From: "Monroe County Local History Room" <mclhr@centurytel.net> Subject: "Wild West" Program at Monroe Co His Room Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:46:25 -0600 Message-ID: <366E13F4FE464B5195009051A2DD3C9C@Library>
The "'Old West'-Media Myths and Historical Realities" Program at Local
History Room, Feb. 25th
When one hears the words "Old West," several images spring to mind. From
cowboys to Native Americans to gunslingers to saloon girls, people around
the globe have a definite and largely shared vision of the West. But this
image is not based on the purely historical realities of the lives of people
who lived in the nineteenth-century West. Mass media and popular culture
have shaped our understanding of the "Old West" through literature, stage,
film, radio, and television. While this image is often steeped in myth, the
myth itself has become important and helps Americans define who they are, or
at least who they wish they could be.
Dr. John T. Grider, Professor of History at UW-La Crosse, will give a
presentation on the "'Old West'-Media Myths and Historical Realities" at the
Monroe County Local History Room on Thursday, February 25th at 7pm. The
Local History Room is located at 200 West Main St., Sparta, in the former
Masonic Temple building. Free admission. Call 608-269-8680 for more
information.
Jarrod M. Roll
Director - County Historian
Monroe County Local History Room & Museum
200 West Main St.
Sparta, WI 54656
608-269-8680
www.MCLHR.org