Sturgis native Peg Kaubisch Aplan is the 2020 recipient of the Herb Blakely Award, which was presented at the 28th West River History Conference in Deadwood.
Named for the conference’s founder, the award honors “outstanding contributions to local and regional history, a sense of American patriotism and efforts to further the concepts of good citizenship.”
“Making history available to the future,” is Aplan’s professional mission, she said. “It’s something I enjoy preserving.”
When she was elected president of the West River History Conference board of directors in 2019, Aplan was no stranger to leadership.
She served as president of the Old Fort Meade Museum and was a board member for more than 20 years, during which time she collected artifacts and shared a treasure trove of stories with the visiting public.
“Perhaps most notable in Peg Aplan’s leadership of Old Fort Meade was the night the Black Hills wagon train visited. The expected crowd estimate was 300 to 400. Before it was over, they had personally greeted and welcomed — and fed — a crowd exceeding 1,200,” colleague Rhonda Sedgewick Stearns said.
Aplan oversaw the reconstruction of the museum building, an upgrade to house the many displays relevant to what was the longest surviving active Upper Missouri military post. The building had converted to a veterans hospital in 1944.
Aplan and her late husband of 26 years, James O. “Jim” Aplan, helped launch the High Plains Western Heritage Center in 1989. The regional museum in Spearfish honors the Black Hills' American Indian legacy and the Old West pioneers of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana.
Aplan has established a reputation for a collaborative style, typically praising fellow board members, staff, volunteers and donors alike for their participation in project success.
The Aplans shared the “Individual Award” at the 2013 Governor’s Awards for History in recognition of their antiquities business. Now, decades after Jim hired her as the secretary for their Tilford-based Antiques & Art trade business, she is the sole proprietor.
Aplan's certification as a member of Antique Appraisal Association of the Americas is rooted in her penchant for finding and evaluating rare books. Over the years she has acquired and marketed more than 60,000 editions, enriching the archives of many private and public libraries.
Aplan continues to cover the road shows and eventually hopes to transition exclusively to internet marketing.
Being a member of a generation that has seen momentous historical change, she surveys the future with a cautious eye. “How much longer are people going to want books? I don’t know,” she said.
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October 15, 2020 at 06:00PM
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Sturgis woman receives Herb Blakely Award at history conference - Rapid City Journal
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