Classmate Barb and husband Art break ground!

Barb (Sheppard) Lang (VCHS '61, Chair of our 1961 Reunion Committee) and her husband Art Todd pose with their gold shovels, used during groundbreaking ceremonies at the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck, N. Dak., on November 23, 2010. The ceremonies were held indoors, using a very authentic pile of dirt brought from the outside earlier in September for this very special purpose. This photo was taken at the community room at Barb and Art's condo unit in Jamestown, as the “official photos” are not yet ready for publication.

The $51.7 million expansion project of the Heritage Center was a dream that finally became reality after ten years of effort by the boards of directors of both the State Historical Society of ND and its Foundation. Significant state funding of $39.7 million was obtained during the last legislative session held in early 2009, with the requirement that $12 million be raised from the private sector ($7,000,000 of which had to be received in cash/written pledges before groundbreaking could occur).

This project began in earnest in 2001, when former Governor Art Link visited the State Historical Society Foundation to remind them that the State Museum had been completed in 1981 and the original intent was to expand in 20 years! A very special Forum was held at the Heritage Center in November, 2001, with a round-table discussion featuring all of the living North Dakota governors – Guy, Link, Olson, Sinner, Schafer and Hoven. And so, the dream has been carried forward from that event, with a $5,700,000 expansion of the State Archives Division completed along the way in 2007.

Art has been a member of the board of the State Historical Society since 1981, except for the years when Gov. Sinner (D) was in office. Barb has been a member of the board of the State Historical Society Foundation since 1992. Art has served two different terms as president of his board, and Barb has been both president and treasurer of her board. Both have agreed not to “retire” from their respective boards until AFTER the champagne glasses are lifted at the grand opening ceremonies, tentatively scheduled for 2014, the year North Dakota becomes 125 years old! Barb says, "Oh gosh, we will be so old by then!" (Editor's note: Not "old," Barb, just "more experienced.")

For those interested in learning more about the activities of the Heritage Center, or details about the Expansion Project, please visit their website: http://www.history.nd.gov/ or the Foundation’s site: http://www.statehistoricalfoundation.com/  -

Thanks, Barb and Art, for your contributions to the preservation of our home state's history-we're proud of you!  --Posted by Larry Gauper, 12-02-2010