Thomas Sanchez, Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology and Acting Director, Office of Latino and Latin American Studies (OLLAS) at UNO, will speak on immigration in the Great Plains. This presentation explores the presence, history, and social experiences of immigrants, mostly from Latin America, in Nebraska, with an emphasis on the towns of Scottsbluff and Schuyler. Scottsbluff is one of the first towns in the state with large numbers of Mexican (im)migrants, and Schuyler is one of the most recent. This presentation tells their stories while placing them in a larger social context. It details the positive contributions that migrants made and continue to make, as well as the problems they face.

This talk corresponds with “The Journey: Documented Items/Undocumented Souls,” a photographic and tactile exhibition on display at the Great Plains Art Museum. The Museum is collaborating with the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Tactile Images, a subsidiary of 3DPhotoWorks LLC, to bring this exhibition to Lincoln.

This Paul A. Olson lecture is free and open to the public.