The library is partnering with the Ward County Historical Society and Friends of the Library to present a program on Dorman Park on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Susan Gessner, a retired librarian and local history enthusiast, will present the program.

Gessner’s research on Dorman Park began when she attended a program about the exhibition games played in Minot by the Kansas City Monarchs baseball team. This presentation, also hosted at the Minot Public Library, mentioned a game played at Dorman Park, and Gessner was curious to find out more about this unknown park, according to Library Director Janet Anderson.

“I like puzzles and mysteries and historical research involves gathering facts and trying to fill in the details,” Gessner said in a library news release. “The creative part of the research is then developing a narrative.”

The story Gessner discovered and will share includes baseball, socialism, dances and more. Dorman Park opened in July 1914 as a “socialist park,” which was available to all people, unlike other Minot parks, which had more restrictive rules. In later years, Dorman Park became a neighborhood that seems to have catered to the poor; between 1933 and 1957 the Park held up to 13 residences.

Submitted Photo The 1915 map showing the location of Dorman Park reflected street name changes occurring at the time. A current map of this section of west Minot would show changes in the course of the Mouse River made after the 1969 flood to improve the flow of the river.

Tuesday’s program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be available.

On Thursday, the library will host author William Matson, who will speak about his book “Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior’s Life and Legacy.” Matson’s book is based on the oral history of the Crazy Horse family, and he will be joined by two family members, Floyd Clown and Doug War Eagle.

Matson says people should understand there were three Crazy Horses – the grandfather, the father and the son, whom everyone knows by the name passed down. Following the murder of Crazy Horse at Fort Robinson, the family took a vow of silence and had been in hiding until 2001.

“They were reminded to keep quiet after Spotted Elk and his unarmed band of mostly elders, women and children were massacred at Wounded Knee when the 7th cavalry found out that Spotted Elk was Crazy Horse’s first cousin,” Matson said in a library news release. When Crazy Horse’s little brother, Makah, was assassinated in 1918 in front of his wife and daughter, the Crazy Horse family determined to remain in hiding.

Despite continued threats and harassment, the family tries to keep looking toward the future.

Submitted Photo Advertisements from 1914 promote events taking place at Minot’s former Dorman Park.

“We are not revengeful because what happened a second ago already happened and you can’t change it. So we concentrate on the future and now,” said Floyd Clown, who will be at the Minot Public Library’s Thursday event, which begins at 5:30 pm. This event is also free and open to the public and copies of Matson’s book will be available for purchase.

MPL welcomes anyone interested in local history to use the variety of resources available at the library. Genealogy databases, microfilm, journals and books are all available to those wanting to do their own research. The public is welcome to use the Great Plains Room, which includes local history books such as plat books, family histories, centennial celebration books, yearbooks and telephone directories.

For more information on these resources or the upcoming presentations, call the library at 852-1045 or go online to www.minot

library.org.