The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums Winter Lyceum Series Kicks Off Sunday, January 26

The Winter Lyceum returns with a series of fascinating talks at the Platteville Municipal Auditorium on Sunday afternoons at 5 p.m. January 26 to March 22. $4 Per Lecture, or $20 Season Pass to All Eight. Reserve your tickets online at mining.jamison.museum!

JANUARY

January 26:Frog Calls and More
Dr. John Peterson, PhD, UW-Platteville biologist who works with undergraduate researchers on the biology of amphibians and reptiles, will share his knowledge on our region’s frogs – including their unique vocalizations. This is the only Lyceum of the season that will be held at The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums instead of the Platteville Municipal Auditorium.

FEBRUARY

February 2: No Lyceum on Superbowl Sunday
We skip a week due to Superbowl Sunday.

February 9: Treachery and Cunning: The Dodge Family, 1777-1827
Historian Tracey Roberts presents her research on Wisconsin’s first Territorial Governor, Henry Dodge. To understand his life, one needs to step back to the Illinois Country, a Mississippi River region that spans present-day Missouri and Illinois. Deeply influenced by his father and uncle, Henry demonstrated ambition and cunning, but he also used deception and brutality to gain the trust of key officials in the United States government. His experiences in Missouri foreshadowed his future successes in Wisconsin.

February 16: Deep Time: The History of an Idea
University of Missouri professor Noah Heringman presents fascinating ideas from his new book “Deep Time; A History.” Back in Columbia, MO, he teaches courses on the Romantic period and on poetry, aesthetic theory, and the cultural history of science. Dr. Heringman's publications include “Romantic Rocks, Aesthetic Geology.” Heringman's latest book, “Sciences of Antiquity: Romantic Antiquarianism, Natural History, and Knowledge Work,” was published in 2013 by Oxford University Press.

February 23: Geology of the Lead-Zinc District and its Relevancy Today
Esther Stewart, Precambrian Geologist at the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, explores the geologic story of the Upper Mississippi Valley Lead-Zinc District. Stewart explains our layers of rock, the mineral deposits they hold, how the mineralization came to be, and the relevancy of these deposits today.

MARCH
March 1: Ridge Stories: A Farm Boy Remembers 
Author Gary Jones, a former barefoot boy with cheeks of tan, recalls the blessings as well as the curses of growing up on a small dairy farm in the hills of Richland County. Gary Jones’ parents brought their baby boy home to the 180-acre dairy farm on Pleasant Ridge (Richland County) in 1944 where he grew up on land homesteaded by his great-grandfather. That lifestyle, recounted in his memoir Ridge Stories, has now become part of Driftless history. Jones will share his memories of haying and threshing, milking cows and slopping hogs, attending a one-room school and a country EUB church, and the audience will be invited to join this conversation.

March 8: Groundwater and the Movement of Contaminants
Wisconsin State Geologist and director of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Ken Bradbury presents the latest research on regional ground water quality, including the presence and transport of viruses and other contaminants in groundwater. 

March 15: Journeys: An Ice Age Adventure
Wisconsin author Tim Fox presents his children’s book “Journeys: An Ice Age Adventure” about 12 year-old Mark Jamison and his 10 year-old brother, Barry, who travel 11,000 years into Wisconsin's Ice Age past. In a land of giants, they come to know mastodons and Paleo Indians. Together, they undertake a journey that will challenge their survival and forever impact their hearts. Book signing will follow.

March 22: Miners Forum
Discover the legacy of our region’s mining history through the words of actual local folks who worked in the mines.