WHAT: Brown Bag Lecture Series
HOSTED BY: UNK Department of History
TITLE: “A Conservation Civil Defense: Natural Disasters and Agriculture in the Cold War Great Plains”
TOPIC: This presentation covers an overlooked part of civil defense history that’s central to our region. UNK history professor David Vail will discuss how Great Plains conservation became a key civil defense measure against more common environmental emergencies such as soil erosion, floods and drought while also preparing for nuclear fallout. He will concentrate on the Great Plains Agricultural Council’s efforts to protect harvests and guard against common natural disasters, making our region a key template for federal disaster relief and focus of national civil defense in the early Cold War.
PRESENTER: Vail specializes in environmental and agricultural history, public history, the history of science and medicine and the Great Plains. His research has appeared in numerous academic journals and he’s authored three books. This talk is an update on new research for his current book project with University of Nebraska Press: “Vulnerable Harvests: Emergency Conservation in the Cold War Great Plains.”
TIME: Noon
DATE: Wednesday, Sept. 11
PLACE: Kearney Public Library, 2020 First Ave.
VIDEO: Available on the Kearney Public Library YouTube channel
CONTACT: Nathan Tye, assistant history professor, 308.865.8860, tyen@unk.edu
