Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library celebrating Lansing’s Sesquicentennial with history programs and other weekly events

In observance of the community of Lansing’s Sesquicentennial 150th birthday being celebrated this year, Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library has put together monthly programs, and more, regarding the history and exploration of Lansing. Some of those programs will address the fur trade, the river, mining, how the community grew from the lumber mills, to grain elevators, to mercantile, manufacturing, tourism, along with the people, their heritage and their livelihood.

To start the year off, “Coffees with Lansing’s Elders: Talking about how we got to where we are” will be held Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. in March (March 11, 18 and 25) at the library. Everyone is welcome to come join the roundtable, participate or just listen in.

Additional history programs will be held Thursdays, with exceptions, at 6:30 p.m., with a soup supper beginning at 5:30 p.m. Current scheduled history programs include the following:
• Thursday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m.: Fur Trade on the Mississippi, presented by Mary Elise Antoine. Antoine is the president of the Prairie du Chien Historical Society and former curator at Villa Louis. She has written numerous articles and books on Prairie du Chien, WI, including "The War of 1812 in Wisconsin: the Battle for Prairie du Chien." She is co-editor, with Lisa Murphy, of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press publication Frenchtown Chronicals of Prairie du Chien: History and Folklore from Wisconsin’s Frontier, which debuted in 2016.
• Thursday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m.: Ecology and History of the River, presented by Richard King, former manager of Pool 9 Fish and Wildlife. King is presently with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region (3) based in La Crosse, WI.
Other programs are scheduled to follow. Their subjects are planned to include Prohibition in Eastern Iowa; Captain Andre Talcott “Reenactor"; Survey of Iowa-Minnesota Border; High points of Lansing’s history; Steamboats on the Mississippi; Civil War reenactor; Chief Black Hawk myths; and the next 150 years.

There will be more detail on the programs as the year progresses. Program pamphlets describing the subjects, their dates and their presenters are available at the library and also found on the library’s web page at www.lansing.lib.ia.us.