'Coffee with Chief Wallace: Museum Musings'

Journalism at Denison presents “Coffee with Chief Glenna Wallace: Museum Musings” as part of Ohio Earthworks Celebration honoring the Ohio Earthworks’ new designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The series of events takes place over two days, including:

Wednesday, March 20

• 1:30 p.m. Coffee with Chief Wallace: Museum Musings
  • Denison Museum
• 3 p.m. Pop-up Exhibit: Finding Our Place: Archaeological Work from Denison, 1836-2024
  • Shepardson College Room, Slayter Union
• 7 p.m. Chief Glenna Wallace presents and discussion with journalist Graham Lee Brewer and Northwestern University historian Doug Kiel
  • Slayter Union Auditorium

Thursday, March 21

• Noon Great Circle guided tour by Jeff Gill
• Great Circle Museum in Newark, Ohio

Chief Wallace of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma has worked tirelessly with the State of Ohio and Ohio History Connection to protect the many earthworks and mounds present in Ohio.

In a speech for Ohio Statehood Day in 2019, she spoke on the legacy of American Indian cultural sites in Ohio and bemoaned the lack of importance and respect that has been given to them. “Why had I never read anything about Newark Earthwork Mounds?” she asked. “Because you here in Ohio didn’t even realize the treasures that you had. Because you didn’t write about them. Because you didn’t understand what you had…We shouldn’t be playing golf on top of sacred spiritual Indian mounds. We should recognize the treasures that we have here in Ohio, and we should realize that the people who built those were not savages.”[8] She similarly implored the return of the remains of American Indian ancestors in museum collections, asking that a place be found in Ohio for their ancestors to be buried and put to rest.

Throughout her life, Chief Wallace has found that hard work and education can get you far, but it is connection to one’s heritage, one’s culture that allows you to go even farther. She hopes to continue working hard to regain, promote, and protect Eastern Shawnee history and culture long into the future, and to bring her people back to greatness.

Co-sponsors: The Donald E. Sharp Lecture Series in American History, the Laura C. Harris Series, Journalism, Anthropology, Environmental Science, and the Freedom School in Licking County