WAPAKONETA — The Auglaize County Historical Society will host the presentation “Pop Culture in the Context of 1972” with Dr. Matthew Donahue on Thursday, April 7, at 7 p.m. at the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.

The program is presented in collaboration with First on the Moon Inc.

The event is free and open to the public, and is offered in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum’s July 1972 opening. Donahue’s appearance in Auglaize County is made possible by the support of the Ohio Humanities Council.

Donahue is a lecturer in the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University, specializing in topics related to popular culture, popular music, film, media and culture and popular culture and the arts. He has lectured on such topics regionally, nationally and internationally and has served as an authority on popular culture topics for national and international publications.

In addition to his academic work, Donahue is also a musician, artist, filmmaker and writer. As a musician, he has released sound recordings in a variety of rock and roll genres. As an artist he uses popular culture as the basis of his artistic creations working in two and three dimensional collage/mixed media, street photography and art cars. He is an award winning documentary creator of such films as “The Hines Farm Blues Club” and “Motorhead Matters.” His written work consists of the award winning “I’ll Take You There: An Oral and Photographic History of the Hines Farm Blues Club” and a collection of photography related to his art cars entitled “Taking It To the Streets: An Art Car Experience.” His academic and creative efforts can be viewed at www.md1210.com.

“The year 1972 was pivotal for the country and the world, and a fascinating time to open a new museum in Auglaize County about aviation and space exploration. Dr. Donahue is a very engaging speaker, and we hope many folks will come out to learn about this moment in human history,” Historical Society Administrator Rachel Barber said.