Upcoming Events

Swindler. Murderer. Scoundrel. Robert Boatright was one of Middle America’s greatest confidence men. Although little remembered today, his story provides a rare glimpse into America’s criminal past. Working in concert with a local bank and an influential Democratic boss, “this dean of modern confidence men” and his colorful confederacy of con men known as the Buckfoot Gang seemed untouchable. A series of missteps, however, led to a string of court cases across the country that brought Boatright’s own criminal enterprise to an end. And yet, the con continued: Boatright’s successor, John C. Mabray, and his cronies, many of whom had been in the Buckfoot Gang, preyed upon victims across North America in one of the largest midwestern criminal syndicates in history before they were brought to heel.

Author Kimberly Harper will discuss how Boatright’s story exposes a rift in the wholesome midwestern stereotype and furthers our understanding of 19th- and 20th-century American society.

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.