2023 North America Wales Foundation Heritage Medallion
Dedicated to discovering, preserving, interpreting, and celebrating the contributions of Welsh pioneers on the prairies and across the North American continent.
The North America Wales Foundation is pleased to name the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project (GPWHP) as the 2023 recipient of its Heritage Medallion. This is the Foundation’s highest honor given to individuals or organizations distinguished by their contributions to North American Welsh life. The GPWHP’s mission is to discover, preserve, interpret and celebrate the history and contributions of Welsh pioneers on the North American prairies.
The Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project of Wymore, Nebraska started in 2000 and is now a well-established group with over four-hundred members and many accomplishments. The project originated through the efforts of Elaine Mick and Lori McAlister, who wanted a place to recognize and celebrate their Welsh heritage. This dream was achieved with the help of Wymore mayor, Julie Everson, and the townspeople who enthusiastically supported the project. Some of these founders were of Welsh heritage while many others were of diverse ethnicities reflecting the character of frontier America. That same mix of ethnicities continues, and today the GPWHP is overseen by a board of 21 members as well as an Advisory group of 11 members. These boards meet regularly with Gwenith Closs-Colgove serving as President (since 2017) while both AdaMae Lewis and Janey Williams-Rudder serve as vice-Presidents. Although far too numerous to list all outstanding contributors – both past and present – their number includes Marilyn Samuelson, Carolyn Jones Strother, Pat Brownawell, Judith Broughman, Mona Everett, June Ellen James, Elmo Lloyd, Robert Humphries, Janice Hughes Cohorst and Maggie Dunn. It bears emphasis that three GPWHP leaders have also been recognized as individuals by the NAWF in past years: Berwyn Jones and Martha Davies in 2010: as “Conservators of Welsh History in America” and AdaMae Lewis in 2015 as a “Leader with Great Motivation, Vision, Tenacity and Tenderness)
Among its many accomplishments, the GPWHP runs the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre, started a publishing and translation project, created and oversees the Archive for Welsh America, and produced a film, Pobl y Paith, People of the Prairie: the Welsh in Nebraska celebrating 150 years of Nebraska’s statehood. A portion of this fascinating video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGZ-TmD7R30 . One relatively recent edition to the museum is the Hall of Welsh Heroes displaying photos and bios of key historical figures and celebrities ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Anthony Hopkins.
The wonderful work of The Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project will be recognized at the North America Wales Heritage Award and Gala Banquet on Friday, September 1, 2023, as part of the North American Festival of Wales held in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project of Wymore, Nebraska started in 2000 and is now a well-established group with over four-hundred members and many accomplishments. The project originated through the efforts of Elaine Mick and Lori McAlister, who wanted a place to recognize and celebrate their Welsh heritage. This dream was achieved with the help of Wymore mayor, Julie Everson, and the townspeople who enthusiastically supported the project. Some of these founders were of Welsh heritage while many others were of diverse ethnicities reflecting the character of frontier America. That same mix of ethnicities continues, and today the GPWHP is overseen by a board of 21 members as well as an Advisory group of 11 members. These boards meet regularly with Gwenith Closs-Colgove serving as President (since 2017) while both AdaMae Lewis and Janey Williams-Rudder serve as vice-Presidents. Although far too numerous to list all outstanding contributors – both past and present – their number includes Marilyn Samuelson, Carolyn Jones Strother, Pat Brownawell, Judith Broughman, Mona Everett, June Ellen James, Elmo Lloyd, Robert Humphries, Janice Hughes Cohorst and Maggie Dunn. It bears emphasis that three GPWHP leaders have also been recognized as individuals by the NAWF in past years: Berwyn Jones and Martha Davies in 2010: as “Conservators of Welsh History in America” and AdaMae Lewis in 2015 as a “Leader with Great Motivation, Vision, Tenacity and Tenderness)
Among its many accomplishments, the GPWHP runs the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre, started a publishing and translation project, created and oversees the Archive for Welsh America, and produced a film, Pobl y Paith, People of the Prairie: the Welsh in Nebraska celebrating 150 years of Nebraska’s statehood. A portion of this fascinating video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGZ-TmD7R30 . One relatively recent edition to the museum is the Hall of Welsh Heroes displaying photos and bios of key historical figures and celebrities ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Anthony Hopkins.
The wonderful work of The Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project will be recognized at the North America Wales Heritage Award and Gala Banquet on Friday, September 1, 2023, as part of the North American Festival of Wales held in Lincoln, Nebraska.