The Journey Museum and Learning Center’s Turtle Soup series is back for the sea-
son, starting Friday, Jan. 11 at noon. Our first presentation is called “Expanding the Energy Horizon: A
History of Black Hills Corporation Since 1883,” presented by Eric John Abrahamson, Ph.D. and Eric
Steven Zimmer, Ph.D.
Feed your mind and your belly with Turtle Soup, featuring a presentation on figures or events that influenced Black
Hills history.
Today, Black Hills Corporation has more than 1.25 million customers in eight states. The company traces its roots
to a group of entrepreneurs who sought to bring a new and life-changing technology to Deadwood, South Dakota
in the 1880s: electricity.
Over the next 135 years, dozens of electric and natural gas utilities combined to form the Black Hills Corporation
we know today. In “Expanding the Energy Horizon,” historians Eric Abrahamson and Eric Zimmer tell how Black
Hills Corporation’s commitment to its core values has allowed it to meet many challenges over many generations
while providing safe, reliable and affordable energy to the communities it serves.
Abrahamson is the founder, president, and principal historian of Vantage Point Historical Services, Inc., which
helps communities harness their history. He earned his Ph.D. in American Economic History at Johns Hopkins
University. He has written histories of major corporations and cultural institutions in telecommunications, banking,
food processing, construction, philanthropy and the arts, as well as several biographies, books and essays.
Zimmer is a senior historian at Vantage Point. He completed his Ph.D. in American History at the University of
Iowa, where he specialized in Native American history, the history of U.S. social policy, and public and environmen-
tal history. He is the author of a forthcoming biography of a prominent Jewish businessman and politician on the
Northern Plains and co-author of “Expanding the Energy Horizon: A History of Black Hills Corporation Since
1883.”
This week’s soup is broccoli cheddar from Angel’s Catering. The event is included with admission to the museum.
