Join us for this month’s free Bellman Brown Bag Series on Wednesday, November 8 at noon in the Matthews Theater as Tim Velder presents “Who Shot Father Belknap and Why?”

Father Arthur Belknap was a Catholic priest who served the northern Hills communities of Spearfish and Lead from 1916 through 1921. His service was cut short in late October 1921 when he was murdered in the street. This murder remains unsolved, which has allowed a variety of theories to arise about the motive for the murder. Velder will examine some of those theories as well as highlight the brief career of this dedicated priest.

About Tim Velder…

Tim Velder is a northern Black Hills native and amateur researcher of history. He graduated from Newell High School and Black Hills State University and spent more than 20 years covering news events for northern Hills newspapers and the Rapid City Journal. Since 2011, he has been a marketing and communications specialist for the northeast Wyoming electric cooperative Powder River Energy. He lives in Sundance, Wyoming, with his wife Gerri and has three grown children. Tim is also vice-president of the West River History Conference which holds annual history events focused on local history.

About the Bellman Brown Bag Series…

The Bellman Brown Bag series is a humanities program designed to explore ideas, history, literature, art and culture. The Brown Bag program was developed by Dr. Stewart Bellman in the 1990’s. Recognizing the Matthews Opera House as an ideal venue for the exploration of humanities topics, he engaged a line-up of speakers to present programs on a range of humanities topics each month.

Dr. Bellman was a professor of English at Black Hills State University, Spearfish, SD. His teaching career spanned thirty years. Bellman retired from BHSU and passed away in November 2002.

Programs are presented on the second Wednesday of each month, noon to 1pm. Designed to begin and end within the lunch hour, patrons are invited to bring their lunch, if desired, or simply enjoy an hour of learning and entertainment.  This is an opportunity to gain insight into themes that touch our daily lives.

Coffee for the Bellman Brown Bag Series is generously provided by Common Grounds in Spearfish, SD.