Andrea Mott, 2009 Dakota Memories Oral History project interviewer, will give a presentation about her experiences collecting oral histories in the North Dakota communities of Napoleon and Richardton. The event is set for Thursday, April 8, at
7 p.m. in the North Dakota State University Alumni Center Atrium.

"This includes interviewing segments, humorous stories and digital and scanned photographs that focus on narrators as well as the local area," Mott said. "I will conclude the presentation by talking about what I have learned from the Dakota Memories Oral History Project."

The presentation is free and open to anyone interested in oral history and cultural preservation on the Northern Plains. Sponsors for this event are the NDSU Libraries' Germans from Russia Heritage Collection and NDSU's Center for Heritage Renewal. Refreshments and kuchen will be provided.

Mott is the first presidential fellow in NDSU's history doctoral program. She works at the Center for Heritage Renewal under the advisement of Tom Isern, NDSU Distinguished Professor of History and director of the center.

Public interest in documenting and preserving German-Russian ethnic identity inspired the launch of the oral history project in 2005. Since then, organizers have been traveling the Northern Plains, gathering stories and documenting family relationships and childhood memories of second and third generation Germans from Russia. Michael Miller serves as director of the NDSU Libraries' Germans from Russia Heritage Collection and the project.

For more information, contact Acacia (Jonas) Stuckle, special collections associate, at (701) 231-6596 or acacia.stuckle@ndsu.edu.