Historical re-enactor David Berg will lecture on the life of Lt. Zebulon Pike at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 3 at BSU’s Center for Research and Innovation (CRI).
Free and open to the public, the 90-minute presentation is part of an ongoing spring lecture series sponsored by the Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) and coordinated by the CRI at 3801 Bemidji Avenue.
Zebulon Pike traveled to Minnesota 202 years ago, and his expedition led to the first Indian treaty in Minnesota, which helped establish Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Pike also searched unsuccessfully for the source of the Mississippi, an effort that helped to determine the United States’ boundary after the Louisiana Purchase.
A 23-year employee of the Minnesota State Parks, Berg has a degree in wildlife management. While working as a naturalist at Fort Snelling State Park, he realized how much human cultures and natural resources were connected. He became a history player for the Minnesota Historical Society at the Mill City Museum. There, he portrays hydro engineer William de la Barre who channeled the power of St. Anthony falls to run the largest flour mills in the world. He also portrays Hugh Ward Donaldson, who ran one of James J. Hill’s flourishing farms in Kittson County.
A lifelong Minnesotan, Berg lives in Minneapolis.
ALL offers humanities-based programs that are made possible in part with funding from the Minnesota Humanities Commission in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The academy is a member of the Minnesota Humanities Commission’s Learning in Retirement Network (LIRN), which promotes older adult humanities education. Through humanities programs, LIRN members study enduring ideas, reflect on experiences, analyze important issues and contribute to the educational well being of their communities.
DVDs of all the Academy of Lifelong Learning presentations are available at the Bemidji State University libraries.
More information about the Academy of Lifelong Learning is available by contacting the Center for Research and Innovation, Bemidji State University, 1500 Birchmont Drive NE, Bemidji, MN 56601-2699 (218-755-4900).