Museum preserves history of county
Sarah Olinger
From the Battle of Kirksville and the cyclone of 1899 to coal mining and stock car racing, the Adair County Historical Society Museum captures the history of the area with artifacts and narratives from the past.
The museum, at 211 S. Elson St., is privately owned by the Adair County Historical Society, a not-for-profit organization formed in 1976. The society purchased the building in 1989 to serve as a historical base for the community.
Pat Ellebracht, president of the historical society, said the organization tries to emphasize the significance of Adair County by giving people a sense of its history.
"It's very important for a place to become a destination," he said.
Preserving the past
The society displays a variety of artifacts related to the history of the county. Ellebracht said the museum collection consists entirely of donations from individuals and groups with ties to the community.
"We try to take items that have some historical significance about the way people lived, worked and played in Adair County," he said.
The collection contains a variety of artifacts, such as farm implements, old appliances, clothing, artwork and items from former businesses in the area. The society doesn't change the items in the museum very often, Ellebracht said.
"We plan to do some rotating displays, but we need to go through the process of reorganizing and throwing items out," he said.
Ellebracht said one of the more memorable exhibits from recent years portrayed the popularity of stock car racing in Kirksville in the 1950s. The display included old photos, advertisements, drawings of race tracks, Offenhauser engine parts and memorabilia from the 50-year career of Adair County native Frank True.
Walter Davison, a retired senior volunteer, said the museum's oldest and most extensive collection consists of a group of arrowheads from the Sac, Fox and Iowa Indians who inhabited the area around the Chariton River. Davison said an expert is in the process of sorting and identifying the arrowheads.
"Some of these items probably go back 10,000 years," he said.
Ellebracht said other presentations from past years include a display on rural schools in Adair County, pictures and stories about the devastating tornado that struck the area in 1899 and a collection of paintings from local artist Frank Walker. Most of the items from these exhibits are still on display in the museum.
Involving the community
While preserving artifacts comprises a large part of the society's work, the group also puts together historical and cultural events for the surrounding area.
"We want to integrate the importance of history within the community," Ellebracht said.
One way the society achieves this integration is through a biennial event called the Heartland Chautauqua, he said.
The event is a week-long gathering of five scholars who lecture about a particular historical topic. Each night, a different scholar portrays a historical person related to some aspect of this topic.
Ellebracht said the society has been involved in the planning and setup of the past two Chautauquas on the Civil War and the Jazz Age. The group donated $1,500 in support of the 2002 event and will support the 2004 Chautauqua on Lewis and Clark, he said.
Adair County resident Jaciel Pearson said she enjoyed listening to the jazz music at the last Chautauqua. Pearson said she thinks the society involves the community by offering educational opportunities.
"I read about the museum in the newspaper all the time and hear about different things people have donated," she said.
Alisa Kigar, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, said the Chautauqua has been a big success for the community and the society.
"The past two Chautauquas have really put them in a position to be viewed as a community player," she said.
Kigar said this success influenced the Smithsonian Institution and the Missouri Humanities Council to select Kirksville as one of six small towns in Missouri to show the exhibit "Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front, 1941-1945." From April 26 to June 7, the museum will display posters circulated in the United States during World War II.
Ellebracht said the society's members want this exhibit to be a community event that involves local businesses and schools, as well as the library. They are asking community members to submit letters, narratives and interviews showing how World War II affected the lives of people on the home front, he said.
"We want the whole community to see the exhibit as their project," he said. "We want every kind of contribution."
The society will host several events related to World War II as part of the display. These include presentations by imitators of Harry S. Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt, a World War II music concert by the Memphis Community Players and a speech titled "One Soldier's Wife: The Lean Years."
Kirksville resident Eddie Bumpus said he thinks people will learn from the exhibit.
"I think it will be interesting, especially considering the world situation, to gauge people's ideas about war then as opposed to now," he said.
Although Bumpus said he looks forward to seeing the exhibit, he said he never has visited the museum and knows little about the services offered by the historical society.
The society has organized past events to increase involvement and awareness of the museum's benefits to the community, including two appraisal days and an open house, Ellebracht said. On the appraisal days, community members brought in various items, and a professional estimated the worth of the objects. Ellebracht said the society also awards four $100 savings bonds to area high school juniors who have demonstrated outstanding performance in history.
"We want to encourage students to come and do historical research at the museum," Ellebracht said.
Materials available at the museum include three county histories, an original copy of E.M. Violette's history of Adair County, and complete cemetery, probate and census records, among other sources, he said. The society also compiles online obituaries for purchase.
Davison said genealogy is a definite draw to the museum. He said the society gets about 30 to 40 requests for family research each year.
"Probably 75 percent of the people who come to the museum are doing family histories," he said.
Many of these visitors are retired people, a surprising number of whom come from out of state, Ellebracht said. He said the society tries to attract membership and donations from its guests.
"If we could expand from 250 members to 500, it would be a whole different ball game," Ellebracht said.
He said that because the museum is run by six volunteers and supported largely by money from memberships and donations, the society can make limited improvements.
Kigar said that with more money and manpower, the society might make the building handicapped accessible and establish a greater presence on the Internet for people from outside areas.
"I think they do an amazing job for a volunteer effort," she said.
Kigar said history is always a good draw to a community.
"The museum serves as an organization that reminds us as a community and city where we came from," Kigar said. "It's a place where people can come back and see their roots."