Missouri Association for Museums and Archives …missourimuseums.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/...Independence, Missouri, October 11-12, 2013. For the 3rd year, the conference

Missour i Assoc iat ion fo rM u s e u m s a n d A r c h i v e s

NEWSLETTER

Spring 2013, Volume 4 Number 1

The Friends of the Miami

Museum Complete Construction

Project (See page 9)

Lighting Up the Past at the Pony Express Museum(See page 10)

Missour i Assoc iat ion fo rM u s e u m s a n d A r c h i v e sNEWSLETTER

Spring 2013 Volume 4 Number 1

Officers and Council Members

President, Linda Endersby, Missouri State Museum, Jefferson City

Vice President, Candace Sall, Anthropology Museum, University of Missouri, Columbia

Treasurer, Shelly Croteau, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City

Secretary, Toni Messina, City of Columbia

Central Area Representative, Greg Olson, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City

Northwest Area Representative, Joni Anthor, Possum Walk Historic Site, Nodaway County

Northeast Area Representative, Vacant

St. Louis Area Representative, David Miros, Midwest Jesuit Archives, St. Louis

Southeast Area Representative, Joel Rhodes, Historic Preservation Program, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau

Southwest Area Representative, Charles Nodler, Missouri Southern State University Archives, Joplin

Kansas City Area Representative, Mark Adams, Truman Library and Museum, Independence

At-Large and Newsletter Editor, Jess Rezac, American Jazz Museum, Kansas City

At-Large, Greig Thompson, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia

Ex-officio and Advocacy Chair, Deb Summers, Museum of Osteopathic MedicineSM, Kirksville

Missouri’s cultural and historical community network

The Missouri Association for Museums and Archives

is a non-profit organization for:

- public and privateinstitutions, such as state and local historical societies, archives, libraries, museums (science, art, history, children’s,

etc.), historic sites, and national and state parks,

- paid staff members,

- unpaid staff members,

- board members,

- and friends of these organizations.

The purpose of the Missouri Association of Museums and Archives, a non-profit organization, is to encourage communication, cooperation and collaboration among museums, archives, historical societies, libraries and all

persons who desire to affiliate with said organizations in the State of Missouri.

The Missouri Association for Museums and Archives P.O. Box 533

Jefferson City, MO 65102-0533

www.missourimuseums.org

Newsletter Editor: Jess Rezac

Newsletter Design: Greg Olson

On The CoverTop: The Buckner Foundation helps the Friends of the Miami Museum

complete construction projects.Bottom: Lighting up the past at the Pony Express Museum.

Got News to Share?

The Missouri Association for Museums and Archives Newsletter is looking for news and information. If your organization has a new exhibit, new staff person, fund raising event, interesting

anecdote, job announcements, grant announcements, news about a partnership, fun photo of a museum guest or other interesting news to share, please contact

Jess Rezac at [email protected].

Deadlines for getting your news into 2013 issues are: Summer issue: July 15, Fall issue: September 6, Winter issue: December 6

Visit us on the Internet at www.missourimuseums.orgMAMA is now on ................

mailto:accurator%40stjoelive.com?subject=

The Missouri Association for Museums and Archives (MAMA) is planning its Annual Conference in Independence, Missouri, October 11-12, 2013. For the 3rd year, the conference will be held jointly with the Missouri Humanities Council. This conference brings together archives, heritage, and museum professionals from a wide range of institutions. Conference sessions typically provide practical tools, examples, and discussions.

This year, the theme of the Annual Conference will be the “Community and Collaboration.” In these tough economic times, museums, archives, historic sites and other institutions need the support of their surrounding community more than ever. Collaboration and partnerships can help individuals and institutions stretch limited resources farther.

We invite proposals for sessions. Proposal topics should in some way touch community or collaboration. We encourage you to seek out people from other institutions to collaborate on a panel.

Conference sessions will be held on Friday afternoon, Oct. 11, location TBD; and sessions on Saturday, Oct. 12 will be held at the Truman Library and Museum.

Individuals from the museum/archives and related supporting communities who would like to present at this dynamic and friendly conference are invited to submit proposals to Candace Sall by July 9, 2013 at: Candace Sall, University of Missouri - Columbia, Museum of Anthropology, 104 Swallow Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Session Proposal

Your Name: _____________________________________________________________________________________

Institution/Organization/Company:___________________________________________________________________

Your Address:____________________________________________________________________________________

Your Phone Number: ____________________________Your Cell Phone Number:____________________________

Your Email Address:______________________________________________________________________________

Title of Proposed Session:__________________________________________________________________________

Description of Proposed Session:

Spring 2013 Missouri Association for Museums and Archives Newsletter Page 3

MAMA/MHC Joint Conference Will Focus on

“Community and Collaboration”


What great excitement it is to get a postcard in your mailbox. Not just the comfort that someone far away was thinking of you, but the thrill of receiving the physical card—its glossy image on the front depicting its faraway origin, the scribbled message telling of foreign experiences, the colorful stamp from an exotic location, or the printed postal markings in an unknown language. It’s the epitome of leaving home, of escape.

So why would a postcard-collecting club want to listen to a lecture about their own hometown? Surely it could not possibly offer any sort of discovery.

Ginny McGue of the Gateway Postcard Club in Kirkwood, Mo., however, disagrees. The Club has been hosting “Show Me Missouri” Speakers’ Bureau presentations for the past five years. A service provided by the Missouri Humanities Council (MHC) and the State Historical Society of Missouri, the Speakers’ Bureau delivers scholars, experts and storytellers to reveal the unique stories about our state to libraries, museums and organizations across Missouri.

For McGue and the Postcard Club members, they don’t view opportunities for discoveries as being limited to foreign lands, but beginning within their very state, or zip code, for that matter. Just like a postcard, a Speakers’ Bureau presentation provides a snapshot of a time and place—sent by the speaker and shared among the audience. It’s a way for those at home to discover what’s going on in their world.

So when the Gateway Postcard Club hosts a Speaker’s Bureau, “that evening always seems a little more special,” McGue says. “We all gain an increased depth of knowledge on the topic. I must say that our members ask very good questions, and the speakers have always been able to engage us in a lively Q-and-A session.”

“Show Me Missouri” Speakers’ Bureau presentations—available to both for-profit and non-profit groups—are designed to make life-long learning opportunities available in communities throughout the state. The program can help “build bridges” between experts on Missouri history and culture and members of the general public. Missourians who often don’t have the chance to interact directly with scholars and researchers can gain new insights and better understanding of their own local and regional stories within a larger context.

Last year, in its first year of renewed operation, 11 Speakers’ Bureau

“Show Me Missouri” Humanities Speakers Offered“Signed, Sealed, Delivered”

Submitted by Kara Jacquin, Communication Coordinator, Missouri Humanities Councilevents took place. This year, 20 events are already scheduled from Chillicothe to Webb City. Much of this growth is thanks to a special offer for libraries to host an event for just $25 in 2013, a $50 saving on the program fee.

Presentations range from women in crime, everyday life in Missouri during the Civil War, traditional tales of the Ozarks, Missouri’s Carnegie Libraries and over 20 other topics. A full list of programs is available on the State Historical Society of Missouri’s website at http://shs.umsystem.edu/showmemo/speakers.shtml.

“These programs are often educational, thought-provoking, even eye-opening,” says Carol Diaz-Granados, a 15-year Speakers’ Bureau speaker and research associate in the Department of Anthropology at Washington University. “Participants gain a new outlook on topics

of which they might not have been aware, or new insights into topics for which they have an interest.”

“Part of my hope is that participants gain a deeper understanding of the humanities in Missouri,” says Gary Kremer, executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. “I think that regardless of the topic, participants’ lives will be enriched by being exposed to the humanities scholars of our state.”

Besides the deepening of the audiences’ understanding of the humanities, it also enhances the host institutions’

programming and can generate higher visibility in their community. Venues can expect to see familiar faces as well as bringing in new visitors who are curious not just about the event, but also the library, museum or society itself. Many hosts find that it serves as a way to promote their organization, not to mention bring in a speaker whom they normally could not afford (programs start at just $75).

MHC did not always offer these community-enriching programs, however. For the first 16 years of the Council’s existence, most of the requests for programs and grants were from colleges and universities in Missouri’s major cities. This was not the intention of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an affiliate of the MHC, however, and in 1987 they decided the MHC was to offer professional speakers to everyone, regardless of size, location or education. In this way, MHC could better touch the lives of the everyday Missourian—maybe someone who never completed high school or college, or maybe it had been years since they last stepped foot in a classroom.

(continued on page 11)

Dr. Thomas Curranm speaks in Kirkwood, Missouri.


Students as Curators atNorthwest Missouri State University

Submitted by Elyssa Ford, Assistant Professor of History, Northwest Missouri State University

Students in the public history program at Northwest Missouri State University have been busy this academic year – learning about the history of museums, practicing how to research and design exhibits, and putting these new skills to work by actually creating exhibits that have been displayed across campus and in the local historical society museum.

In the fall of 2012, twenty-one students in the class American Folklife spent the semester reading about folk music and trying to create a good definition for it (tricky!), but the class did not stop there. This was not your run-of-the-mill history class with just readings, papers, and class discussions. It also asked students to stretch beyond their comfort zones to actually research, design, build, and install an exhibit at the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum, located in Maryville.

These students, most of whom were not minoring in public history, stepped up to the plate and created an exhibit that focused on topics ranging from local musical styles like Kansas City jazz and ragtime to more traditional folk styles like Appalachian music and to key figures like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and the Lomax family. They even brought folk music into the present day with a section that discussed indie folk music and popular bands like Mumford and Sons. The final product really was a complete exhibit that incorporated lesson plans, interactive components, and audio pieces for each topic.

The exhibit opening was truly exciting as grants from the Missouri Arts Council and from the College of Arts & Sciences and the Booth College of Professional Studies at Northwest Missouri State University allowed the class to bring in Ryan Spearman, a folk musician from St. Louis. He gave a live performance on the university campus and visited the exhibit at the historical society where he spoke about his connection to folk music. The students, who had worked hard throughout the semester and who had survived the stress and at times tears, enjoyed this addition to opening night, as it helped make the evening transform from the presentation of a student project to a professional exhibit opening.

Since that experience in the fall, several public history students have undertaken additional exhibit projects. This spring, two students created an exhibit for the university library. This exhibit helped kick off Women’s History Month in March and highlighted Jean Jennings Bartik, an important figure in computing history and a Northwest graduate. She was part of the team that programmed the first computer, the ENIAC, though her role and that of the other women involved was overlooked for many years. Students Brett Crumbaugh and Shannon Wohl completed this exhibit as a part of an internship in the university archives, and it allowed them to gain important hands-on experience with both archives and museums. It also has given them access to the history of Northwest and some of the exciting stories that this university has to share.

Other students also worked on public history projects related to Women’s History Month. Courtney Gard designed more than 50 cards and posters featuring women in the STEM fields, the theme of the month this year. She used her background in courses like Public History and American Folklife and her previous experience in archival and museum internships to bring museum standards to these smaller labels. These were displayed for the month of March throughout the Student Union. Heather Soat, who also has internship experience, designed an exhibit about local musician Alma Nash, and this exhibit was featured at an event held at the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum in early March and will be on display there for several months. Ms. Soat currently is working on a second exhibit for the museum; this one will

focus on the history of agriculture in Nodaway County.

While these students might not be working in an official capacity at any of these institutions, these opportunities have given them invaluable experience. For those interested in pursuing a career in museums, they will enter the workforce already having created several exhibits. For those, like many in the American Folklife class, who previously were unfamiliar with public history or who were not sure what they could do with a history degree, the experience has opened their eyes to some of the many possibilities that exist, and it also has made them more aware of the work that goes into museum exhibits, something few of them really understood prior to these experiences!

Students working on a ragtime exhibit.


Missouri History MuseumPuts Teens in Charge

Submitted by Daniel Gonzales, Teen and Adult Interpretive Programs Coordinator, Missouri History Museum

The Missouri History Museum has at the heart of its mission, a desire to be a place that engages the whole community. When we saw that studies were showing only half of 16-17 year olds and one third of 18-19 year olds reported being constructively engaged out of school, we saw an opportunity to welcome into the museum people who are not typical museum visitors. Instead of just inviting teens to visit we decided on a plan to make them a vital part of the work of the museum. To do this we established our Teens Make History program in 2007.

Teens Make History is a work-based learning program that provides teens ages 15-18 part-time jobs in different areas of the museum and contributing directly to the institution’s work. Over the years we have had young people developing and performing plays on St. Louis history, helping curators do research, and assisting in the development of a smartphone application. These experiences have shown that actively engaging young people in a work-based learning environment that provides consistent access to professional role models is effective in increasing young people’s success in higher education and future jobs.

These successes led us naturally to our most recent project. Beginning in May 2012, the museum gave five teens in the program the opportunity to develop their own exhibition from proposal to installation. They began by developing a theme for their exhibition. Through front-end evaluation, exploration of the museum’s object database, and primary source research they settled on a handful of ideas. They sat down with museum staff to discuss the options, and after having received quality direction they chose a topic. They wanted to tell stories of individual veterans: how they coped with being away from home, how they were welcomed when they returned, and what their reintegration into civilian life was like. The students noted that people in their generation hardly remember a time when the country was not at war, and that despite this they knew very little about the soldier’s experience.

Once they settled on a topic they got to work. With the supervision of staff they engaged in academic research, conducted oral history interviews, and collected objects for display in the exhibition. They met some amazing people along the way, from the Tuskegee Airman who returned to a still segregated St. Louis to the Iraq War veteran who has struggled back from a catastrophic injury to be a leader in his

community. Through these individual stories a snapshot of the veteran’s experiences emerged and the teens used these as they chose the content and designed the look and layout of the exhibit.

The year of work these five young people have done culminated on April 13th when their exhibit Between Two Worlds: Veterans Journey Home opened to the public. With the project almost complete we can look back on the project as one that was well worth the effort. This is true not only because of the reasons we anticipated: filling a community need for more after school programming and having a positive effect on academic and career success for teens involved, but also because it provides the museum and its visitors with new perspectives and new voices within our galleries. In the end, while we believed that we could have a positive effect on the teens who participated in the program it turned out that the community perspective they provided was of incredible value for the Missouri History Museum as an institution.

The Bushwhacker Museum of Nevada, MO will commemorate the Civil War sesquicentennial by hosting two traveling exhibitions during the 2013 tour season.

Impressions of the Civil War, an art exhibit by Missouri artist Dan Woodward of Rolla, will premiered at the Vernon County Historical Society’s quarterly meeting at 2:00PM on Sunday, April 14th. The artist himself spoke at the grand opening about his paintings and sketches, which are inspired by events that occurred during the Civil War in Missouri. Impressions of the Civil War is touring the state during the Civil War Sesquicentennial and has previously been shown at the Boone County Historical Society in Columbia and the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. The exhibit will be open to the public from April 14, 2013 through August 1, 2013.

Starting May 25, 2013, A State Divided: The Civil War in Missouri, a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council and the Missouri History Museum, will open at the

Bushwhacker Museum to Host Two Special Exhibits Commemorating Civil War Sesquicentennial

Submitted by Will Tollerton, Museum Coordinator, The Bushwacker Museum

Bushwhacker Museum. The exhibit features stories and images about guerrilla warfare, slavery, and divided loyalties in Missouri during the Civil War. The exhibit will run until July 21, 2013.

The peak event of the period will take place on June 8th with the observance of the 150th anniversary of the Burning of Nevada City during the annual Bushwhacker Days festival. Museum staff and community volunteers are working hard to make this the best and most historically oriented Bushwhacker Days ever. Civil War reenactors, including the Elliott’s Scouts, will be on hand at the museum and on the courthouse square to bring the battle to life. The museum staff is also hard at work renovating the permanent Civil War and Missouri/ Kansas Border War exhibits using grant funds provided through Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area.

Located in the downstairs of the Nevada Public Library, the Bushwhacker Museum includes artifacts, images, and stories from the days of the Osage Indians, pioneer


settlement, Civil War, U.S. military engagements, railroads, agriculture and the economic growth of Vernon County. The Museum is open during regular tour hours at the museum on May 1st through October 31st. Visitors may stop by Wednesday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM. There will be extended hours of 9:00AM-5:00PM on Saturday, June 8th.


The Louisiana Area Historical Museum Offers Exciting Programs and Exhibits of Early Artifacts

From Louisiana and the MidwestSubmitted by Judy Schmidt, Louisiana Area Historical Society

The Louisiana Area Historical Museum is located in a beautifully restored Victorian store building at 304 Georgia, in the historic district of downtown Louisiana, MO. The museum is open year round Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and other times by appointment by calling 573.754.4443. Exhibits include numerous collections of Louisiana’s history since its settlement in 1816.

The recently created Stark Room showcases items, catalogs, photographs, and equipment used in Stark Nurseries’ nearly 200 years leading the nation’s fruit stock and grafting business. The Hercules Room explains through models and photographs the role this major employer played in the creation of artificial fuel during World War II. Other areas feature pre-1900 toys and games; vintage clothing; military memorabilia; local streetscape, school, and organization photos; and pioneer household items and quilts. In the summer of 2012, free programs were offered each Wednesday afternoon in June and August. “Children of all ages” enjoyed the chance to meet Civil War re-enactors, create their own 5-point star flag, learn about clowning, watch pewter pouring and spinning, learn “what happened to his nose”, visit with George Trimble (Pike County’s westward adventurer and benefactor), and share stories of Louisiana’s early citizens.

In November 2012, the museum welcomed the Louisiana Chamber of Commerce and the Louisiana Visitors and Convention Bureau to share our building. Upcoming events of the Museum in 2013 include:- “Wednesdays at the Museum” - Every Wednesday in June and August 2013, 2:00 p.m. Scheduled programs for all ages include: Paper quilting, “The Silent Witness”, Doll of the battlefield, News from Sen. John B. Henderson, 1866, Mr. Stark’s delicious apple, A visit to ASL Pewter, Mrs. Champ Clark, the Speaker’s wife - Volunteers and Presenters Appreciation Tea - October, 2013- Annual Fundraising Banquet - Thursday, November 14, 2013, Seton Center, 510 N. 3rd - Annual Church Walk - Sunday, December 8, 2013, 3:00 p.m., beginning at Bethel AME Church Admission is free. The museum is a Buffalo Township United Fund agency, and exists through the generous donations of local residents, volunteers, and visitors.


Buckner Foundation Grant Helps the Friends of the Miami Museum Complete

Construction ProjectsSubmitted by Elizabeth Elson

Miami, Mo., a little town founded by Henry Ferril in 1838. Ferril’s first house still stands on the bluff overlooking the Missouri River. The town took its name from a village of Indians of the Miami tribe which had resettled in Missouri after eviction from Ohio in 1791.

The Friends of Miami was organized in 1992 and formed to maintain and preserve the history of the area. Our organization has five officers and five Board of Director members, members of approximately 50 and is sustained by dues from memberships, fundraisers, and donations.

The organization owns the Second Baptist Church and the Friends of Miami Museum which is housed in the former Knights of Phyth-ias Hall and contains historic artifacts, books and memorabilia. We are open by appointment by contacting President, Elizabeth Elson at 660-852-3305 or you may also visit our website http://www.sullivansfarms.net/friendsofmiami/.

In 2011 we requested a grant from the Buckner Foundation and were awarded a partial amount of our request plus a challenge to raise more monies within a three month period, to which our group rose, and the Foundation matched the money we raised. Through this grant money we have replaced both roofs with new metal ones in 2012 and have put metal siding and new windows and doors in the Museum.

Our next project will be to start work on the Church building this spring. Through all this construction, we continue to update and renovate the inside of the Museum. We have rearranged most all of the interior, added visual effects and reorganized our pictures and written material into volumes that can readily and easily be utilized by the public.

Genealogy is a fast growing “serious” hobby of many and our Museum has been visited by numerous people from various states. We are always proud to be able to add a piece of a “missing link” to someone’s past.

Some famous people were also connected to Miami, Mo. Frank James, brother of the infamous Jesse James, taught school in Miami for several years, and J. W. “Blind” Boone, Columbia’s famous ragtime pianist, was born in Miami in 1864.

We weren’t able to save much of the older town buildings and its elegant style, but we house pictures and written material that will draw the picture of Miami in the 1800-1900’s.

McClure Archives and University Museum Accepted into the Museum Assessment

Program (MAP)Congratulations to the McClure Archives and University Museum, at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg! The Museum has recently been accepted into the Museum Assessment Program (MAP), These museums deserve to be commended for their commitment to standards and institutional growth. The museum will complete a self-study and then have a consultative site visit with a peer museum professional.

To learn more abou the McClure Archives and University Museum, visit them at http://www.ucmo.edu/archmusm/

To find out how your institution can participate in the MAP Program, constact Lauren Silberman, Program Coordinator, Museum Assessment Program at 202-289-9118 or at [email protected].


In July 2012, The Kriz Davis Company made a presentation for T. Lane Electrical at a weekly Business Networking International (BNI) meeting at the Pony Express Museum Community Room, during which they brought samples illustrating the differences between their LED lights and our current standard display lights found throughout the museum. Impressed with the quality of the lighting, the Pony Express Museum staff and board decided to have some of the lights installed to showcase their Whimsical Horse Exhibit in the Messick Gallery. After that, amazing things started to happen. Our guests, and especially children, began to comment that for the first time they could see the vibrant details of murals in the Gallery, and among other displays.

It was amazing to see how everything was vibrantly enhanced by the new LED lights and because of the reduced heating, for the first time the Museum was able to properly air condition the gallery. The old lights put off so much heat that the air conditioner had a hard time keeping up, resulting in a warm and uncomfortable gallery. In fact, at one point the Museum was forced to purchase a new air conditioning

unit. But, with the new LED lights, everything is cool and proving to be more economical.

The positive visitor comments about the new and improved Gallery lighting and the financial rebate through KCP&L, prompted the Board of Trustees to approve a fundraising campaign to complete the second phase of the LED lighting.

On the museum exit survey, visitors have even commented that the museum has an updated “Smithsonian look” due to the new lighting. There are no longer dark corners and hidden areas, which inhibited visitors from enjoying all of the exhibits in the museum properly.

The pictures show how much brighter the exhibits are, which also allows for better photography. It also gives the

The Pony Express National Museum: Lighting Up the Past

Submitted by the Pony Express National Museum

guest a better understanding of what they are viewing. For instance, in the 30-foot historical diorama guests can now easily see the trees that used to blend in with the background, small objects are now visible and the blues of the sky are brighter.

Cindy Daffron, Executive Director commented, “In the Museum business you strive for your visitors to experience all aspects of your ‘story’ through visual, touch and sensory means. The new LED lighting certainly helps us convey our message.”

“Our appreciation to the Kriz Davis Company and T. Lane Electrical crew for being such great friends of the Museum and making this large project, that has had such a phenomenal outcome, happen in 2013,” said Cindy Daffron.

Weston Historical Museum Receives Loan of Artifacts from Historic Weston Home Submitted by Carolyn A. Larsen, Curator, Weston Historical Museum

The Col. James Price/Loyles home at 718 Spring Street, Weston, MO, was purchased in 1864 by Theodore F. Warner for his sister, Russella E. Warner and her husband, Co. James A. Price. Russella and Theodore were the children of Minerva Boone Warner who was granddaughter of Daniel Boone. Russella’s husband was a second cousin of Robert E. Lee. Eventually there would be five generations of this family to live in the house.

Following the 1991 death of Miss Forestyne Loyles, the last of the family members, the home was sold to the Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources and all of the contents of the home removed from Weston.

The home sat empty and uncared for, until a group of interested Weston citizens finally motivated the DNR to sell the home. Mr. and Mrs. Terry McKenzie, of Kansas City, are the present owners of the Price/Loyles home who have lovingly restored it and beautified the lawn.

The contents of the home eventually found a home at the Historic Boone Home and Heritage Center in Defiance, MO, where Dr. David Knotts oversees the multi-building center. It is thanks to Dr. Knotts and several students from Lindenwood University that work on cataloging the items has begun. It is also due to his generosity and belief in helping fellow museums that a number of the artifacts have been loaned to the Weston Historical Museum, coming back home for a time, and are currently on display there.


(continued from page 4)

“It’s a nice thing that scholars get to meet the regular people, and vice-versa,” says Barbara Gill of the MHC, who has been operating the Speakers’ Bureau off and on since its inception. “I think NEH wanted not just the academics to get our attention, but to get the academics and ordinary people to see that they were all Missourians—and to exchange ideas.”

This exchange is definitely felt by the speakers just as much as their audience, sometimes learning eye-opening details from attendees.“Each Missourian brings their own memories, stories and experiences to each presentation,” shared Diaz-Granados. “Every time I gave my [1904 World’s Fair] program, attendees brought souvenirs that they had inherited from their ancestors. Often, what a person brought was totally new to me and was helpful in identifying some of the enigmatic artifacts that we uncovered.” Some of the souvenirs members brought to show Diaz-Granados at her World’s Fair Speakers’ Bureau included a two-volume set of original books outlining the Fair and a collection of 78 rpm records that were played there. Moreover—the woman who owned the artifacts had attended the Fair!

No matter how much of an “expert” or how well-read a speaker is, they always take in something new and exciting in their travels, proving that learning is very much a life-long process. “I’m a fifth generation Missourian and I’ve spent the bulk of my life trying to understand this interesting state,” confesses Kremer, who is also a veteran Speakers’ Bureau presenter. “One of the best ways to discover more about it is to travel all the various regions of the state and visit these small towns and communities.” In this dynamic environment of learning and exploration, the speakers always have fresh snippets of information to share with their audiences, therefore amplifying the caliber of presentation. With fantastic speakers and stellar feedback, very little had to be done to advertise the service in years past. After all, “it’s the speakers who make the Speakers’ Bureau a success,” says Kremer.

The Bureau did experience a rocky past, nevertheless, when in the early 2000s, MHC could no longer support the service due to rising program costs and demand. MHC eventually handed it over to the State Historical Society of Missouri, and speakers continued under their auspices until a few years ago, when the two institutions decided to run it as a partnership. It was a natural relationship since both serve the same constituents and both are interested in promoting the humanities in Missouri. By working together, they are now reaching groups that they might not otherwise be connecting with, especially in this age of diminished resources.

With these two state-wide organizations at its helm, the “Show Me Missouri” Speakers’ Bureau has a bright future. Organizers hope to expand both in terms of topics and the number of programs available. It may one day return to its former level of activity, when bookings for the year filled up as early as February and every county across the state boasted a Speakers’ Bureau.

Speakers’ Bureau presentations can expose your audience to times, places or ideas that they have never before experienced. Whether it is the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, passed-down Ozarkian folklore, the plight of the Missourian during the Civil War or the glamorous libraries built by Andrew Carnegie in the early 1900s, the “Show Me Missouri” Speakers’ Bureau offers you the means to vicariously experience a different time and place—just like a postcard.

To reserve a program, organizations can contact Barbara Gill at the Missouri Humanities Council at [email protected] or call 314.781.9660 or 1.800.357.0909. A list of speakers and more program details are available on the State Historical Society of Missouri’s website (http://shs.umsystem.edu/showmemo/speakers.shtml.). For a limited time, libraries can arrange to host a program for just $25.

“Show Me Missouri” Humanities Speakers


IndividualStudent/Volunteer $15 Dogwood

Regular $20 Ozark $30 Platte Purchase $50 Show Me $100 Lewis & Clark $500 Louisiana Purchase

Membership Benefits Include:

- MAMA newsletter

- Access to news and information fromnational organizations such as the American Association of Museums, Society of American Archivists and the American Association for State and Local History

- Access to MAMA lending library

- Online discussion list

- Voting rights at MAMA meeting

- Discounted rates to workshops and conferences

- Networking opportunities

InstitutionalFee based on .05% of the annual budget with a minimum of $35 and a maximum of $500 (Annual budget x .0005).

Corporate $100 Hawthorn $250 Mozarkite (State Rock) Logo added to organizational listing $500 Galena (State Mineral) Advertisement on organizational listing $1000 Aquamarine (State Gemstone) Advertisement on main page of website plus free exhibitor’s table at MAMA conference

Corporate/Institutional Membership Benefits Include: - Institution or Business listed and linked on MAMA website - MAMA newsletter - Sponsorship of receptions - Opportunity to distribute literature atworkshops

- Discounted rate for table at annual conference

Please make checks payable to The Missouri Association for

Museums and Archives and send to:

The Missouri Association forMuseums and Archives

P.O. Box 533Jefferson City, MO 65102-0533

Membership Application

Name

Title

Institution

Street or P.O. Box

City

State Zip

Phone

E-mail address

Membership Level

Amount enclosed(Institutional members can calcu-late their membership fee by mul-tiplying their institution’s annual budget by .0005).

Membership Levels:

Support the Missouri Association for Museums and Archives by becoming a member today!

Documents

Missouri Association for Museums and Archives …missourimuseums.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/...Independence, Missouri, October 11-12, 2013. For the 3rd year, the conference