WHAT: Brown Bag Lecture Series
HOSTED BY: UNK Department of History
TITLE: “Albert Frederick Lewis: Kearney’s Forgotten Lacrosse Champion”
TOPIC: In 1892, Albert Frederick Lewis immigrated to Kearney from Ontario, Canada. He arrived with a young family and opened a laundry business. He also brought a lacrosse stick and athletic fame. Lewis was the goalie for the 1887 Canadian lacrosse champions and is the earliest documented Black lacrosse player. In Kearney, Lewis formed a victorious lacrosse team that crisscrossed the state in the 1890s. He remained a prominent local sports figure until his death in 1915. This presentation will explore Lewis’ life and the forgotten history of lacrosse in turn-of-the-century Nebraska.
PRESENTER: Nathan Tye is the associate professor of Nebraska and American West history at UNK, where he’s taught since 2019. He received his doctorate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his research focuses on the lives of migrant laborers, better known as hobos, and their efforts to survive on society’s margins. Tye serves on the boards of several local community museums and cultural organizations, and his research is published in Nebraska History, Annals of Iowa and Willa Cather Review. He also appeared on NBC’s celebrity genealogy program “Who Do You Think You Are?”
TIME: Noon
DATE: Wednesday, Feb. 12
PLACE: Kearney Public Library, 2020 First Ave.
VIDEO: Available on the Kearney Public Library YouTube channel
CONTACT: Nathan Tye, associate history professor, 308.865.8860, tyen@unk.edu
