Events are free and will be held in the Society’s quarters unless otherwise noted. For more information contact the Society at (573)882-7083
January 15 through February 29
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Presented by the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Genealogical Society of Central Missouri, these weekly classes will build on basic information from previous presentations, as attendees learn how to keep detailed records and are introduced to additional family history sources. Preregistration is required, and the classes will be free to Society and GSCM members. Registration for nonmembers is $50.00.
For further information call (573) 882-7083 or contact:
Ara Kaye kayea@umsystem.edu, 573-882-9364
Dottie Golson golsdo@tranquility.net, 573-474-9173
January 29, 5:30 p.m.
The Ioway people, or Iowa as they are modernly known, call themselves the Bah-Kho-Je, meaning gray snow. This name likely refers to the tribe’s time spent in what is now the northern United States, where during the winter months, the dwellings of the Ioway were covered with snow smoked a dark color because of their fires.
Historian, exhibit designer, and author of a forthcoming book on the Ioway Greg Olson will discuss the history of these people, whose home consisted of much of Iowa and part of northern Missouri, on January 29 in The State Historical Society of Missouri’s Art Gallery. Olson will highlight nineteenth-century Ioway leaders, including several whose portraits are featured in the Society’s exhibit, Picturing Native Americans in the Nineteenth Century: Lithographs from McKenney and Hall’s History of the Indian Tribes of North America, and describe the challenges they faced while struggling to lead their people through tremendous technological and cultural change. Analyzing both visual and written historical documents, Olson will help listeners better understand these fascinating people.
“The Land Here is Difficult” will begin at 5:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public, with light refreshments served before and after the talk.
February 2008
Join the Society as it celebrates Black History Month with special displays, events, and a focus on black history in its collections, including additions to the African American section of the Famous Missourians Web site. Extended biographies of Lucile Bluford and George Washington Carver are now available, and brief stories of fifteen additional African American Missourians such as Satchel Paige will be displayed by mid-January.
In honor of Black History Month, The State Historical Society of Missouri is spotlighting Thomas Hart Benton’s 1942 painting, Negro Soldier, now on display in the Society’s art gallery. The work depicts an African American soldier marching forward on a World War II battlefield.
Benton’s image celebrates the service of black men in uniform at a time when segregation and prejudice were often legally sanctioned realities in America. The painting also visually challenges Adolf Hitler’s well-known concept of a “master” white race with a powerful vision of an African American hero.
February 2, 6:30 p.m.
Thespian Hall, Boonville
The State Historical Society’s MoHiP (Missouri History in Performance) Theater will present Clyde Ruffin as William Wells Brown, the man who escaped from slavery and became an accomplished speaker and the first published black playwright in the United States. Presented as a concert reading, the program will cover the life of Brown as culled from his autobiography as well as portions of his play The Escape, or A Leap for Freedom. Beginning at 6:30, musicians Cathy Barton and Dave Para will treat theatergoers to a selection of period music.
The performance is supported in part by the Friends of Historic Boonville and the University of Missouri-Columbia Department of Theatre. For ticket information, call (660) 882-7977 Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
March 15, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
The Society will host a family history miniconference with two workshop sessions. At 10:00 a.m., Society reference specialist Seth Smith will discuss how to use the Draper Manuscripts, a compilation of early American primary documents, as a tool for genealogical and academic research. The afternoon session, beginning at 1:30 p.m., led by Winifred Horner, an award-winning professor of English at the University of Missouri-Columbia and founder of MU’s Campus Writing Program, will focus on writing personal memoirs. The afternoon workshop will conclude at 3:00 p.m. The miniconference will cost $15.00 for members, $30.00 for nonmembers.
Through March 15
Main Gallery
