venue : Zoom

LauraPalooza 2024
Our First Virtual LauraPalooza

Count Every Second Until The Event Starts

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

VENUE : ZOOM

LauraPalooza 2024
Our First Virtual Laurapalooza

An Experience You Will Never Forget.​

LauraPalooza is the only academic and fan gathering of its kind, celebrating the literary, historical, and cultural impact of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and their families. It was first held in 2010 in Mankato, Minnesota, where it won the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Bring It Home Award. It returned to Mankato in 2012. The third LauraPalooza conference, was held at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. Beginning in 2017, we made the decision to host the conference at a hotel to have access to a wider range of amenities and event facilities. In 2017, we were at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO. In 2019, Laurapalooza was held at the Stony Creek Hotel and Conference Center in Onalsaka, WI and in 2022 we were at the DoubleTree Hotel in Burlington, VT. 

The board is still determining the site for 2025’s Laurapalooza.  Please bookmark this page, so you are the first to know when it is updated.  

Frequently Asked Questions

LauraPalooza is the only academic and fan gathering of its kind, celebrating the literary, historical, and cultural impact of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and their families. It was first held in 2010 in Mankato, Minnesota, where it won the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Bring It Home Award. It returned to Mankato in 2012. The third LauraPalooza conference, was held July 16-17, 2015 at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. Beginning in 2017, we made the decision to host the conference at a hotel and conference center, in order that we might have access to a wider range of amenities and event facilities. In 2019 it was held in Onalaska, WI and in 2022 it was held in Burlington, VT,

The next LauraPalooza conference will be held in 2025.

Nobody. That’s why we started it.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association and its volunteers. For LauraPalooza 2025, Events Committee are Susan Sanelli, Lynne Forder and Rachel Luther.

No. The first two (2010, 2012) were in Mankato, MN, and the third (2015) moved to Brookings, SD. The fourth (2017) was in Springfield, MO,  the fifth was in Onalaska, WI (2019) and the last one was in Burlington, VT (2022).

Generally, we plan for about 150 attendees. Our programming typically features a keynote speaker and several invited guests, as well as a selection of about 20 presenters who offer a wide range of academic talks, panels, workshops, and other activities.

There was a three-year gap between the second and third conferences, and will continue to be held every two or three years.

The conference combines academic and research-oriented topics with hands-on activities and sociable. “LauraPalooza” captures the festive atmosphere of this group of scholars and enthusiasts.

Event Speakers

mitali perkins

Mitali Perkins (mitaliperkins.com) has written many books for young readers, including You Bring the Distant Near (nominated for a National Book Award) and Rickshaw Girl (adapted into a film by Sleeperwave Productions), all of which explore crossing different kinds of borders. Her goal is to make readers laugh or cry, preferably both, as long as their hearts are widening. She lives and writes in the East Bay.

DEAN BUTLER

Dean Butler was born on May 20, 1956 in Prince George, BC, Canada. He is a producer and actor best known to audiences for his portrayal of Almanzo Wilder from 1979 to 1983 on the iconic pioneer drama, Little House on the Prairie. He co-starred in the feature film, Desert Hearts, played Moondoggie in the syndicated The New Gidget, and Buffy’s dad, Hank Summers, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. On Broadway Dean played Rapunzal’s Prince in the original company of Into the Woods, toured internationally as Tony in West Side Story, and appeared with Carol Burnett in a regional production of Company.

Since 2011 Dean has been the Senior Producer of the Emmy nominated Feherty series on Golf Channel. He lives in Los Angeles and is married to actress, Katherine Cannon.

Event Schedule

Time

Events

Speakers

Conference Day 1 Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Registration Open

Welcome and State of LIWLRA​

Lauri Goforth, Sarah Manley

Fraud in Little Towns: Yesterday and Today

Lauri Goforth

The Wilder Homestead in An Indigenous Landscape: Native American History and Farmer Boy

Robert Goodby

Long Winter Weather, Revisited

Barb Mayes Boustead

BREAK (Silent Auction)

Vignettes from On The Way Home, 2021-Style

Cindy Wilson, Patty Collins, Laura McLemore, and Laura Whitaker

Free and Independent: Ideas about Freedom in Farmer Boy and other Little House Books

Christine Woodside

Docia's Web: Take the Five Minutes

Jim Hicks

Lunch with Trivia

Christopher Czajka

Workshops (Choose one to attend)

Farmer Boy Book Club

"I'd Rather Go to Singing School!": Let's Sing Favorites from the De Smet Singing School and the Little House Books

Annette Whipple and Cindy Wilson
Kevin Pearce, Karen Pearce, Julie Miller, Julie Siefken

BREAK (silent auction)

Singing School for All!

Kevin Pearce, Karen Pearce, Julie Miller, Julie Siefken

Keynote: STEEPED IN STORIES: THE POWER OF A MULTI-STORIED CHILD

Mitali Perkins

Authors' and Artists' Reception, Vendors, and Displays

Conference Day 2 Thursday, July 14, 2022

Registration Open

Keynote

Bill Anderson

From Field to Fork: Comparing Agriculture and the Food System of Almanzo Wilder’s Time (late 1800s) to Modern Day

Nancy Brill

I'll be Waving as You Drive Away: Blindness, Agro-Futurism and Home Economics in the World of Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Coyote Shook

"On the Pilgrim Way": The Faith of Laura Ingalls Wilder

John Fry

BREAK

Almanzo’s Age: Statistics and Stigma of Marriage

Melissa Stoller, Bonnie Stoller, and Posy Stoller

The Story of Grandpa’s Sled and the Pig: Using Laura’s Own Words to Discover the Site of the Ingalls Homestead in Canadice, New York

Patty Dowd Schmitz

Finding Farmer Boy: The Wilder Farm as Historic Site

Michelle McClellan

LUNCH: Legacy Award and Dean Butler Keynote (MC: Sarah Manley)

Crowdsourcing the Wilder Side

Eddie Higgins and Sandra Hume

BREAK

Eddie Higgins and Sandra Hume

Fashioning the Wilder Family

Laura Keyes

Archive Artifacts: Rarely Seen and Heard Mementos from the Ingalls, Wilder, and Lane Families

Caroline Ranald Curvan

Wrap-up and Thank You

Sarah Manley and Lauri Goforth

Guided viewing of PBS American Masters

Christopher Czajka and Caroline Curvan

Day 3

Day Trip to Malone, NY

Special Pricing

We aim to keep pricing as reasonable as possible while also providing a full and enriching experience for both full conference and day pass holders.

2022 LIWLRA Full Conference Pass

$439.99

Access To All Days Of The 2022 LIWLRA Full Conference.​

(Daytrip to Malone not included)

2022 LIWLRA
Day Pass

$199.99

Access to one day of the 2022 LIWLRA Full Conference.

(Daytrip to Malone not included)

Book Your Room

We’re glad you can join us for Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association 2022 Conference!

We have a room block reserved at DoubleTree by Hilton Burlington Vermont for July 12, 2022 through July 15, 2022.

These rooms will be available until June 20, 2022, or until all rooms have been sold. 

Please note that hotel accommodations are NOT included and must be arranged directly with the hotel, see below for link, phone, and discount code.

Our contract with the hotel ensures a rate below listed prices and we strongly encourage our members to stay with us at the conference hotel.

Please click below or call 1-800-445-8667 to make your hotel reservation. Our block of rooms is under the group name “Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy & Research Association 2022 Conference” and be sure to use the discount code LIW to get the reduced conference rates.

Some things to consider while planning your itinerary:

We are excited to announce that, Thursday evening, LIWLRA is hosting a group viewing of the PBS documentary, American Masters – Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page – with live commentary!

Almanzo Wilder Farm will be having its regular July events the day after we visit, if anyone is interested in extending their stay.

We will adhere to local COVID-19 guidelines at the time of the conference. Read about current recommendations here.

LIWLRA.org reserves the right to make adjustments to the conference based on Covid-19.

PAST CONFERENCES

July 7-10, 2019
Onalaska, WI

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award was presented to Finerva Brimacomb for her work with the Masters Hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa. Featured guests included Laura Ingalls Wilder biographer William Anderson, Library of America collection editor and 2018 Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Prairie Fires Caroline Fraser, noted LIW biographer, John E. Miller, Nancy Tystad Koupal, director of the Pioneer Girl Project, a research and publishing program of the South Dakota State Historical Society, and several recurring fan favorites. The conference concluded with a guided tour of sites around Pepin, Wisconsin.  The evening concluded with a buffet dinner and a jigging contest with music provided by “Hoof on the Roof.”

July 11-14, 2017
Springfield, MO

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award was presented to Jean Coday and Jean Elefson. Featured guests included LIW biographer William Anderson leading panels of citizens and acquaintances of the Wilder family in Mansfield, Libertarians on the Prairie author Christine Woodside, Pioneer Girl editor Pamela Smith Hill, Library of America collection editor and 2018 Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Prairie Fires Caroline Fraser, horticulturalist author Marta McDowell, and several recurring fan favorites. The conference concluded with a guided tour of sites around Mansfield, MO and a birthday celebration at the Laura Ingalls Wilder-Rose Wilder Lane Historic Homes, better known as Rocky Ridge Farm.

July 16-17, 2015
Brookings, SD

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award presented to biographer John Miller of Brookings, South Dakota, and Sally House of New York. Featured guests included LIW biographer William Anderson, Pioneer Girleditor Pamela Smith Hill, author Melanie Fishbane, Dr. Beth Tarini, Japanese translator Yumiko Tamiguchi, and a lively panel that included author Erin Blakemore, author Sandra Hume, and Eddie Higgins. The conference concluded with a guided tour of sites around De Smet, South Dakota.

July 12-14, 2012
Mankato, MN

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award presented to Barbara Walker and Shirley Knakmuhs. Featured guests included LIW biographer William Anderson, Alison “Nellie Oleson” Arngrim, The Wilder Life author Wendy McClure, Dean “Almanzo Wilder” Butler, and Dale Cockrell of Pa’s Fiddle Recordings.

July 15-17, 2010
Mankato, MN

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award presented to LIW biographer William Anderson. Featured guests included Anderson, Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little Town author John Miller, Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life author Pamela Smith Hill, best-selling novelist Wendy Corsi Staub, and Dean “Almanzo Wilder” Butler and his documentary, Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura.

Count Every Second Until The Event Starts

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

An Experience You Will Never Forget.​

LauraPalooza is the only academic and fan gathering of its kind, celebrating the literary, historical, and cultural impact of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and their families. It was first held in 2010 in Mankato, Minnesota, where it won the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Bring It Home Award. It returned to Mankato in 2012. The third LauraPalooza conference, was held July 16-17, 2015 at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. Beginning in 2017, we made the decision to host the conference at a hotel and conference center, in order that we might have access to a wider range of amenities and event facilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

LauraPalooza is the only academic and fan gathering of its kind, celebrating the literary, historical, and cultural impact of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and their families. It was first held in 2010 in Mankato, Minnesota, where it won the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Bring It Home Award. It returned to Mankato in 2012. The third LauraPalooza conference, was held July 16-17, 2015 at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. Beginning in 2017, we made the decision to host the conference at a hotel and conference center, in order that we might have access to a wider range of amenities and event facilities.

The next LauraPalooza conference will be held in 2022.

Nobody. That’s why we started it.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association and its volunteers. For LauraPalooza 2019, co-chairs are Karen Pearce and Melanie Stringer.

No. The first two (2010, 2012) were in Mankato, Minnesota, and the third (2015) moved to Brookings, South Dakota. The fourth (2017) was in Springfield, Missouri, and the last conference was held 7-10 July 2019 in Onalaska, Wisconsin.

Generally, we plan for about 150 attendees. Our programming typically features a keynote speaker and several invited guests, as well as a selection of about 20 presenters who offer a wide range of academic talks, panels, workshops, and other activities.

There was a three-year gap between the second and third conferences, but from now on it will happen every two years.

The conference combines academic and research-oriented topics with hands-on activities and sociable. “LauraPalooza” captures the festive atmosphere of this group of scholars and enthusiasts.

Event Speakers

mitali perkins

Mitali Perkins (mitaliperkins.com) has written many books for young readers, including You Bring the Distant Near (nominated for a National Book Award) and Rickshaw Girl (adapted into a film by Sleeperwave Productions), all of which explore crossing different kinds of borders. Her goal is to make readers laugh or cry, preferably both, as long as their hearts are widening. She lives and writes in the East Bay.

 

DEAN BUTLER

Dean Butler was born on May 20, 1956 in Prince George, BC, Canada. He is a producer and actor best known to audiences for his portrayal of Almanzo Wilder from 1979 to 1983 on the iconic pioneer drama, Little House on the Prairie. He co-starred in the feature film, Desert Hearts, played Moondoggie in the syndicated The New Gidget, and Buffy’s dad, Hank Summers, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. On Broadway Dean played Rapunzal’s Prince in the original company of Into the Woods, toured internationally as Tony in West Side Story, and appeared with Carol Burnett in a regional production of Company.

Since 2011 Dean has been the Senior Producer of the Emmy nominated Feherty series on Golf Channel. He lives in Los Angeles and is married to actress, Katherine Cannon.

Event Schedule

Day 1

Registration Open

Welcome and State of LIWLRA​

Lauri Goforth, Sarah Manley

Fraud in Little Towns: Yesterday and Today

Lauri Goforth

The Wilder Homestead in An Indigenous Landscape: Native American History and Farmer Boy

Robert Goodby

Long Winter Weather, Revisited

Barb Mayes Boustead

BREAK (Silent Auction)

Vignettes from On The Way Home, 2021-Style

Cindy Wilson, Patty Collins, Laura McLemore, and Laura Whitaker

The Land and Neighbors of the Little House on the Prairie

Kristin Schodorf and Julie Phelps

Docia's Web: Take the Five Minutes

Jim Hicks

Lunch with Trivia

Christopher Czajka

Workshops (Choose one to attend)

Farmer Boy Book Club

Annette Whipple

"I'd Rather Go to Singing School!": Let's Sing Favorites from the De Smet Singing School and the Little House Books

Kevin Pearce, Karen Pearce, Julie Miller, Julie Siefken

BREAK (silent auction)

Singing School for All!

Kevin Pearce, Karen Pearce, Julie Miller, Julie Siefken

Keynote: STEEPED IN STORIES: THE POWER OF A MULTI-STORIED CHILD

Mitali Perkins

Authors' and Artists' Reception, Vendors, and Displays

Day 2

Registration Open

Keynote

Bill Anderson

From Field to Fork: Comparing Agriculture and the Food System of Almanzo Wilder’s Time (late 1800s) to Modern Day

Nancy Brill

I'll be Waving as You Drive Away: Blindness, Agro-Futurism and Home Economics in the World of Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Coyote Shook

"On the Pilgrim Way": The Faith of Laura Ingalls Wilder

John Fry

BREAK

Almanzo’s Age: Statistics and Stigma of Marriage

Melissa Stoller, Bonnie Stoller, and Posy Stoller

The Story of Grandpa’s Sled and the Pig: Using Laura’s Own Words to Discover the Site of the Ingalls Homestead in Canadice, New York

Patty Dowd Schmitz

Finding Farmer Boy: The Wilder Farm as Historic Site

Michelle McClellan

LUNCH: Legacy Award and Dean Butler Keynote (MC: Sarah Manley)

Crowdsourcing the Wilder Side

Eddie Higgins and Sandra Hume

BREAK

Eddie Higgins and Sandra Hume

Fashioning the Wilder Family

Laura Keyes

Archive Artifacts: Rarely Seen and Heard Mementos from the Ingalls, Wilder, and Lane Families

Caroline Ranald Curvan

Wrap-up and Thank You

Sarah Manley and Lauri Goforth

Guided viewing of PBS American Masters

Christopher Czajka

Day 3

Day Trip to Malone, NY

Special Pricing

We aim to keep pricing as reasonable as possible while also providing a full and enriching experience for both full conference and day pass holders.

2022 LIWLRA Full Conference Pass

$439.99

Access to all days of the 2022 LIWLRA Full Conference.

(Includes workshop, coffee etc)

2022 LIWLRA
Day Pass

$199.99

Access to one day of the 2022 LIWLRA Full Conference.

(Includes workshop, coffee etc)

Book Your Room

We’re glad you can join us for Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association 2022 Conference!

We have a room block reserved at DoubleTree by Hilton Burlington Vermont for July 12, 2022 through July 15, 2022.

These rooms will be available until June 20, 2022, or until all rooms have been sold. 

Please note that hotel accommodations are NOT included and must be arranged directly with the hotel, see below for link, phone, and discount code.

Our contract with the hotel ensures a rate below listed prices and we strongly encourage our members to stay with us at the conference hotel.

Please click below or call 1-800-445-8667 to make your hotel reservation. Our block of rooms is under the group name “Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy & Research Association 2022 Conference” and be sure to use the discount code LIW to get the reduced conference rates.

Some things to consider while planning your itinerary:

We are excited to announce that, Thursday evening, LIWLRA is hosting a group viewing of the PBS documentary, American Masters – Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page – with live commentary!

Wilder Farm will be having its regular July events the day after we visit, if anyone is interested in extending their stay.

We will adhere to local COVID-19 guidelines at the time of the conference. Read about current recommendations here.

PAST CONFERENCES

July 7-10, 2019
Onalaska, WI

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award was presented to Finerva Brimacomb for her work with the Masters Hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa. Featured guests included Laura Ingalls Wilder biographer William Anderson, Library of America collection editor and 2018 Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Prairie Fires Caroline Fraser, noted LIW biographer, John E. Miller, Nancy Tystad Koupal, director of the Pioneer Girl Project, a research and publishing program of the South Dakota State Historical Society, and several recurring fan favorites. The conference concluded with a guided tour of sites around Pepin, Wisconsin.  The evening concluded with a buffet dinner and a jigging contest with music provided by “Hoof on the Roof.”

July 11-14, 2017
Springfield, MO

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award was presented to Jean Coday and Jean Elefson. Featured guests included LIW biographer William Anderson leading panels of citizens and acquaintances of the Wilder family in Mansfield, Libertarians on the Prairie author Christine Woodside, Pioneer Girl editor Pamela Smith Hill, Library of America collection editor and 2018 Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Prairie Fires Caroline Fraser, horticulturalist author Marta McDowell, and several recurring fan favorites. The conference concluded with a guided tour of sites around Mansfield, MO and a birthday celebration at the Laura Ingalls Wilder-Rose Wilder Lane Historic Homes, better known as Rocky Ridge Farm.

July 16-17, 2015
Brookings, SD

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award presented to biographer John Miller of Brookings, South Dakota, and Sally House of New York. Featured guests included LIW biographer William Anderson, Pioneer Girleditor Pamela Smith Hill, author Melanie Fishbane, Dr. Beth Tarini, Japanese translator Yumiko Tamiguchi, and a lively panel that included author Erin Blakemore, author Sandra Hume, and Eddie Higgins. The conference concluded with a guided tour of sites around De Smet, South Dakota.

July 12-14, 2012
Mankato, MN

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award presented to Barbara Walker and Shirley Knakmuhs. Featured guests included LIW biographer William Anderson, Alison “Nellie Oleson” Arngrim, The Wilder Life author Wendy McClure, Dean “Almanzo Wilder” Butler, and Dale Cockrell of Pa’s Fiddle Recordings.

July 15-17, 2010
Mankato, MN

Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award presented to LIW biographer William Anderson. Featured guests included Anderson, Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little Town author John Miller, Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life author Pamela Smith Hill, best-selling novelist Wendy Corsi Staub, and Dean “Almanzo Wilder” Butler and his documentary, Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura.