Stephen Dee Richards hanging, (UNK Communications, Courtesy)
KEARNEY — UNK professor will explore the violent history of central Nebraska serial killer, Stephen Dee Richards, at an upcoming event.
WHAT: Brown Bag Lecture Series
HOSTED BY: UNK Department of History
TITLE: “The Crimes and Times of Stephen Dee Richards, Central Nebraska Serial Killer”
TOPIC: In January 1879, Stephen Dee Richards sat in the Nebraska State Penitentiary and confessed to the murder of nine people. Most of these murders occurred in Buffalo and Kearney counties. Imprisoned in Kearney and convicted in Minden, Richards was executed on Minden’s courthouse square on April 26, 1879. Exploring this violent history reveals the history of the law, law enforcement and crime in central Nebraska during the 1870s.
PRESENTER: Nathan Tye is the assistant professor of Nebraska and American West history at UNK, where he’s taught since 2019. He received his doctorate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his research focuses on the lives of migrant laborers, better known as hobos, and their efforts to survive on society’s margins. Tye serves on the boards of several local community museums and cultural organizations, and his research is published in Nebraska History, Annals of Iowa and Willa Cather Review. He also appeared on NBC’s celebrity genealogy program “Who Do You Think You Are?”
TIME: Noon
DATE: Wednesday, May 8
PLACE: Kearney Public Library, 2020 First Ave.
VIDEO: Available on the Kearney Public Library YouTube channel
CONTACT: Nathan Tye, assistant history professor, 308.865.8860, tyen@unk.edu
