Dr. Harry Fritz

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama Libraries will host the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Lecture featuring Professor Harry Fritz from the University of Montana on Thursday, April 8, from 8-9:30 p.m. in 30 ten Hoor Hall on the UA campus.

The lecture, “The Truth About Lewis and Clark,” is part of a program hosted by UA to remember the famous expedition which began in 1803 as part of the Corps of Discovery.

Fritz is one of America’s top Lewis and Clark scholars. His new book, “The Lewis and Clark Expedition,” is already recognized as a major contribution to literature about the travelers. Fritz, who serves as chair of the department of history at Montana, has also served in the Montana House of Representatives and the Montana State Senate.

The University will also host other events throughout the month of April to commemorate the expedition.

Two major exhibits will be on display the entire month on the first floor of Gorgas Library. The first exhibit will feature the people, places, and events encountered by Lewis and Clark along the way to the Pacific and on the return to St. Louis. The second will display publications about the Lewis and Clark Expedition consisting of major books for scholars and general readers.

Two other lectures will also take place in ten Hoor Hall during April in conjunction with the event. “America at the Time of Lewis and Clark,” and “On the Trail with Lewis and Clark,” will be held on Tuesday, April 6, at 8 p.m. UA librarians Brett Spencer and John Sandy will speak. The second lecture, “Lewis and Clark and the Cast of Indians,” will be presented by Dr. Ian Brown, UA professor of anthropology, on Wednesday, April 7, at 8 p.m.

A video depicting the journey of Lewis and Clark, “Lewis and Clark: the Journey of the Corps of Discovery,” will be shown in two parts on April 6 and 7 from 6-7:55 p.m. each evening. All lectures and videos will be shown in 30 ten Hoor Hall on campus.

Major support for these events, which are sponsored jointly by UA Libraries, the College of Arts & Sciences, the department of history, and the department of anthropology, came from a UA endowment funded by the Bankhead Foundation.

For more information about these events please contact John Sandy at 205/348-2111 or at jsandy@bama.ua.edu.