Frances Humphrey Lecture Series “In the Footsteps of the Donner Party” by Frank Mullen

Description

Presentation: In the spring of 1846, a group of families left their homes and farms in the eastern U.S. and stepped off into the wilderness for a 2,000-mile walk across the continent – and into history. A national expert on the tragedy tells the tale of these doomed pioneers and explains the cascade of events that led to their winter entrapment in the Sierra and the rescue of the survivors in the spring of 1847. It’s a tale of cannibalism and desperate survival that is raised up from depravity by the heroism of many of those trapped by the deep, beautiful and deadly snow.

Speaker: Frank X. Mullen is the author of “The Donner Party Chronicles: A Day-by-Day Account of a Doomed Wagon Train” He has appeared as a historian on the History Channel, PBS, Discovery, the Weather Channel and other networks. Mullen, a former investigative reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal, is the current editor of the Reno News & Review. He also is a living-history Chautauqua performer whose characters include Babe Ruth and Henry VIII. Mullen was an adjunct journalism instructor at the Reynolds School of Journalism for 15 years and currently teaches history and storytelling classes at Truckee Meadows Community College. Last year, the Nevada Press Association inducted Frank into the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame and he was named Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer for 2021 by the Reynolds School of Journalism and the Nevada Humanities Committee.

Museum admission is $10 for adults, members and children aged 17 and under are free. This lecture will be presented in person and via Zoom. To reserve a seat at the in-person lecture go to NSMConnect. To receive the link to the Zoom presentation complete this form.