“Little House on the Prairie” fans and scholars alike are gathering July 12-14 on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato to answer the question, “What Would Laura Do?” during “LauraPalooza 2012” – the second ever multi-day conference of its kind for fans, educators, and academics who love Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Sponsored by MSU Mankato and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association (LIWLRA), LauraPalooza will celebrate the author by showcasing original research, speakers and panels related to Ingalls Wilder, her family, her museums and the impact her books have had on American culture. Actors from the hit TV show “Little House on the Prairie,” which was loosely based on the book series, will also be on hand including Alison “Nellie Oleson” Arngrim, and Dean “Almanzo Wilder” Butler, with a special presentation by Dale Cockrell of Pa’s Fiddle Recordings about the PBS Little House music special filmed last January in Nashville.
“We’re very excited to be hosting this gathering again,” says Dr. Amy Lauters, LIWLRA president who, as a professor in the department of Mass Media at MSU, is chairing the conference for the second time. “We have a number of fun activities and some fantastic speakers to look forward to, and I’m sure we’re offering something for every Little House and Laura Ingalls Wilder fan out there.”
Throughout the conference, attendees will enjoy demonstrations, research, entertainment and discussion taken from the pages of the books. Key guest speakers include William Anderson, the premier Laura Ingalls Wilder biographer for the past forty years, and Barbara Walker, author of the long-beloved Little House Cookbook, first published in the 1970s. Presentations deal with everything from 1880s weather to Laura-related dolls to the legal legacy of her books.
For the first time, young fans also have an opportunity to join the fun with Camp Laura, a concurrent program intended for children K-6. The program will give children a hands-on look at the books and the history surrounding them. “Kids will step into the pages of the Little House books and experience pioneer life as Laura lived it, with the help of Wilder authorities and enthusiasts,” says Camp Laura Director Rebecca Brammer.
With Mankato centrally located to multiple settings from the series, LauraPalooza will bring fans close to the story’s roots. Wilder’s birthplace is Pepin, Wis., and she also lived in Walnut Grove, Minn., and DeSmet, S.D.
“It was important to us that we hold the conference as close to ‘Laura-land’ as possible,” says Sandra Hume, author of the forthcoming “Little House Travel” ebook (available in June) and founding board member of the LIWLRA. “The Little House books are as much a sense of place as they are good stories. You can’t read them without wanting to go where they happened—and unlike in many other books, these places really exist.”
After the conference ends on Saturday, attendees will have the option of going on to Walnut Grove, which served as the setting for her book On the Banks of Plum Creek. Organizers from The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove are preparing to welcome travelers and provide special activities just for them.
Even people who can’t attend LauraPalooza in person are invited to join in through videos, blog posts and social media at Beyond Little House (www.beyondlittlehouse.com), its corresponding Facebook page (search “Beyond Little House” on Facebook), and on Twitter (@BeyondLitlHouse ).
The conference is being organized by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association. Board members of the LIWLRA contribute to the Web site “Beyond Little House” (www.beyondlittlehouse.com), the premier go-to Web site for all things Little House, and the Homesteader, the only full-color publication about Laura Ingalls Wilder and all of the museums that honor her (www.homesteadernewsletter.com).
For more information, visit www.beyondlittlehouse.com or contact Amy Lauters at amy.lauters@mnsu.edu or Sandra Hume at sandra.hume@gmail.com. Or for an overview go to http://beyondlittlehouse.com/laurapalooza-2012/laurapalooza-2012-overview/
For MSU events: individuals with a disability, who need reasonable accommodation to participate in this event, are asked to contact the Office of Disability Services at 507-389-2825 (V/TTD), 800-627-3529 or 711 (MRS/TTD) at least five days prior to the event.
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