News/Press

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 | Chadron State CollegeSpeaker says Standing Bear ranks with great Americans — One of Nebraska’s own, Chief Standing Bear, deserves to be recognized with great Americans in history, a large audience was told in Memorial Hall at Chadron State College on Thursday night. The speaker was Joe Starita, author of "'I Am a Man' — Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice." Starita said he ranks the famous Ponca leader with Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks as being among those who helped bring equality and justice to the American way of life, even though there are still lessons to be learned in this regard. Read more...

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012 | PowWows.comStanding Bear's Footsteps — Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc. (NAPT) proudly announces the release of a new documentary that recounts the remarkable journey of legendary warrior Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca Nation, who fought injustice not with guns and arrows—but with words. Standing Bear’s Footsteps is available to Public Television stations via the PBS National Program Service (NPS) on Monday, October 15, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET. Read more...

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 | Nebraska Library CommissionFinalists for 2013 One Book One Nebraska Announced — One nonfiction book and three novels—all stories with ties to Nebraska and the Great Plains—are the four finalists for the 2013 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The finalists are: O Pioneers!, by Willa Cather; Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen, by Bob Greene; While the Patient Slept, by Mignon Eberhart; The Tie That Binds, by Kent Haruf. The choice for the 2013 One Book One Nebraska will be announced at 5:30 p.m. at the Celebration of Nebraska Books on November 3 at the Nebraska State Historical Society's Museum of Nebraska History, 15th and P Streets in downtown Lincoln. Read more...

AUGUST 11, 2012 | Sioux City JournalJoe Starita presents Standing Bear — Speaker, Joe Starita, will present a program entitled, Standing Bear: How an Indian Chief Set Off on a 600-Mile Journey to Bury His Son and Ended Up Beating the U.S. Army in a Federal Courtroom. Joe will discuss the legal, social and political importance of the landmark 1879 decision in which a judge declared that Ponca Chief Standing Bear was "a person" within the meaning of the law and entitled to the same Constitutional protections as white citizens. Read more...

JULY 16, 2012 | Cardinal Opportunities @ the South Sioux City Public LibraryJoe Starita, Author of “I Am a Man” Speaks at SSC Library — Speaker Joe Starita, will present a program entitled Standing Bear: How an Indian Chief Set Off on a 600-Mile Journey to Bury His Son and Ended Up Beating the U.S. Army in a Federal Courtroom on Saturday August 11th at 2 pm at the South Sioux City Public Library, 2121 Dakota Avenue, South Sioux City, Nebraska. Read more...

JULY 3, 2012 | KIOS 91.5 FMChief Standing Bear Featured in June Press Club — The 1879 trial of Omaha Chief Standing Bear was the subject of last month’s press club. Award winning author, college professor, and former newsman Joe Starita was the guest speaker. Starita wrote I AM A MAN, which detailed the landmark case of Chief Standing Bear. He said the case stemmed from the U.S. government forcing the Ponca Indians from their ancestral land, and Chief Standing Bear’s efforts to lead some of them back. Read more...

JUNE 13 18, 2012 | The Grand Island IndependentStanding Bear's story a topic for author, descendants — In 1878, Ponca Chief Standing Bear was a middle-age father trying to fulfill the last request of his 16-year-old son: to be buried in the tribe’s Nebraska homeland, nearly 600 miles from the Oklahoma reservation where the tribe had been forced to move. Joe Starita, an associate professor of journalism at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and author of “I Am a Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice,” spoke as part of the Adult Summer Reading program. Read more...

MAY 18, 2012 | The Grand Island IndependentStanding Bear author coming to Grand Island — The author of this year’s One Book, One Nebraska book will be in Grand Island June 13 to talk about his book and its subject, Chief Standing Bear. "I was really thrilled," Starita said of the 2012 honor, but he added it wasn’t from an egotistical standpoint. "But thrilled because this is a great story, not because I wrote it, but because Standing Bear lived it." Read more...

APRIL 14, 2012 | Indian Country Today Media Network.comI Am a Man Author Visits Columbus Public Library — Joe Starita, a professor of journalism in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will present a program about Chief Standing Bear at the Columbus Public Library Sunday, April 15. Read more...

APRIL 7, 2012 | The Columbus TelegramChief Standing Bear's story comes to library — The Friends of the Columbus Public Library and The Book Review Club will present Joe Starita at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 15 in the art gallery. Mr. Starita is the author of the 2012 One Book, One Nebraska selection, "I Am a Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice." Starita's book is a well-researched and insightful account of a major court case and decision which had long-lasting consequences. Although factual, the book reads like fiction with its suspenseful twists and turns, heartbreaks and triumphs. Read more...

FEBRUARY 27, 2012 | KVNO NewsAn early civil rights story, set in Nebraska — This year’s selection for One Book One Nebraska is a story of one of the earliest victories in the struggle for civil rights: a universal story of humanity and courage and a true story – one that took place right here in Nebraska. ... “What is amazing is that despite all of this abuse and fear and anger, and all of these obstacles that were set in front of Standing Bear, and he just kept plowing ahead, plowing ahead, knocking them over and he never became bitter,” Starita said. Read more...

FEBRUARY 26, 2012 | Omaha.netAuthor Joe Starita Visits Abrahams Branch of Omaha Public Library — Meet the author of "I Am A Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice," which is the selected title for this year’s One Book One Nebraska. Read more...

FEBRUARY 15, 2012 | Nebraska Humanities CouncilChautauqua scholars to explore impact of legislation — Scholars will portray six prominent historical figures and explore the impact of three important pieces of legislation passed within six weeks of each other in 1862 when the “Free Land” Chautauqua comes to Beatrice May 20-25. ... Taylor Keen will portray Standing Bear, Ponca chief who was involved in a court case in 1879 that was the first step in establishing basic civil rights for Native Americans. Read more... [PDF]

FEBRUARY 3, 2012 | Omaha Public LibraryOne Book One Nebraska focuses on one man’s journey for justice — Omaha Public Library is pleased to announce its participation in One Book One Nebraska 2012. Each year, Nebraska selects and promotes a title for its citizens to read to celebrate the literary richness of our state. "I Am a Man" Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice by Joe Starita was announced by the Nebraska Center for the Book as this year’s title. Omaha Public Library encourages everyone to read the book and participate in a series of programs in February and March. All programs and are free and open to the public. Calendar of events... Read more...

WINTER 2012, VOL. 22, NO. 1 | Nebraska Center for the Book2012 One Book One Nebraska Announced — Article (pp. 4-5) includes an interview with Joe Starita. Read more...

OCTOBER 22, 2011 | Nebraska Library Commission2012 One Book One Nebraska Announced"I Am a Man" Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice, by Joe Starita is Nebraska's reading choice for the 2012 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The One Book One Nebraska reading program, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, is now in its eighth year. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss one book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. A committee of the Nebraska Center for the Book selected the finalists from a list of forty-eight titles nominated by Nebraskans. After receiving nominations from across the state, the Nebraska Center for the Book board announced the choice for the 2012 One Book One Nebraska at the Celebration of Nebraska Books on October 22 in Lincoln. Read more...

OCTOBER 6, 2011 | Nebraska Library CommissionFinalists for 2012 One Book One Nebraska Announced — Two nonfiction books and three novels-all stories of America's Great Plains-are the five finalists for the 2012 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The finalists are: A Sandhills Ballad, by Ladette Randolph; Atticus : A Novel, by Ron Hansen; "I Am a Man" Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice, by Joe Starita; Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen, by Bob Greene; and, The Tie That Binds, by Kent Haruf. Read more...

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