Lunchbox Lecture: Preserving America’s Welsh Heritage on the Great Plains

On October 20th at 12 pm, join us for a special Lunchbox Lecture highlighting the history of Welsh immigration to Nebraska. Robert Humphries, Executive Director of the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project, and Gwenith Closs-Colgrove, President of the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project will share the story of Welsh immigrants who settled in communities like Wymore, NE. Wymore was just one of a dozen Welsh communities in Nebraska. Special thanks to the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation for providing funding for this event series and the recording to broadcast on LNKTV. About Robert Humphries Humphries is part-time director of the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre and the Archive for Welsh North America, both located in Wymore, Nebraska. A native of Newport, Wales, and a second-language Welsh speaker, he holds an MA in Celtic Studies from the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. He has presented his research on Welsh-American history at academic conferences in Wales, the United States and Canada, and at the North American Festival of Wales (NAFOW). Humphries has also published articles in the Wisconsin Magazine of History, The North American Journal of Welsh Studies, Ninnau and in other periodicals. With the late Martha Davies, he co-produced the mini-documentary film Pobl y Paith/People of the Prairie: The Welsh in Nebraska. About Gwenith Closs-Colgrove I grew up on a family farm just south of Wymore and was homesteaded in 1878 by my great-grandfather Humphrey Closs. The Bethel Welsh community was close knit and all services at the Calvinistic Methodist were held in Welsh until the 1920’s. My father, Ellsworth Closs, was the last Welsh speaker and when he passed away in 2000, Some individuals from that area asked if we would donate his memorial money to start a Welsh museum. I have served as President of the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project since 2016 and we have grown to be the premier Welsh museum and Archive in North America.