Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the State of Missouri

 

 The murals painted by Thomas Hart Benton in the state capitol building Speaker’s Lounge in Jefferson City, Missouri, serve as a metaphor for the theme of the conference, “Compromising Positions: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Missouri and the Midwest,” which took place on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus on April 7 and 8, 2011, with the generous support from the Missouri Humanities Council.    The murals, valued today at millions of dollars, were considered very controversial, for they depicted Missouri in all its history:  Frankie and Johnnie, Jesse James, slavery, and domestic abuse appear side-by-side with the glory of the rural, pioneer life.  Whether some people might wish not to recognize the negative aspects of Missouri history, that history doesn’t change.  We envisioned this conference as a chance to investigate what Missouri history reveals about issues of gender, race, and class, and the paintings of Benton seem to be an appropriate starting point.  The Gender Studies Program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis is a discipline that engages in ongoing debate about these issues both historically and in contemporary culture, and we enjoyed hearing the innovative—and controversial– ideas of other teachers and scholars. 

Situated in the middle of the U.S., comprised of the old South, the frontier West, and lower Midwestern values and cultures, Missouri is an intersectional border state. Its ongoing debates on race, gender and sexuality have often led to compromised positions, negotiations and agreements that mark the sites of multiple, often muffled, purposes and meanings that have had unsettling or sustaining ramifications for individuals, groups, and the state. Of course, the title comes from the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and—as with any compromise—usually something is lost in the bargain.  We have to remember that the people who designed this particular compromise were very far away, and they were all male.  On March 3, 1820, Henry Clay, “the Great Pacificator,” finally brokered a deal that would postpone the inevitable confrontation about the issue of slavery.  When Maine petitioned for statehood, Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state.  The lives of many thousands of people were dictated by this agreement, and yet their voices cannot be found in it.  We therefore invited scholars and teachers to give creative voice to the people of Missouri, not only those directly affected by the Compromise, but those who share equally in their silence because they stand outside positions of power.  In terms of cultural studies, we invited speakers and panels on such Humanities-focused topics as quilting and domestic arts, the WPA Federal Writers’ Project slave narratives, literacy, biographical studies of Missouri’s pioneers—both in terms of actual pioneers as well as race and gender activists—and Missouri’s Native American heritage, which is often overlooked.  We were not disappointed in the submissions and presentations, and the evaluations were a testament to the conference’s success.

 Kathryn Red Corn, Executive Director of the Osage Tribal Museum in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, opened the conference with a frank look at the complex history of the Osage in Missouri, teasing out issues of intermarriage and economic and political power.  Ms. Red Corn also brought an exhibit of documents for the audience to peruse during the presentation.  This candid presentation set the tone for the entire conference, as Dr. Kenneth Winn’s presentation confirmed.  Dr. Winn, Director of Library and Public Services for the Supreme Court Library in Jefferson City, Missouri, presented a talk on a little-known historical relationship: “The Prairie Puritan’s Concubine: George Sibley, Breach of Marital Promise, and Anglo-Francophone Conflict on the Missouri Frontier, ” reminding today’s audience that—despite the lack of reality television shows—liaisons  between sexes have always been complicated.  On the evening of the 7th, across the street from the campus in the Unity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dr. Barbara Harbach premiered her original score based on the life and literacy of Harriet Scott, “Harriet’s Story,” a dramatic song cycle written for soprano, violin and piano, in three movements.  The lyrics to the first two movements are created in the voice of Harriet Scott, and the third movement uses actual quotes of Harriet Tubman.  The piece was performed by  Marlissa Hudson, soprano; David Gillham, violin; and Alla Voskoboynikova, piano.  The full house that evening also enjoyed a reprise of Dr. Harbach’s original score, “Freedom Suite for String Quintet,” a musical tribute in three movements honoring the lives of Harriet, Dred, Eliza, and Lizzie Scott written in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 2011 Birthday Commemoration and performed by UMSL students (and siblings) The Dickson Quartet on violin, viola, and cello, with Charles Clements on double bass. 

 The conference participants, the university community, and the community at large were offered a docent tour of the Mercantile Library, the oldest library west of the Mississippi River and housed on the UMSL campus.  Julie Dunn-Morton, Fine Art Collections Curator, was instrumental in the installation of an exhibit designed expressly for the conference.  The exhibit showcased such library treasures as first editions by Missouri writers Maya Angelou, Kate Chopin, and Fannie Cook, as well as rare documents from the Dred Scott decision and the Civil War.

 

 

Arrow Rock historian Gary Fuenfhausen spoke on slave cabins in Missouri—only one percent of those dwellings remaining and also unprotected by the state—in his presentation “Little Cabins: Slave Dwelling Architecture in Missouri’s Little Dixie.”  According to Mr. Fuenfhausen, this presentation examines the four distinct types of Southern slave quarters found in Missouri’s Little Dixie.  Using 15 slave quarter and plantation case studies from the Little Dixie region, Mr. Fuenfhausen uses statistical and primary evidence to support the history of these important slave environments.  Supplementing the history are Missouri’s WPA slave oral histories, in which slaves describe these spaces in their own words.  According to Mr. Fuenfhausen, Missouri is the only state to do nothing about preserving its architecture of slavery. 

Quilt historian Ann Hazelwood presented “A Woman’s Work Is Never Done,” in which she discussed quilt making in the Midwest, not only as an eventual art form but also how women used their materials for both expression and economy.  Ann invited the audience to bring their heirloom quilts. As part of her presentation, Ann placed them chronologically and discussed their unique features.

Keynote speaker Robert Moore, historian from the Jefferson National Expansion Museum, presented “They Love Liberty”: What Court Documents tell us about the Lives of African American Women in Antebellum St. Louis.  According to Dr. Moore, the almost wholly intact court records of the City of St. Louis present an incredible picture of what life was like for African Americans in this border city before the Civil War.  Data and stories recovered from records chronicling emancipations, suits for freedom, probate auctions of human beings, lawsuits against persons assisting slaves to escape to free territories, and mandatory licenses obtained by free persons of color tell us much about the lives and culture of people who sought liberty in diverse ways during this tumultuous period in American history.

The second day of the conference was rounded out beautifully by master storyteller Lynn Rubright, who showed the film she produced, Oh Freedom After Awhile, an historical documentary about a dramatic 1939 roadside protest by Missouri Bootheel sharecroppers–black and white–and the repercussions it had in politics and in their lives.  Ms. Rubright also designed a literacy workshop to follow the presentation of the film. 

The panel presentations for the conference were intriguing as well, covering such topic as Midwest Masculinity, Midwestern Racialized Identities, and Constructions of Respectability: Race, Gender, and Sex in the Midwest at the Dawn of the 20th Century.  Scholars from a variety of regional universities and states interpreted the conference theme in a myriad of ways, reflecting the original intent of the conference: to investigate the many and complex ways in which race, gender, and sexuality has shaped the history, culture, and identity of the state of Missouri.  

Contributing writer, Kathleen Nigro is the Assistant Director, Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Missouri St. Louis

 

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