Shaunasy Pashby

By Shaunasy Pashby of The Pathfinder

March 3, 2026

Courtney Kramer opened Lewis-Clark State’s Women’s History Month series Tuesday, March 3, with a lecture highlighting the critical role women have played in historic preservation and shaping American cultural memory. 

The presentation, titled “Guardians of Memory,” drew a full audience of students, faculty, community members, and LC State President Cynthia Pemberton. Kramer, a former member of Beautiful Downtown Lewiston, framed her discussion within the larger context of Women’s History Month and its theme this year, which coincides with the United States’ semiquincentennial celebration.

Kramer traced the origins of historic preservation in Europe, focusing on post-Enlightenment France, where the French Revolution disrupted centuries of cultural heritage. She detailed how revolutionary forces destroyed statues and properties they associated with monarchy, often erasing significant layers of history, only for some artifacts to be rediscovered centuries later. Kramer emphasized that these early efforts highlight the complex decisions societies face when balancing political change with cultural memory.

Shifting focus to the United States, Kramer highlighted how women used historic preservation to foster a shared national identity, particularly in the years following the Civil War. Programs like the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Federal Writers’ Project during the Great Depression created lasting records of American architecture and personal histories. HABS produced detailed drawings and photographs of historic structures, while the Federal Writers’ Project conducted hundreds of interviews that remain important primary sources for educators and historians. Kramer noted that the absence of women interviewers may have influenced which stories were recorded and how openly respondents shared their experiences.

Post-World War II preservation efforts expanded with the creation of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1949 and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Kramer highlighted the 1966 law that established the National Register of Historic Places, created state preservation offices, and required federal agencies to consider the impact of projects on historic sites. She noted women’s leadership throughout the movement, citing former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s successful campaign to save New York’s Grand Central Station as a pivotal moment in public advocacy for historic preservation.

Kramer also explored how the scope of preservation has broadened in modern times to include not only early American landmarks but also modern architecture and sites significant to marginalized communities. Using Monticello as a case study, she detailed how historical narratives have evolved. For decades, the experiences of enslaved people and Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with them were minimized or ignored. DNA evidence confirmed in 2011 that Jefferson fathered children with an enslaved woman, prompting a reevaluation of the site’s history. Current preservation efforts, including the restoration of Mulberry Row, now aim to present a more complete and inclusive narrative, highlighting the lives, labor, and agency of enslaved individuals such as Kate, a mother and midwife whose story reflects the broader complexities of history at the site.

Throughout the lecture, Kramer encouraged attendees to view historic sites not simply as isolated monuments but as part of an interconnected landscape that reflects the nation’s cultural, social, and political history. She stressed the importance of understanding both celebrated figures and the often-overlooked communities whose contributions shaped America.

The event marked the first in a series of Women’s History Month presentations at LC State. Upcoming talks include a lecture on the women of Hamilton by a senior in police sciences and a presentation on food history and revolutions by Dr. Van Lanen, chair of the humanities division, highlighting the diverse ways women’s history intersects with American culture.

Kramer’s lecture offered attendees a deeper appreciation of women’s roles in preserving the nation’s history and emphasized the ongoing responsibility to tell these stories fully and inclusively.

By Shaunasy Pashby of The Pathfinder

March 23, 2026

Author Tara Karr Roberts will visit Lewiston on Friday, April 10, for a public reading at the Lewiston Public Library. The event will begin at 7 p.m., where Roberts will read selections from her award-winning debut novel, Wild and Distant Seas, along with excerpts from new works currently in progress.

Roberts is a novelist, freelance writer, and newspaper columnist. A lifelong Idahoan, she grew up along the Pend Oreille River and now lives in Moscow, Idaho, with her family.

Her debut novel, Wild and Distant Seas, was published by W.W. Norton & Co. in January 2024. The book received the Idaho Book of the Year Award in 2024 as well as a Pacific Northwest Book Award, earning recognition for its storytelling and regional voice.

The event is sponsored by the Lewis-Clark State College Humanities Division and made possible through a generous contribution from the Rosehill Fund.

The reading is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the LC State Humanities Division at 208-792-2297.

By Shaunasy Pashby of The Pathfinder

March 23, 2026

Anthony Smith opened a presentation on the Nez Perce Tribe Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program on the second floor of theLC State library on March 17, 2026. The talk focused on the tribe’s role in environmental restoration efforts, particularly concerning the long-term impacts of the Hanford nuclear site.

The Hanford Site, located along the Columbia River near Richland, Washington, was developed in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project. Construction of the complex took just over a year. During World War II and throughout the Cold War, Hanford produced more than two-thirds of the plutonium used by the United States and eventually operated nine nuclear reactors.

Today, the site is considered one of the most contaminated nuclear cleanup locations in the country. Hundreds of millions of tons of both high- and low-level radioactive waste remain stored there.

When Hanford was constructed, it predated modern environmental protection laws and regulations. As a result, waste disposal methods used at the time created lasting environmental concerns. According to the presentation, wastewater was disposed of in two primary ways. In some cases, contaminated water was dumped directly into the ground through trenches, gullies, and excavated pits that were later covered. In other cases, highly contaminated liquid waste was stored in underground tanks.

Many of these tanks were constructed from carbon steel and originally designed to last about 30 years. Today, more than 80 years later, several are leaking or at risk of failure, allowing contaminated liquid, often referred to as “dirty water,” to seep into surrounding soil and groundwater.

As a result, groundwater and soil in parts of the region have been contaminated with radioactive materials and chemicals that can remain hazardous for thousands of years. Without intervention, these areas could remain unsafe for generations, affecting fish, deer, elk, and plants traditionally used for food and medicine.

For the Nez Perce Tribe and other regional tribes, this contamination threatens “usual and accustomed” places, areas where tribal members have historically fished, hunted, and gathered resources. The environmental impact extends beyond tribal communities, however, as groundwater contamination can spread beyond the immediate area.

A major concern raised during the presentation was the long-term reliability of institutional controls meant to contain the waste. The Nez Perce Tribe, along with other organizations, continues to call for sustained government action and oversight in cleanup efforts. Smith warned that if containment systems fail, aging tanks could deteriorate further and release larger amounts of hazardous materials into the environment, potentially affecting a growing population in the region.

Cleanup efforts are expected to take decades. Current projections estimate that treatment of certain low-level waste through vitrification, a process that turns waste into stable glass, may not be completed until around 2090.

Despite the long timeline, Smith emphasized that restoration efforts remain essential. The presentation concluded with a broader message about environmental stewardship and the responsibility to protect the land for future generations.