A big thank you to NDPC for the Ellen Crawford scholarship to attend the national conference in Cincinnati this past June. I am grateful and honored to receive it. 

A highlight was visiting the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The museum has three floors packed with the history of slavery to freedom. It includes an authentic slave pen built in the early 1800s in Kentucky. Murals, movies and interactive displays tell stories of stepping into freedom through the Underground Railroad. A couple of freedom trails ran through Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin to reach Canada. One display focuses on the current state of trafficking and other forms of exploitation.

Keynote conference speakers also featured the Underground Railroad with stories of enslaved ancestors, abolitionists and freedom seekers.

Other topics and workshops included becoming an entrepreneur and how to embrace change, as well as funding sources from the Scripps Howard Fund for journalism education and childhood literacy.  

Workshop panels addressed ChatGPT, what it is, how it works and its impact on media and technology. Other topics included finding different publishing routes, a refresher on editing, and how print and digital teams can work together. 

I encourage members to attend and apply for the scholarship to next year’s conference in St. Louis,  June 20-22. It will enrich your knowledge and friendships from around the country.

– Merrie Sue Holtan