WHAT: Brown Bag Lecture Series
HOSTED BY: UNK Department of History
TITLE: “Postcards as a Window on American Popular Religion, 1898-1930”
TOPIC: The period from 1898-1930 was the golden age of postcards. They created an inexpensive medium to communicate, and religious institutions were quick to utilize their potential for marketing, fundraising and lobbying. Surviving postcards offer historians a fascinating window into the past, sometimes capturing the only remaining images of local events that would otherwise be inaccessible. This talk will illustrate the various purposes that religious groups found for postcards and discuss how these little pieces of cardboard help us recover important facets of American cultural life a century ago.
PRESENTER: James Rohrer is a history professor at UNK specializing in colonial and Revolutionary America and American religious history. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Kent State University and a master’s degree and doctorate in history from Ohio State University. He also earned a Master of Divinity from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Iowa. Rohrer taught history in Taiwan from 1993-98 and has since added world Christianity to his teaching and research.
TIME: Noon
DATE: Wednesday, Jan. 10
PLACE: Kearney Public Library, 2020 First Ave.
CONTACT: Nathan Tye, assistant history professor, 308.865.8860, tyen@unk.edu
