Register for these programs: by phone (507-664-3700), in person at FiftyNorth, or by clicking on the title of the class
Senior Learning Network
SLN – Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Tuesday, March 21
1:00-2:00pm
Abraham Lincoln believed in the ideal that everyone in America should have the opportunity to improve their economic and social condition. Lincoln’s life was the embodiment of that idea. We know him as the sixteenth President but he was also a spouse, parent, and neighbor who experienced the same hopes, dreams, and challenges of life that are still experienced by many people today.
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 10
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – Zion National Park
Tuesday, March 28
1:00-2:00pm
Zion National Park is a southwest Utah nature preserve distinguished by Zion Canyon’s steep red cliffs. Zion Canyon Scenic Drive cuts through its main section, leading to forest trails along the Virgin River. The river flows to the Emerald Pools, which have waterfalls and a hanging garden. Along the river, partly through deep chasms, is Zion Narrows wading hike. The highlight of Zion National Park is an expansive canyon. Averaging 2,000 feet deep, Zion Canyon offers hiking opportunities along its floor in the 20 to 30 foot wide area known as The Narrows and the challenging area known as The Subway. Join us as we discover this amazing wonder in our National Park System!
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 10
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – Frontier Army Museum: History of Fort Leavenworth
Tuesday, April 4
1:00-2:00pm
From the “Gateway to the West” to “Intellectual Center of the Army”. With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, roads for commerce and travel began to spring up. These new roads, such as the Santa Fe and Oregon Trail, and movement into the west required the US Army to begin setting up forts and posts on the trails. In 1827 Colonel Henry Leavenworth was handpicked to establish a new post along the Missouri River. The post would provide an escort along the Santa Fe Trail, to protect the western frontier and be a show of force to the Native American tribes settled in the area. Colonel Leavenworth, with the officers and men of the 3d Infantry Regiment from Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis, Missouri were assigned to locate and establish a permanent cantonment. The location of the post was selected in 1827 and it is currently the oldest continually operating post west of the Mississippi River.
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 20
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – FDRs Final Last Days and Legacy. FDR Presidential Library/Museum: The World He Left Us
Tuesday, April 11
1:00-2:00pm
As the anniversary of FDR‘s death 78 years ago is remembered on April 12th, we will look at the final months of Roosevelt’s life. These months were a race against time as the war, a window to create a new world order and his very life were drawing to a close. Join us as one of our favorite educators, Jeff Urbin, explores FDR’s final push to put the world on a stable footing and examines the lasting results of his efforts.
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 20
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – National Mall and Memorial Parks: Presidential Inaugurations
Tuesday, April 18
1:00-2:00pm
Presidential inaugurations represent the peaceful transfer of power in the United States. National Mall and Memorial Parks is home to presidential memorials and includes Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site, which has been the scene of many inaugurations. Join us as we learn about presidents represented on the National Mall and their historic inaugurations.
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 20
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – Petrified Forest National Park
Tuesday, April 25
1:00-2:00pm
Petrified Forest National Park is located in the greater Painted Desert—they are not two separate parks. While the Painted Desert encompasses about 1500 square miles, the park is over 200,000 acres—and not desert! Actually, the main environment is short-grass prairie or intermountain-basin, semi-arid grassland. It is dry here, but there is snow in the winter and rain during the monsoon. Explore with us both the nature and history of this fascinating place from prehistoric peoples to the Civilian Conservation Corps. From early explorers to Route 66 motorists, the park has many stories to tell.
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 20
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – The Story of Buffalo Bill- William F Cody: Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Tuesday, May 2
1:00-2:00pm
William F Cody was a fascinating product of the American West. The complicated story of Cody’s life and his exploits in the American West and later in performances depicting that “Wild West” will be examined using the Center’s collections. A complicated story spanning the mid to late 1800’s to 1917 will illuminate both the man and his times. Join us as another favorite, George Miller presents this wonderful story!
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 20
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – Andersonville National Historic Site
Tuesday, May 9
1:00-2:00pm
Andersonville National Historic Site began as a stockade built about 18 months before the end of the U.S. Civil War to hold Union Army prisoners captured by Confederate soldiers. Located deep behind Confederate lines, the 26.5-acre Camp Sumter (named for the South Georgia county it occupied) was designed for a maximum of 10,000 prisoners. At its most crowded, it held more than 32,000 men, many of them wounded and starving, in horrific conditions with rampant disease, contaminated water, and only minimal shelter from the blazing sun and the chilling winter rain. In the prison’s 14 months of existence, some 45,000 Union prisoners arrived here; of those, 12,920 died and were buried in a cemetery created just outside the prison walls.
Andersonville is the deadliest ground of the Civil War. The program will begin with a general overview of Civil War prison statistics and why Andersonville was chosen as a location for a prison site. We will then talk through the of Andersonville using modern photos of the prison and photos from 1860. The program will cover living conditions inside the prison, the experience of prison guards, and the efforts to preserve the site after the Civil War.
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 20
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – “Bravo” – National Portrait Gallery
Tuesday, May 16
1:00-2:00pm
Florenz Ziegfeld orchestrating sequined spectaculars at the Follies … Charlie Chaplin shuffling his “Little Tramp” across the silent screen … Martha Graham choreographing a vocabulary of modernism into dance … Duke Ellington elevating jazz to classicism … Maria Callas reminding the world about the art of the prima donna … Elvis Presley shaking up the cultural landscape.
The creative diversity of the American experience is remarkably expressed in the exuberance, elegance, and dynamism of its performing arts. “Bravo!” presents a vibrant showcase of the performers who brought these arts to life. Beginning in years when artists performed only live and without microphones, “Bravo!” covers the technological evolution that has made performance accessible at the click of a mouse. Throughout, these artists have played a vital role in American life and culture, and their ongoing contributions continue to inspire the national character.
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 20
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
SLN – The Johnstown Flood National Memorial: The Stunning Story of one of America’s Greatest Tragedies
Tuesday, May 23
1:00-2:00pm
On Friday May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam failed sending 20 million tons of water 14 miles down the Conemaugh Valley to Johnstown. The Johnstown Flood killed 2,209 people in one of the country’s worst disasters. This program explores the causes and effects including the history of the South Fork Dam, the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club who owned the dam in 1889, events on May 31, and the large-scale recovery effort that followed.
Presenter: Senior Learning Network
Capacity: 20
Cost: $9 nonmbr, $7 mbr, $0 platinum
Space: 103
