In the summer of 2009, a group of Laura Ingalls Wilder fans and researchers convened in De Smet, South Dakota. We were concerned about Laura Ingalls Wilder scholarship and research. We knew it was happening, but we also knew the outlets for presenting such research were all but nonexistent. We also knew that people like us, concerned with preserving the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder all across this country, needed a true north.
Thus was born the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association.
This singular nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and encouragement of research surrounding Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, the Little House sites, and their legacies will act as the major sponsor for academic conferences and help support the work of the sites and of independent researchers.
We want to act as a clearinghouse, a gathering space for scholars and fans, academics and educators—all who have something to contribute or who are simply interested in learning more about these remarkable women and the heritage they’ve left behind.
Why Join?
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association is the only group in the world that uniformly supports all of Laura’s homesites. We donated $1,000 in 2013 to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri, and we intend to make more donations to homesites or other worthy Laura Ingalls Wilder projects in the future. We organize biannual conferences (or close to it) that further scholarship about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. We have the support of longtime LIW authors and researchers, including William Anderson, who called our first LauraPalooza conference “the Cadillac” of conferences. If you love Laura and the Little House books, know this: we do, too. And prove it year after year.
About Our Board
The Board of the LIWLRA is made up of LIW supporters across the country. Each and every one is a volunteer and all offer something unique to contribute. (From time to time we have Board openings. Our nomination form is here.)
How to Become a Member
Membership in the LIWLRA costs $15/year and entitles you to a 10 percent discount on anything you purchase supplied by the Association (including conference registrations). Every dime goes to support the work of the conferences and the Association (including website costs) and to provide you the opportunities to share in the wonderful LIW/RWL research being conducted around the globe.
To become member of  the LIWLRA, go here.
We hope you see fit to join the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association. The latch-string is always out.
Comments3
I am a retired teacher who read the eight book “Little House” series to my third graders for many years. I planned many activities in various areas of study to go with the chapters I was currently reading. My classes were so enthusiastic about their history lessons. I feel we can’t truly appreciate where we are if we don’t “know where we’ve been.”
I have almost every book written by Laura or about Laura. Also have the Ashton Drake set of dolls.
Since my husband and I are preparing to move to a retirement home (two bedroom apartment instead of a four bedroom house) I must let go of many things that I have loved over the years. Is there a way I can perhaps sell for a very resonable price my books and other memorabilia, by letting Laura fans know what I have available?
…Janet’s query intrigues me! I’d like to see what she has…
Also, I was just thinking how nice it would be to have LIWLRA bumper stickers or some sort of window decal available for members. I wear the conference tee often when I travel, and since I drive to most of my gigs…a little extra advertising of LIWLRA certainly couldn’t hurt, could it??
Did Janet’s items get sold? I would be interested in knowing what was left and how I could purchase items if interested.
Looking forward to Laurapalooza 2012.
Lynn Urban
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