JEFFERSON, Iowa, June 18, 2023 — The Greene County Historical Society will present a program on important social movements of the 1950s, ’60s and ‘70s moderated by Chuck Offenburger of Jefferson on Sunday, June 25, at the Museum, 219 E. Lincolnway.
The free 2 p.m.program will be a panel made up of current and former Greene County residents who took part in the large social and political movements of those years that have lingering impacts on society today..
Attendees are invited to comment or ask questions of the panel members.
It’s part of the Museum’s “Dig It!” programs and displays, which were organized several years ago when the Museum realized that its historical offerings stopped with the end of World War II, says Offenburger.
Panel members will include Jack Bucklin of Cooper, a Viet Nam veteran, who will discuss his life as a pacifist. Retired from a career in conservation and natural resources management, he’ll also talk about his ongoing activism in the environmental movement.
Tim Heisterkamp of Jefferson, a financial consultant, community volunteer and political conservative, will discuss conservative movements.
Former Jefferson resident Patti Miller of Fairfield who will relate her experiences in Mississippi as a freedom rider and teacher in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
George Naylor, a Churdan farmer who is a University of California-Berkeley graduate, will talk about the student movement of the 1960s, plus the farm movement that began in the 1970s.
Mary Riche of Jefferson and Des Moines, a leading Iowa feminist with a long involvement in public issues, will speak about the women’s movement.
“Most fun of all,” says Offenburger, “is that Rick Morain, Jefferson’s piano maestro, will play a song that is emblematic of each of the movements as we begin our discussion of it.
“And at the conclusion of the program, he’ll provide the music as we circle the Museum’s big room, link arms and sing “We Shall Overcome.”
The program will last about an hour and a half, “but those who want to talk longer, march or picket can stick around afterward,” says Offenburger.
