The West River History Conference began in Keystone, SD in 1993. Conference speakers are both amateur and professional historians. We seek to collect South Dakota and Upper Great Plains history from persons who have interesting stories to tell but who may never write them down. We see ourselves as an extension of the WPA Writers Project of the Depression years that preserved so much of our heritage by making a permanent record of these people, places and events. These stories by the people who have lived the experiences or knew those who did, provide a most important link that often fills in missing puzzle pieces of the past.
One of our primary goals is to encourage high school and college students to participate and present papers because they and others of their generation will be the future historians and authors of our history when we are no longer here. We, as Americans, often take our heritage for granted, and that is our loss. We have to know where we came from to understand where we are going.
Board of Directors 2015
Shebby Lee President
Bev Pechan Vice President
Bobbi Sago Secretary/Director of Publications
Diana Hayes Treasurer
Sandi McLain Project Director
Marguerite Kleven Exhibits
Wayne Gilbert Sponsorships
Carolyn Weber Corresponding Secretary
Carol Saunders Student Liason
