(Ashland, Ore.) –Play history detective alongside NPR correspondent Tom Banse as he retells the tale of a star-crossed campaign to repatriate the remains of pioneer Chinese immigrants in Oregon.  Banse’s noon lecture and slideshow, “Unfinished Journey: A treasure box of documents and a long trip home” will be presented at Hannon Library on the Southern Oregon University Ashland campus on February 15, at noon, in the Meese Meeting Room.  This free event is co-sponsored by the Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association in advance of their February 16^th Chinese New Year celebration in Jacksonville.

You’ll hear about emptied graves, embezzlement, restless souls, and a collision between age-old traditions and inopportune civil war.  The story behind the making of an award-winning NPR radio feature also includes a mysterious anonymous source, photos of remote Northwest locations, and tips for doing your own research.  Based in Olympia, WA, Tom Banse covers a wide variety of news across the Northwest for National Public Radio, with stories heard on “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and locally on Jefferson Public Radio.  His exploration of the Chinese immigration to the American West began with a chance donation to his network of long-lost archival documents. 

For further information on this free noon lecture, contact Hannon Library at (541) 552-6823 or visit http://hanlib.sou.edu.