Bob Will and DaughtersOur Annual Meeting is this Saturday evening, March 23, at Carleton College’s Great Hall.  Doors open at 6:00 p.m.; the program starts at 7 p.m. The event is free to all NHS members.

This year, NHS will honor retired Carleton College professor Robert Will for his ongoing support of NHS and Northfield history. Bob is a longtime member of the historical society and a past board member. He is also a past chair of Northfield’s Heritage Preservation Commission.

The evening’s featured speaker will be Cherif Keita, a professor of French at Carleton College. He will talk about his latest documentary film “Cemetery Stories: A Rebel Missionary in South Africa.” The film traces the involvement of Northfield native Ida Belle Wilcox and her husband, William, both missionaries, with the struggle against white rule in South Africa. It is a sequel to another Keita documentary, “Oberlin-Inanda,” which chronicles the life of John L. Dube, the first president of the South African Native National Congress. Dube was educated and mentored by Ida and William Wilcox in the early part of the 20th century.

The event is sponsored by KYMN Radio, Northfield News and Community Resource Bank.