Author Series and Book Signing: Gail Shaffer Blankenau

Observe National Nebraska Day by learning more about the complex history of the state's south central region. Author and historian Gail Shaffer Blankenau will join us in person for a talk and signing of her new book, Journey to Freedom: Uncovering the Grayson Sisters' Escape from Nebraska Territory, at the Red Cloud Opera House auditorium at 1:00 p.m. central time. Blankenau's book tells the story of Celia and Eliza Grayson, two enslaved sisters who escaped from their enslaver Stephen F. Nuckolls in 1858.  

According to the University of Nebraska Press, "Gail Shaffer Blankenau provides the first detailed history of Black enslavement in Nebraska Territory and the escape of these two enslaved Black women from Nebraska City. Drawing on multiple collections, records, and slave narratives, Journey to Freedom sheds light on the Graysons’ courage and agency as they became high-profile figures in the national debate between proslavery and antislavery factions in the antebellum period."

Be sure to stick around after the event to take a guided tour of Willa Cather sites and attend the reception for artist Jonathan Goodding's show Beneath the Wide-Open. The author talk and artist reception are FREE events, but registering for the event is encouraged. 

Funding was provided by Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

It's sure to be an exciting day of art, literature, and history!

National Nebraska Day Schedule:

• 1:00 p.m. Author talk with Gail Shaffer Blankenau
• 2:00 p.m. Book signing 
• 2:30-5:00 p.m. Book a guided tour, hike the Willa Cather Memorial Prairie, or peruse the American Bittersweet exhibit and bookstore 
• 5:00 p.m. Jonathan Goodding artist reception at the Red Cloud Opera House Art Gallery