A Message from the Executive Director

Geoff Giglierano, MHC Executive Director

Learning About Missouri: New but Familiar

Since taking on the role of MHC Executive Director in late April, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the job for me  is beginning the task of learning about the people and communities of Missouri.  It’s relatively new ground for me:  I have not spent much time in the state before, and I am intrigued by the diversity of the stories that make up Missouri’s cultural and historical heritage.  At the same time, there is a great deal of familiarity to many of these stories.  Having grown up and worked in Ohio (which also prepared me for the summer humidity), Missouri stories about topics such as the river trade, immigration, the Civil War, the modernization of agriculture, and WWII industries are very similar to—or directly interconnected with—elements of Ohio and national history on which I have worked before.

I was reminded of this fact when I recently had the pleasure of attending the 2009 Governor’s Humanities Awards ceremony.  I had the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the fascinating people who are engaged in doing creative and important work in the humanities throughout Missouri. I particularly enjoyed meeting Dr. Mark Abbott from Harris-Stowe State University  because we have a common background as urban historians, which means there is a shared narrative that we have looked at from different geographical contexts.  For example, Missouri historians like Dr. Abbott are very aware of the importance of George Kessler, the great German American urban planner and landscape architect whose major projects included park design in Kansas City and planning and design work for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.  Likewise, for those of us who studied urban planning in Ohio, Kessler is a key figure for his comprehensive 1907 plan for Cincinnati’s city park system.   I am looking forward to spending more time with Dr. Abbott at some point to talk more about our common interests.

Other topical threads that are woven through the history of Missouri are familiar to me within the context of national stories.  This was brought home to me when I went to Lebanon, Missouri for a meeting with the Chairperson of the Council’s development Committee, Michele Hansford.  We held our meeting in the wonderful Lebanon-Laclede County Library, located in a building that includes a small museum that addresses the Route 66 story.

The theme of the museum intrigued me, because one of my interests over the years has been the impact of the automobile on American society and communities.  The people in Lebanon did a fine job illustrating aspects of that story as it relates to the famous Route 66.  Primarily utilizing volunteers and donated services and materials, they created an interesting space organized into themed sections based upon certain businesses that developed to serve the travelers along the highway.

One of the exhibit elements at the Lebanon Rt. 66 museum: a recreation of a mid-20th century motel room. Other environments created as settings in which to show road-related artifacts are a gas station and a diner from the same era.

In addition to its familiar connection with the history of the automobile in America, the facility resonated with me for other reasons.  I was impressed by the extent to which the project has a very “community-based” feel to it, and found it engaging and appealing in that it clearly is something that the residents of Lebanon are supporting and utilizing as a community resource.  The museum had an abundance of local and regional detail and images, which encouraged me to think about what the road must have meant, both in economic and social terms, to the people of rural communities along the way.

The site itself was interesting as well.  The building was a former K-Mart, extensively remodeled to house the library, community meeting rooms, the Route 66 museum, with a charming café that has a Route 66 nostalgia theme.  The renovation was just beautifully done—you can’t tell that the facility used to be a discount store. Furthermore, the facility is decidedly well utilized.   When we were there, the library was busy, meeting rooms were in use, and the café had a steady flow of traffic.  We were struck by how this site stands as a great example of what a community can do with surplus retail space, using creativity and careful thought to turn it into a valuable resource.

If you would like to learn more about the Lebanon-Laclede County Library, you may wish to visit their web site at http://www.lebanon-laclede.lib.mo.us/index.htm

So I think I am off to a good start learning more about Missouri and its communities.  I am sincerely excited about seeing more of the diverse and creative things that communities are doing to share their stories, including those that are completely new to me as well as those that are like old friends.

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