Historian Jonathan Soucek to Discuss Minnesota DFL, Civil Rights Movement in Minnesota State Mankato’s William E. Lass Memorial Lecture April 21

Historian Jonathan D. Soucek will discuss connections between the Minnesota DFL party and the civil rights movement in Minnesota in Minnesota State University, Mankato’s 2025 William E. Lass Memorial Lecture on Monday, April 21 at 4 p.m. in Ostrander Auditorium, located in the University’s Centennial Student Union.

Soucek’s presentation is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow the lecture.

Soucek did research on his topic at the Minnesota Historical Society, courtesy of a Gale Family Legacy Fellowship.

Soucek, a Fairmont, Minnesota, native, earned bachelor’s degrees in history and political science and a master’s degree in history from Minnesota State Mankato. He earned a doctorate in history from Purdue University in 2024. While a graduate student at Purdue, Soucek received the 2022 William E. Lass Award for a research paper he presented at the Northern Great Plains History Conference. He also served as an adjunct professor in Minnesota State Mankato’s history program.

For more information, please contact Lori Lahlum, professor in MSU’s Department of History and Gender Studies, by phone at 507-389-6334 or by email at lori.lahlum@mnsu.edu.

Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of History and Gender Studies is part of the University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 15,251 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 26 colleges and seven universities.