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, January 12, 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. 
 
Tuesday, January 15, 3:30 p.m.—5:00 p.m. Montana 1889 Facebook group kickoff!
Throughout 2019, the Montana Historical Society will host a lively, monthly Facebook conversation based on Ken Egan’s Montana 1889: Indians, Cowboys, and Miners in the Year of Statehood. We will revisit important figures out of Montana’s past such as Lone Wolf, Granville Stuart, Nannie Alderson, Louis Riel, Mary Gleim, Deaf Bull, and Charlo. We will discuss changes to the land and peoples that led up to and followed from Montana statehood. To begin this journey back through the year 1889, Egan will host an on-site presentation to introduce himself, his book, and the Facebook reading club. The kickoff will be held in the MHS auditorium on January 15 from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. It will be livestreamed on YouTube and on Facebook Live, for those unable to attend the on-site presentation. To view it on Facebook Live, join the Facebook Group. For more information about the group and how it works, contact Barbara Pepper-Rotness at bapepperrotness@mt.gov or 406-444-9526. To order a copy of the book, contact the MHS Museum Store at https://bit.ly/2zC63n3 or 406-444-2890.
 
Wednesday, January 16, 10:45 a.m. The Evolution of Luggage
Join us for a delightful look at the evolution of luggage throughout the centuries. Can you believe that we placed a man on the moon before we put wheels on luggage? In this entertaining and informative presentation, Helena travel expert Pat Seiler will share photos and facts, taking you from saddlebags to vintage steamer trunks to depression era suitcases and on to the smart cases of today. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Montana Historical Society. 
 
Friday, January 18, 2:00 p.m. Montana Historic Preservation Awards, Myrna Loy Center, 15 N Ewing, Helena
Join Lt. Governor Mike Cooney and MHS staff in recognizing outstanding achievements in historic preservation across the state. The recipients of this biennial awards are: Montana State University professor Máire O’Neill Conrad for Outstanding Service to Historic Preservation—John N. DeHaas Memorial Award; Billings architect Randy Hafer for Outstanding Contributions to Historic Preservation; the McGraw Building in Fort Benton for Outstanding Historic Preservation Rehabilitation Project—Governor’s Award; the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Mountain-Prairie Region for Outstanding Historic Preservation Stewardship; and historic preservation photographer Kristi Hager of Missoula for Outstanding Achievement in Historic Preservation. “Recognizing our outstanding heritage places and the special people who help preserve them is important to the success of historic preservation in Montana,” State Historic Preservation officer Dr. Mark Baumler said. “This is a very significant event for us, as well as a lot of fun.” Refreshments will be served after the brief ceremony.  For additional information visit:  https://mhs.mt.gov/Shpo/NationalReg/Preservation-Awards.
 
Saturdays in January, every hour on the hour beginning at 10:00 a.m.
We will be showing historic films from the MHS film archives (Note: No film will be shown at times when another program, as described above, is schedule for the auditorium).

• Saturday, January 5 - Daphne Bugbee-Jones: Montana Modernist and On Her Own Terms: The Outfitting Adventures of Mary Faith Hoeffner
• Saturday, January 12 - Construction of Fort Peck Dam
• Saturday, January 19 - Anaconda Copper Mining Lumber Company and Escape to Montana's Glacier Park
• Saturday, January 26 - Montana and the Sky and Montana: A Little Farther North  

Sign up to learn about upcoming programs.