Contents:
- Living History and Living with History
- Battle of Westport Medical Weekend
- Missouri Little Dixie Slave Cabin Project
- Mary Meachum: A Tale of an Urban Slave Escape
- Filling Up with Wonderful Words
- Stories on Stage, Oral History Comes off the Shelf
- Vincentennial: The Legacy of Vincent Price
- Hannibal Friendraiser
- Missouri Humanities Council
“Living History” and “Living with History”
At the recent MHC quarterly board meeting in Hannibal, our staff and council members had the opportunity to enjoy two excellent programs presented by the wonderful people at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum. The Museum was the host site for our meeting, and as an adjunct to our “friend-raising” activities on Friday evening, Curator Henry Sweets gave a talk on the history of censorship of Mark Twain’s work, particularly the book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Henry is a fascinating and engaging speaker, and his perspectives on this ongoing story how various groups and individuals have had issues with Twain’s masterpiece were truly enlightening. Among the insights that he shared with us was the understanding that although there have been attempts to censure, censor, and re-write Huckleberry Finn from its initial publication up through the present, there have been wildly diverse reasons why various people over the years have had problems with the book.
Battle of Westport Medical Weekend
With the support of the Missouri Humanities Council, the John Wornall House and the Clendening History of Medicine Museum and Library (CHMML) teamed up on an ambitious project. Over a weekend, we presented three different programs detailing the medical techniques used during the Battle of Westport. We also touched on the unique challenges faced by both medical personnel and civilians who cared for the wounded and dead after this battle. We combined lecture, exhibits, and living history to engage learners of all ages.
Missouri Little Dixie Slave Cabin Project
During six typical changing spring days this April, over one hundred dedicated attendees and followers met with the Slave Cabin Project’s celebrated founder, Mr. Joseph McGill, and members of the newly formed “Missouri’s Little Dixie Heritage Foundation” (MLDHF), to learn about and honor the often forgotten slave cabin. The event, “Missouri’s Little Dixie Cabin Project,” grew out of a desire to create an awareness of these overlooked and often misunderstood architectural testaments of our State’s antebellum African American slave history.
Mary Meachum: A Tale of an Urban Slave Escape
On May 21, 2011 in St. Louis, MO, over 300 people gathered at the site of the Mary Meachum Underground Railroad located on the banks of the Mississippi River to celebrate the historic Mary Meacham Freedom Crossing. This 9th annual event included a fully costumed re-enactment of the events of May 21, 1855 — when a party of nine enslaved Africans crossed the Mississippi River to Illinois, in an attempt to make a daring flight to freedom. The exodus was conducted by Mary Meacham, a free woman of color and widow of John Berry Meacham, the famous abolitionist. 2011 also marks the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.
Filling Up with Wonderful Words
Somewhere between the corn flakes and the oatmeal, I heard a dad say to his very young son, “We are in the cereal aisle. These rows that we are walking up and down are called aisles.”
The little boy giggled and sing-songed, “We’re in the aisle, we’re in the aisle.” As often happens in the grocery store, I continued to pass this same pair as we worked our way through the store. “Daddy, this is the ketchup AISLE! Daddy, let’s go to the cookie AISLE. Daddy, do we have aisles at our house? Daddy….” At some point I am sure Dad wished he had a nickel for every time he heard the word AISLE.
Stories on Stage,Oral History Comes off the Self
At the end of April of this year, McDonald County Chamber of Commerce in Pineville, Missouri, with partial funding from the Missouri Humanities Council, premiered Snake County Stories, a folk history theatre production. The project began five months earlier when Colleen Epperson, then the Chamber executive director, and Marilyn Carnell-Williams, chair of the Economic Development Committee, contacted me. They had read about a project I had produced for the University of Missouri Extension conference entitled “Capitalizing on Your Community’s Heritage”. The conference was held in Chamois, a Missouri River town in Osage County and my task was to create a short theatre piece to be used at the conference as a participatory activity, as well as entertainment. After collecting oral histories and studying the resources at the Osage County Historical Society, I began to compile the script. Knowing that we would have very little rehearsal time, I wrote the script like an old time radio show, with simple sound effects and music. At the conference, after just one rehearsal, we presented the piece to thunderous applause. The audience experienced both laughter and tears as we brought them through a brief history of the county.
Vincentennial: The Legacy of Vincent Price
St. Louisans celebrated their connections between one of horror’s most iconic actors, Vincent Price, with Cinema St. Louis’ Vincentennial, a celebration of Price’s life and movie career on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Hannibal Friendraiser
The Missouri Humanities Council Board of Directors hosted a Friendraiser in Hannibal on June 3. The event was held at LulaBelle’s Restaurant in downtown Hannibal, a stone’s throw from the Mississippi River, and was attended by a variety of friends of the humanities.
Missouri Humanities Council Board
Friends of the Missouri Humanities Council who receive Missouri Passages are often well aware of MHC’s programs, grants, and other activities. However, they may be unaware of MHC’s governance structure. As MHC’s current Board Chair, I am happy to give some insight behind the scenes of MHC’s governing body.
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