Upcoming Events

What role did early Missourians play in the Cherokee removal story? Is it one of racism, indifference and greed? With Missouri Humanities funding and assistance from the Trail of Tears Association, William Ambrose and Chris Dunn assembled historical maps, recently discovered documents and contemporaneous government records to create a publicly available, evolving GIS model of the Trail of Tears in the state that relates a different story. In a narrative that truly comes to life, they tell instead of the care and aid extended by early settlers and farmers to the Cherokee on their long trek across the Missouri frontier.

While most of Jefferson City’s history has been told from the perspective of men, author Michelle Brooks’ Interesting Women of the Capital City offers a different look, instead focusing on the women who made their own way in the city’s first two centuries. The 10 featured individuals range from Lydia Montague, who opened the community’s first school for African Americans before the end of the Civil War, to the nation’s first female news bureau chief, Jerena Giffen, who covered the 1954 Missouri State Penitentiary riot in evening-wear. Also recalled is the early suffrage work of Dolly Sheldon, the hotel operations of Emma Mathews, the civil rights leadership of Estella Diggs and more. Join us as Brooks recounts the lives of these resilient women who made the best of their circumstances and the opportunities afforded them.