Casey Seger-Franklin’s career has taken him from one end of the Great Plains to the other — and his current work places him at the heart of preserving pieces of the region’s history.
Seger-Franklin, collections manager at the Great Plains Art Museum and Center for Great Plains Studies, brings a background in history to protect, record and share cultural history of the region. His connection to the Great Plains and its stories encompasses the land and all its people, prominent or otherwise.
“It’s important to have the everyday person’s information and experiences preserved for future historians to get a fuller picture of what life in our time was like,” Seger-Franklin said. “A lot of history is uncovering some of that everyday life that is not well known to us because that information doesn’t survive to us. Gaining that everyday aspect is something I’m passionate about carrying on.”
Seger-Franklin, a Nebraska native, always felt connected to the Great Plains. His interest in museums started at a young age, when he had the opportunity to visit major museums in Europe as a teenager. As an undergraduate, he worked at the South Dakota Art Museum and then at the Museum at Texas Tech University as a master’s student. He then accepted a position in Deadwood, South Dakota.
