• Meal: Baked Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo and side – bring dessert to share if you wish.
• Speaker: Gail Shaffer Blankenau, author of the recently-published book Journey to Freedom: Uncovering the Grayson Sisters’ Escape from Nebraska Territory

Gail’s book (with rave reviews) provides the first detailed history of Black enslavement in Nebraska Territory and the escape of these two enslaved Black women from Nebraska City. Their escape and the violence that followed prompted considerable debate across the country and led to the Nebraska legislature’s move to prohibit slavery. Her talk will touch your heart in surprising ways!

Gail's Biography: A Nebraska native, Blankenau is a professional genealogist,historian, speaker, and author. She holds an MA degree in history with honors from UNK and in 2023 she received the James L. Sellers prize for her article about the Grayson sisters in a volume of Nebraska History magazine. She serves on the Nebraska Historic Digital Newspaper Advisory board, as well as the board of the Germanic Genealogy Society. 

$5 freewill offering

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