by Savanah Baker
Jody Lamp, a 1993 University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Journalism & Mass Communications alumna, and Melody Dobson, co-founders of the American Doorstop Project, have announced the release of their book “A History of Nebraska Agriculture: A Life Worth Living,” for June 2017.
Lamp, of Lamp Public Relations & Marketing, LLC and Dobson, independent consultants and national project directors, signed a multiple-book publishing agreement with The History Press in 2016 to produce a series of agriculture history books, beginning with “A History of Nebraska Agriculture: A Life Worth Living.” The book series continues with Montana and North Dakota, with publishing dates planned for 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Lamp’s career in agriculture journalism began in Nebraska. Born and raised in Scotts Bluff County, Lamp earned her bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in December 1993 with minors in psychology, anthropology and history. She worked as a photographer for the Daily Nebraskan and as an agriculture writer for the Department of Ag Communications at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
After college, she was hired as the agricultural reporter and photographer for the Beatrice Daily Sun and later was recruited by Bader Rutter & Associates, the leading agricultural-based public relations and advertising agency in the United States. She moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived there for three years before moving to Montana, where she continued to work for the agency. In 2009, Lamp opened Lamp Public Relations & Marketing and continues to maintain the office she started at Billings Livestock Commission. Lamp and her husband, Mike, moved to Mitchell, Nebraska, in May 2015 with their children Mark and Jessie.
Lamp began collaborating on local and national projects with Montana native Dobson, and together the team created a strategic planning program called “Your One Powerful Voice,” designed to help businesses, organizations and individuals collaborate to create an credible resource of influence. Lamp and Dobson worked as the national strategic plan developers for the U.S. Custom Harvesters Inc. and as the national executive co-coordinators for the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film— coordinating the strategic plans, fund development for production and public awareness—before launching the American Doorstop Project on July 1, 2015.
The American Doorstop Project is a joint-venture agriculture advocacy collaboration between Lamp and Dobson. The project preserves and promotes historical stories through the identification formula of the Space, Place, Invention, Commodity or Event, and the People that have shaped the U.S. over the past hundreds of years. American Doorstop Project features a collection of stories that were instrumental in shaping America’s agricultural roots.
