The library lecture series “The Roaring 20s: Evolution of Morals and Manners” has been announced by MSU Billings

Billings, Montana – We are happy to announce The Roaring 20s: Evolution of Morals and Manners, the Fall 2023 Library Lecture Series from Montana State University Billings. Speakers from the area will be featured in the series to talk about the Roaring Twenties and its influence on music, gender, and other topics.

“This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Library Lecture Series, so we wanted to host something truly special,” notes Eileen Wright, interim director of the MSU Billings Library. “We are excited to step back 100 years with our incredible line-up of speakers.”

The lecture series will kick off on Tuesday, October 10 at 6:30 p.m. in University Campus Library 148 with Lauren Hunley, the Western Heritage Center’s community historian. Her talk will center on Ethel Hays, a native of Billings, and her rise to fame as a newspaper cartoonist in the 1920s and 1930s.

On October 17, musicians John Kemmick and Ed Kemmick will talk about the life of Jimmie Rodgers and how he influenced popular culture, incorporating some of Rodgers’ songs into their conversation.

Professor of History Jennifer Lyn, Ph.D., will talk on the “rebel women” of the 1920s on October 24. She will concentrate on flappers, bachelorettes, and Neue Frauen. Additionally, Lynn will look at the more basic ways in which the representations of other rebellious women subverted the gender order.

Emeritus Professor Keith Edgerton of MSU Billings will discuss the emergence and fall of the Ku Klux Klan on November 7. The “invisible empire,” as it dubbed itself, became a powerful symbol of resistance to the forces of change that characterized the 1920s.

On November 14, Cody Patton, Ph.D., will wrap up the Library Lecture Series by discussing prohibition and temperance during the decade and how concerns about alcohol affected almost every facet of life.

The public is welcome to attend the free Library Lecture Series. Read more about the Lecture Series at the Library.

Eileen Wright, the MSUB Library’s interim director, can be reached at ewright@msubillings.edu for additional information.