montana history with us! Your interest and love of Montana’s past energizes our work. With your help, more real stories of the past can be shared and more history is preserved for future generations. We invite you to enjoy, engage, explore, know, visit,and preserve Montana history by joining and supporting the Montana Historical Society.
Upcoming Films and Events
Saturday, June 8, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Second Saturday at MHS
Sponsored by Intrepid Credit Union, Second Saturday at MHS features free admission all day long and drawings for door prizes. Free admission is also offered at the Original Governor’s Mansion, 304 N. Ewing, where tours begin on the hour at noon, 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 8, 1:30 p.m., Romancing the West’s “Time Travels through the American West”
Singer/songwriter Christina Lynn Martin and Cowboy Poet and Balladeer Butch Martin use historic photographs, rare film, video, live poetry, and original music to tell America’s story of western expansion, including the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of the peoples who, over time, called the West home. As the show moves from the old West into the modern West, the music ranges from traditional Western and folk/Celtic to jazz, big band, and pop/rock. Their performance also features special tributes to veterans, national parks, and hometown America.
This April marked the fifth consecutive year of the show’s touring in National Trail Centers, concert series, and theaters. The Martin’s Mission continues to be “to foster love and respect for our fellow man and the love of this land by telling the sometimes-painful story of western expansion and celebrating the diverse cultures whose stories continue to inform and inspire our Nation and our world.” The couple make their home in a log cabin in Oregon’s Applegate Valley at Cougar Mountain Ranch surrounded by kids and grandkids, where they also record their weekly radio show “Whittler’s Corner” and its history segment “Time Travels through the American West.” Admission to both the program and the museum is free all day as part of Second Saturday at MHS.
Friday, June 14, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. MHS Museum Store’s annual Tent Sale!
Shop hundreds of Montana books and more at clearance prices! Choose from art prints by C. M. Russell, Ace Powell, Fra Dana, Stan Lynde, and more, plus hard-to-find back issues of Montana The Magazine of Western History, rare volumes of The Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, Jeannette Rankin Statue Dedication books, etc. Also, take an additional 10% off most regular-priced items in the store (15% off for MHS members) with very few exclusions! One day only.
Wednesday, June 19, 12:00 noon, brown-bag lecture, Naomi Shibata, Bend with the Wind
Bend with the Wind: The Life, Family, and Writings of Grace Eto Shibata tells the story of one family's belief in the American dream. Spanning one hundred years, the tale begins with Shibata’s parents’ immigration to California’s Central Coast in the early twentieth century. The narrative follows a generation of pioneers whose resilience and determination built strong families and strong communities. It recounts how an ethnic community wove its unique pattern into the fabric of American society only to be disenfranchised during World War II. It describes the family’s incarceration, exile, service in the U.S. military, and postwar resettlement.
Bend with the Wind details the values that bound Shibata’s tightly knit family and supported her throughout her life—a life shaped by World War II, an arranged marriage, a family business, and motherhood. The book, written by her daughter Naomi Shibata, celebrates Shibata’s life as a wife, mother, businesswoman, activist, author, and seventy-four-year-old college graduate.
About the Author: Naomi Shibata is a third-generation American of Japanese ancestry (Nikkei), born and raised in California. Her grandfather was among the Japanese immigrants interned at Fort Missoula during World War II. In 1953, once race was no longer a pre-qualification for naturalized citizenship, Naomi’s grandfather became a citizen of the United States.
A docent and writing workshop leader with the National Japanese American Historical Society in San Francisco, Naomi delivers guest lectures on the Nikkei experience to historical societies, museums, schools, service organizations, libraries, and book clubs. Naomi is a University of California graduate and a high technology industry veteran.
All summer long: As part of the Blue Star Museum program, MHS is offering FREE ADMISSION to active-duty military personnel and their families through Labor Day. For more information on Blue Star Museums visit: https://www.arts.gov/national-initiatives/blue-star-museums.
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