The Idaho Botanical Garden presents this popular series, which is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council, the State-based Program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and support from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Each presentation is held outdoors in the Meditation Garden at 7:00 p.m.

The lecture fee is included with Garden Admission:
Free to Idaho Botanical Garden and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute members
Adults $5, Seniors $3, Youth (6-12) $2, Under 6 free
No registration required.

The 2013 Lecture Series will address various aspects of Idaho history. The lectures will enrich the lives of those attending the talks by helping attendees understand and appreciate the experiences of others, as well as offering insight into how issues we deal with today were addressed in the past and how past events influence the way in which we now live.

2013 Lectures

June 18 | Dr. Todd Shallat
“Boise Bizarre”
Todd Shallat will present an eclectic mix of Boise-related lore in his talk "Boise Bizarre" He will discuss freaky facts and incredible truths about Idaho's Capital. Topics included are: the Taylor Topper, the cursed concern, Val Kilmer, the Nampa Image, the Chinese tunnels, ghost cannons, the zombie bell hop, the King of the Road, Diamond-toothed Lil, a lynching in Middleton, Boise Donner Party, and Big Foot. These stories will collectively help to explain why Boise is so lovably strange.

July 16 | Barbara Perry Bauer
“Exploring Warm Springs Avenue...Its History and Architecture”
Barbara Perry Brown will show how Boise's Warm Springs Avenue is rich in history and architecture. She will explain how it grew from farms to mansions after the discovery of geothermal heat in 1890 and became known as one of Boise's finest neighborhoods. She will chronicle the fascinating history of that premier street.

August 6 | Frank Eld
“The Finns of Long Valley”
Frank Eld will speak on Idaho's Finnish immigrants. Between the years of 1890-1920, approximately 100 Finnish families immigrated to Long Valley, Idaho. This lecture is about those Finns, including Mr. Eld's father and maternal grandparents, who came to Idaho to homestead. He'll touch on the reasons they left their homeland, why they picked Idaho, their unique log construction techniques contrasted with “American Log cabins” and some interesting insights into the “Finnish” culture, including the sauna.

August 20 | Amber Beierle
“Dead and Buried - Old Idaho Pen Cemetery Secrets”
Amber Beierle will discuss the lives and deaths of inmates buried at the Old Idaho State Penitentiary prison cemetery. The presentation will include a short walk to the cemetery that rests, mostly unnoticed on the Idaho Botanical Garden grounds.

September 3 | Dr. Mark Plew
“Archaeology of the Snake River Plain”
Mark Plew will give an overview of the prehistory of the Snake River Plain with a discussion of notable archaeological discoveries with consideration of current issues and debates in Idaho archaeology. This talk will discuss ways in which environmental changes have influenced shifts in land/resource use by prehistoric peoples as well as the extent to which what is known of historic native populations serves to model prehistoric subsistence-settlement patterns.