Uncovering Wisconsin's Past - Summer Speaker Series, Installment 3

The third installment of the Historic Indian Agency House 2014 Summer Speaker Series will take place Tuesday, August 26 at 6:30pm.  At this time, UW-Madison associate professor of photography and author Tom Jones will discuss the work of 19^th century Black River Falls studio photographer Charles Van Schaick and how it captures “the dark ages” of Indian tribal history.
 
Professor Jones is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and a longtime artist. Examples of his photography can be found at both Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art and Washington D.C.’s National Museum of the American Indian.  Jones was trained initially as a painter and later earned a Masters in Museum Studies and MFA in Photography from Columbia College in Chicago.  Throughout his career, he has made a continual effort, in his own words, to “help carry on a sense of pride about who and what [the Ho-Chunk] are as a people. I want the people to see the strength and resilience of the Ho-Chunk people.”
 
Professor Jones’ August 26^th presentation will focus on the book, People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942 (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2011), to which he contributed as a co-author. 
 
He will describe the reasoning behind and development of this important book, including his involvement in the process.  Jones will also delineate how Van Schaick’s photographs, 300 of which are reproduced in the volume, represent a significant contribution to the history of Native peoples, illustrating the many and important family relationships that contributed to the endurance of the Ho-Chunk over time—despite a long history of mistreatment, exploitation and oppression.
 
A limited number of copies of People of the Big Voice will be available for sale the night of the event, and a book signing will take place immediately following Professor Jones’ presentation.
 
The museum and visitor’s center exhibits, always free to the public, will be open 5pm until the lecture begins at 6:30pm.  A guided tour of the 1832 Winnebago Indian Agency will be available at 5pm. (Minimal fee applies; free for Supporters members). Complimentary light refreshments will be provided for lecture guests.
 
This is the fifth annual Summer Speaker Series hosted by the Historic Indian Agency House, with one lecture a month from June to September held on the final Tuesday at 6:30pm. The 2014 series, entitled “Uncovering Wisconsin’s Past: Non-Traditional Research Methods and the Shaping of Our History,” explores the remarkable variety of investigation and study that has molded our understanding of the state we call home—including, of course, photography!
 
In addition, this theme will allow us to highlight the many types of information that HIAH is able to draw from in interpreting the multifaceted cultural context of our site and the portage. From archaeological and other cultural features located on this property (including at least a few suspected burial sites) to Ho-Chunk oral histories about the immediate area, there is a wealth of knowledge available to the discerning researcher that very much exceeds the limitations of the written word.
 
For the fifth year in a row, this speaker series is free to the public and made largely possible by generous grants from the The Great Circle Foundation Inc. of East Northport and the City of Portage Historic Preservation Commission.
 
The Historic Indian Agency House hosts a variety of children’s and adult programming throughout the year, including book-your-own Scout workshops! Visit www.agencyhouse.org for a full listing of events, or call 608-742-6362 with any questions. 

 
PICTURE CAPTION: UW-Madison Professor of Photography and co-author of Wisconsin Historical Society Press’s People of the Big Voice joins the 2014 Historic Indian Agency House Speaker Series with a discussion of Black River Falls photographer Charles Van Schaick’s Ho-Chunk portraits and how they capture the so-called Dark Ages of Indian tribal history.