LYONS — The Rice County Historical Society in Lyons will host “Out of the Darkness: Records of the Vietnam War,” a presentation and discussion by Audrey Coleman at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 1, at the Lyons State Bank’s Community Room, 101 East Main, Lyons. Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact the Rice County Historical Society at 620-257-3941 for more information.

The United States had a presence in Vietnam as early as the 1950s and remained there until the dramatic evacuation of the American Embassy in 1975, but only now, as records are located, declassified, and cataloged, does a more complete story emerge. This presentation features historic material from the archive of Kansas Senator Robert Dole, who served in Congress from 1961 to 1996. 

Audrey Coleman is the assistant director and senior archivist at the Robert J. Dole Archive and Special Collections at the Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence. She holds a Masters in Museum Studies from the University of Kansas.

“My grounding philosophy is that Senator Dole’s records are a powerful resource for understanding the perspectives of a surprisingly large swath of society – soldiers, senators, dissenters, women, and marginalized communities,” said Coleman. 

“Out of the Darkness: Records of the Vietnam War” is part of Humanities Kansas’s Movement of Ideas Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and workshops designed to share stories that inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement.

The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas (humanitieskansas.org).