In the last program of the 2021 Dairy Building Program Series celebrating Bishop
Hill’s 175th Anniversary, Brian “Fox” Ellis, professional storyteller and historian,
will perform as Benjamin Dann Walsh, the first State Entomologist of Illinois
who lived just outside the Bishop Hill Colony. Mr. Ellis will give an outsider’s
viewpoint of the Bishop Hill Colony. This free program on Saturday November 13
is open to the public. It will start at 2 p.m. at the Dairy Building.
Brian "Fox" Ellis is an internationally acclaimed author, storyteller, historian, and
naturalist. He has worked with The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and
Museum, The Field Museum and dozens of other museums across the country. Fox
is a highly sought keynote speaker at regional and international conferences
including the International Wetlands Conservation Conference, National Science
Teachers Association Conference and the North American Prairie Conservation
Conference, et al. He is the author of many books including the critically
acclaimed Learning From the Land: Teaching Ecology Through Stories and
Activities, (Libraries Unlimited, 2011), the award winning children’s picture
book The Web at Dragonfly Pond, (DAWN Publications, 2006) and Content Area
Reading, Writing and Storytelling (Teacher Ideas Press 2010).
Benjamin Dann Walsh was an English-born American entomologist who served
as the first official state entomologist (insect scientist) in Illinois. Walsh
championed the application of scientific methods to control agricultural pests. He
was a proponent of biological control as an effective means to manage insects. He
was also one of the first American scientists to support Charles Darwin's theory of
evolution and was instrumental in securing its broad acceptance in the
entomological community.
The Dairy Building is located at 410 North Erickson Street. The Bishop Hill
Heritage Association, the Galesburg Community Foundation, and the Illinois Arts
Council Agency, a state agency, are sponsors of this program. For more details
about this performance, please call 309 927-3899 or email bhha@mymctc.net.
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