Arley Fadness

Topics: American Old West, Black Hills, History, Science/Technology, South Dakota, Veterans/Military History

Community: Sioux Falls

Program Types: Speakers Bureau, Virtual Program(s)

Strengthening Our Democracy by Remembering History: Shining a Light on the KU Klux Klan in South Dakota
Be amazed, be shocked, be informed by this PowerPoint presentation which exposes and makes visible the “invisible empire” in the Rushmore State. We identify towns, churches, leaders and communities which unwittingly sang the songs of white supremacy, antisemitism, anti-Catholics and nativism from 1892 to 1933. In contrast to the tenets of the KKK we celebrate democracy which upholds equality, freedom and the voting power of the people.

South Dakota Bombed by Japanese Balloons
This presentation describes the little-known bombing of South Dakota by Japanese Fu-go balloons with incendiary bombs during World War II. Nine thousand balloons were launched from the Japanese mainland in late 1944 and in 1945. These balloon-borne bombs targeted all of North America. Nine landings have been discovered on South Dakota soil.

Aeronauts, Balloons and the Stratobowl
This PowerPoint presentation tells the stories of seven significantly historic and scientific balloons that have flown out of the Stratobowl since 1934. The Stratobowl is a deep, naturally circular canyon eleven miles south of Rapid City, SD. Each year the anniversary of the 1935 launch from the Stratobowl, and successful landing of Explorer II at White Lake, SD, is celebrated with a September hot air balloon lift off.

Huron-born World War I Balloonist Hero
This slide presentation portrays the fascinating drama of balloon aeronaut, Lieutenant Harlou P. Neibling. Neibling received the Distinguished Service Cross for his valor in France, shooting down a German Fokker D-VII airplane with his Colt .45 pistol while parachuting from his own attacked and burning observation balloon.

Catching the Younger Brothers: The Untold Story of Heroic Teen Asle Sorbel
This fascinating PowerPoint presentation exposes the “secret” that Webster, SD citizen Doc Sorbel hid all his life. Asle Oscar Sorbel, was the 17-year-old lad who when living in Madelia, MN was responsible for the capture of the Younger Brothers of the infamous Jesse James outlaw gang in 1876. He quickly and judiciously disappeared afterward. Several years later, he reappeared in Webster, SD and lived and served as the area “horse doctor”, all the while carrying his “secret” until the year before he died in 1930.