Oral history interview with Arthur R. Tanderup and Helen Tanderup, 2022
Abstract
Art and Helen Tanderup discuss their lives working and farming in Neligh, Nebraska, and their activism in opposition to the proposed extension of the Keystone XL pipeline, the course of which was projected to cut through their farm. The Tanderups describe learning about the proposed course of the pipeline, researching its likely local environmental impact, and joining Bold Nebraska, the alliance or ganized to oppose the construction of the extension. They also provide details about the creation of large crop art installations in their fields; the media interest the installations attracted; and their participation in Cowboy Indian Alliance protests in both Nebraska and Washington, D.C., including the Reject and Protect demonstration at which Art stood in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Also discussed are the Harvest for Hope concert featuring Willie Nelson and Neil Young that the Tanderups hosted on their farm in September 2014, memories of the 2008 presidential campaign, meetings with legislators in Nebraska and Washington, D.C. to advocate against the approval of the pipeline extension, and the evolution of the Tanderups' identities as activists and environmentalists
Art and Helen Tanderup live on their farm in Neligh, Nebraska. Art Tanderup was a longtime teacher in Nebraska, and Helen Tanderup worked for an educational institution in Nebraska. After they retired, they began farming full time in Neligh. During th e years of the Obama presidency, the Tanderups were involved in the organized opposition to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline extension, which would have cut through their land. Among other involvements, the Tanderups worked with artists to cut crop art installations in their fields, hosted the September 2014 Harvest for Hope concert on their farm, and participated in Cowboy Indian Alliance protests in both Nebraska and Washington, D.C.
Note
Interviewed by Dov Weinryb Grohsgal on June 10, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Arthur R. Tanderup and Helen Tanderup, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023