Library To Sponsor Lecture On Jesse James At EPS As Part of Nebraska 150

Western history author and lecturer Jeff Barnes brings the life and legend of the notorious Jesse James to the Elgin Public School on Monday, March 13, beginning at 10 a.m.
The lecture is brought to Elgin Public, Elgin Pope John and St. Boniface schools by the Elgin Public Library and is sponsored by Humanities Nebraska.
The public is also invited to attend this program.
“A Bad Man in a Better Place: Jesse James in Nebraska” covers the outlaw and his family’s several visits to the Cornhusker State, from the 1860s until just before his assassination in 1882.
“Jesse James typically isn’t thought of in connection with Nebraska, but he was here,” said Barnes, now researching and writing the first travel guide to the outlaw’s associated sites.
“Nebraska was where the outlaw could find family and friends. It was where he could plan amazing robberies, make a recovery or an escape, and even sit for his most famous photograph. He wanted to buy a farm here and some even say he started a family here.”
The 45-minute presentation includes rarely seen images and seldom-heard stories of James, with the opportunity for questions afterward.
A former newspaper reporter and editor, Barnes writes and lives in Omaha. He is a board trustee with the Nebraska