History Archives - Missourinet

Missouri Bicentennial leaders say every county and town has a story to tell (AUDIO)

December 1, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

August will be the 200th anniversary of Missouri’s statehood, and Missouri 2021 is rolling out a series of virtual programs called “First Tuesdays” that begin on December 1 at 11 a.m.

The Missouri Star Quilt Company, based in northwest Missouri’s Hamilton, has put together the Bicentennial quilt (photo courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial website)

Missouri Bicentennial spokeswoman Beth Pike says each Missouri county and community has a story to tell.

“This is Missouri’s Bicentennial, it’s for everybody,” Pike says. “We really want to engage people from all 114 counties in the state, to really feel a part of it.”

The first program begins Tuesday morning, when Missouri 2021 coordinator Michael Sweeney will provide an overview of the projects and events across the state to commemorate the Bicentennial.

You can find more information about the monthly virtual programs at Missouri2021.org. August 10, 2021 will mark Missouri’s 200th anniversary as the 24th state in the United States.

Meantime, a quilt company based in northwest Missouri’s Hamilton has volunteered to stich a large quilt together that celebrates Missouri’s upcoming Bicentennial. The company is Missouri Star Quilt Company, and Ms. Pike says the quilt showcases the unique characteristics of Missouri culture and style.

“It is large, it’s a huge quilt. We have it where you can see every county, including the independent city of St. Louis, because they’re not a county. They’re an independent city,” says Pike.

Missouri Bicentennial leaders say the mission of Missouri 2021 is to provide a better understanding of Missouri and its regions, both past and present.

Pike notes there is also a traveling photo exhibit and a poster contest. She also says Missouri’s PBS stations are currently working on a documentary, that will be finished in time for the Bicentennial.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Missouri Bicentennial spokeswoman Beth Pike, which was recorded on November 27, 2020:

Missouri native gives update from space

November 26, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

A crew of astronauts, including southern Missouri native Mike Hopkins, is getting settled in aboard the International Space Station (ISS). They lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on November 15 and are spending the next six months in space.

Missouri astronaut Mike Hopkins and crew

The crew is part of the first manned operational space flight of a U.S. commercial shuttle. The space mission marks the second one for Hopkins.

During an update with NASA, Hopkins, the commander, talks about the rocket’s name – “Resilience.”

“It’s been a tough year and the fact that SpaceX and NASA were able to get our spacecraft ready to go – the rocket ready to go – throughout this year, throughout the pandemic and all of that, we were inspired by everybody’s efforts to do that. So that’s why we named it Resilience and we hope that it puts a smile to peoples’ face – it brings hope to them,” says Hopkins.

He says a longstanding astronaut tradition is to take along a sidekick to space and show viewers at home. Their choice seems appropriate given their location.

“We had just started watching the (Star Wars) series and it’s hard not to like baby Yoda,” says Hopkins. “I think the ride into space was probably a little rougher than baby Yoda was used to.”

The space station spans the area of an American football field and weighs more than 861,000 lbs. The complex has more livable room than a five-bedroom home, with two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree bay window.

Hopkins grew up in southern Missouri’s Richland near Fort Leonard Wood. He also has family in the Lake of the Ozarks area in central Missouri.

U.S. Postal Service to roll out stamp celebrating Missouri’s upcoming birthday

November 23, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

On August 10, 2021, Missouri turns the ripe age of 200 years old. The U.S. Postal Service plans to release several new stamps in 2021, including one to showcase Missouri’s bicentennial birthday.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service

The stamp art is an existing photograph by prominent landscape photographer Charles Gurche. It features the Bollinger Mill State Historic Site in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau County. The artwork also captures the four-story mill sitting along the Whitewater River with the Burfordville Covered Bridge nearby -one of just four covered bridges remaining in Missouri.

The mill turned wheat and corn into flour and meal dating back to the Civil War era. It was burned by the Union army during the war to prevent the supply of flour and meal to the Confederate army. After the war ended, the site was rebuilt in 1867 into the current structure.

The mill and covered bridge are both in the National Register of Historic Places.

The state plans to hold other events to honor the bicentennial of Missouri statehood.

Departing Missouri House Speaker Haahr reflects on successes, disappointments (AUDIO)

November 19, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s outgoing House Speaker says life issues and the largest tax cut in state history are some of his biggest successes in the Legislature.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, gavels the chamber into session on August 24, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, was first elected to the House in 2012. He’s finishing his eighth and final year in the House, due to term limits. He’s also finishing his term as Speaker.

“I was very proud of the work we did on the pro-life bill last year, I thought that was a big thing,” Haahr says. “Prior to me being Speaker, I carried also the largest tax cut in Missouri history and that was a really big one, I think, for our constituencies in the state.”

The 2019 abortion legislation essentially banned abortions once a fetal heartbeat was detected. The House vote was 110-44, and the Senate approved it last year after about 15 hours of filibuster and negotiations behind the scenes.

Haahr is the first and only House Speaker from Springfield in state history, and says that symbolizes Springfield and southwest Missouri’s growing political and economic influence. He says boosting funding for Missouri State University is another success he’s proud of.

“Worked really hard last year on bringing Missouri State University’s funding on parity with other schools, and so we did a $10 million increase to them to get them to a place where they’re funded equally with all the other schools,” says Haahr.

Haahr says this has been talked about for years and even decades, and that to get it done while he was Speaker is very important.

While Haahr has been Speaker, State Rep. Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, has served as House Minority Leader. While the two have disagreed on issues like abortion and Medicaid expansion, they have worked together on issues involving Greene County, such as Missouri State funding and Hailey’s Law, which was sponsored by State Rep. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield.

Haahr has said several times from the House dais that while he and Leader Quade frequently disagree on policy, they both share a love for Springfield.

Haahr became speaker on November 1, 2018. His predecessor, former House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, resigned the day before to take over as state Medicaid director. Haahr campaigned hard for House GOP candidates across the state in the fall of 2018, helping Republican Mary Elizabeth Coleman unseat State Rep. Mike Revis, D-Fenton. He also helped protect Republican seats in swing districts across the state.

Not all of Haahr’s priorities have passed in the Legislature, even with GOP supermajorities in both chambers and a Republican in the governor’s mansion.

During an interview in his Capitol office in Jefferson City last week, Haahr reflected on some of his disappointments. He says Hyperloop is one of his biggest disappointments.

“I had made a real strong push to try to bring the Hyperloop to Missouri,” Haahr says. “And they chose West Virginia. We were one of the three finalists that got really close but we didn’t get it. I think in 15 or 20 years that will have a transformative impact on West Virginia’s economy.”

Speaker Haahr says that would have jump-started Missouri as a leader on an issue of transportation importance.

Virgin Hyperloop chose West Virginia for its futuristic tube travel test track and certification center, but has said Missouri is not out of the picture. Haahr is hopeful that will still happen.

Haahr is speaker until the end of the year, and expects the House to be in session in December to take up COVID liability during the ongoing special session.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with outgoing Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, which was recorded on November 10, 2020 at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City:

Jefferson City mayor describes Gold Star monument location at Capitol as solemn area (AUDIO)

November 13, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Jefferson City’s mayor says the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument being built on the Missouri Capitol grounds is one of just five monuments located at state capitols nationwide.

Members of Lincoln University’s ROTC presented the flags at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument in Jefferson City (November 11, 2020 photo by Brian Hauswirth)

Mayor Carrie Tergin spoke at this week’s Veterans Day groundbreaking ceremony, describing the spot as a perfect location.

“This is a place here on the beautiful Capitol grounds where thousands of people are going to be convening. So this very spot right here is going to have a lot of visibility,” Tergin says.

The monument is being built next to the Missouri Veterans Memorial and next to the Bicentennial bridge entrance. It will have four panels with themes of homeland, family, patriot and sacrifice.

“It’s a solemn area,” says Tergin. “It’s a place where many students come so they can learn the stories, learn what this is about and why this is so important that we always remember our Gold Star families.”

Fundraising efforts are continuing for the monument.

Gold Star families, veterans, state lawmakers and Jefferson City business leaders are leading the fundraising effort, and they’ve already raised about $30,000. It will cost $75,000 for the monument and granite benches.

The benches are being designed to give visitors an opportunity to reflect on the meanings of the four panels.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin, which was recorded on Veterans Day 2020 on the Missouri Capitol grounds:

Gold Star mother from mid-Missouri’s Jamestown says monument reminds us that freedom is not free (AUDIO)

November 12, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Dozens of U.S. military veterans, Gold Star families, state lawmakers and civilians turned out on a sun-soaked Veterans Day afternoon in Jefferson City for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument.

A groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 11, 2020 near the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City for the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument (Brian Hauswirth photo)

It will be built near the Missouri Capitol, next to the Missouri Veterans Memorial and next to the Bicentennial bridge entrance.

Gold Star mother Sandy Deraps of central Missouri’s Jamestown, whose son Leon was killed in Iraq in 2006, was a guest speaker.

“The Gold Star monument will have a silhouette of a soldier that represents the fact, although the soldier isn’t here physically, we remember them and we pause to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” Deraps says.

She says the monument will serve as a reminder that Americans are free, because of the U.S. military members who died.

The black granite monument will be seven feet tall and 12 feet long, and will be placed on city property next to the Missouri Veterans Memorial. Jefferson City businesswoman Sharon Naught, the monument committee co-chair, tells Missourinet they’ve already raised about $30,000.

“The monument itself plus benches will be about $75,000. We would like to raise at least $125,000 for maintenance over the years,” Naught says.

Anyone interested in donating can do so by contacting Rosie Verslues at Legends Bank in Jefferson City.

The monument will have four panels with themes of homeland, family, patriot and sacrifice. Naught says the granite benches will give visitors an opportunity to reflect on the meanings of the four panels.

As for Ms. Deraps, she says her son Leon would be proud of the memorial.

“Well I think he would want other people to always remember that freedom is not free, and how important it is to remember them who went before us,” says Deraps.

Leon Deraps, a Marine, was 19 when he was killed in Iraq. Jamestown area residents lined the road from Jamestown to Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church and cemetery in Cedron with American flags, before the funeral service.

Ms. Deraps also notes thousands of schoolchildren visit the Missouri Capitol annually, adding the monument will help them understand history.

Missouri House Veterans Committee Chairman Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, is also helping to raise money for the monument. He notes thousands of Missourians have died in service to their country, beginning with those killed during the War of 1812.

Sharon Naught says Jefferson City is one of just five monuments that will be located on state capitol grounds.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Jefferson City businesswoman Sharon Naught and Gold Star mother Sandy Deraps of mid-Missouri’s Jamestown. The interview was recorded next to the Missouri Veterans Memorial in Jefferson City, on November 11, 2020:

Missouri town with French colonial history becomes National Historical Park

November 6, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

After about two decades in the making, St. Genevieve in southeast Missouri has officially become the state’s first ever National Historical Park.

The town – dating back to the early 1700s – was the first organized European settlement west of the Mississippi River and is the only surviving French Colonial village in America. It is known for its architecture that features unique vertical log designs.

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) and U.S. Representative Jason Smith (Mo.) at a ceremonial signing of the cooperative agreements in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., on August 31st, 2018. This marked the final statutory step needed to establish Ste. Genevieve as a national park.

Some of the historic properties include the Felix Valle House, the Shaw House, the Green Tree Tavern, the Creole House, the Bequette-Ribault House, the Zarinelli property, the Delassus-Kern House and the Zerwig property.

During a ceremony there this week to celebrate the town’s designation, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, said St. Genevieve is taking its rightful place among the nation’s most historically and culturally significant destinations.

“This is a story that is an important part of who we are. It’s an important of our state. It’s an important part of the country,” said Blunt. “These buildings each have their own stories to tell. Essentially the houses are houses that you could find the core of those houses anywhere in Normandy if you just looked hard enough.”

Blunt and Congressman Jason Smith, R-Missouri, lead efforts in Washington to make the town of about 4,500 a National Historical Park. In 2018, Congress and President Donald Trump approved the designation after a National Park Service study declared dozens of the area properties as historically significant. The action authorized the National Park Service to acquire about 13 acres of land.

“This has such potential to be one of the great historic walking parks in America,” said Blunt. “The story, in so many ways, can tell itself with just a little bit of help. And that little bit of help is what happens when the community, the state, the federal government come together.”

St. Genevieve welcomes thousands of tourists each year who want to see for themselves the rich history the town has to offer. During this week’s ceremony, Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Carol Comer was hopeful the partnership would give the community a boost.

“This new historical park is expected to have a major impact on local and state tourism as people from all over the country and the world learn about the significance of this area,” said Comer.

Ste. Genevieve’s government and the National Park System will together manage the park, the 422nd park to join the system.

Bob Priddy: Missouri -elects- a sitting governor for only the second time in history

November 5, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Bob Priddy for Missourinet

Missouri voters did something Tuesday that was done only once before in the state’s 200-year history. Historian Bob Priddy explains that Governor Mike Parson was not running for reelection. He was Lieutenant Governor when Eric Greitens resigned, moving him into the big office. This was the first time Missourians were faced with a sitting governor running for election since Lilburn Boggs, who as lieutenant governor replaced Daniel Dunklin, who resigned after becoming Surveyor General of Missouri and Illinois.

Boggs, who is best known for issuing the extermination order against the Mormons, was elected to a full term in 1836.

The extermination order said, the Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace,” which led Joseph Smith and the Mormons to flee to Nauvoo, Illinois. The order remained on the books until Governor Christopher Bond canceled it in 1976.

Boggs also is remembered for the “Honey War” for almost going to war with the state of Iowa, a boundary line dispute.

Missouri Congressman Graves: it’s time to get the economy open again

November 4, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Voters in northern Missouri are sending U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, back to Washington for his 11th term on Capitol Hill. Graves captured 67 percent of the vote Tuesday against Platte City Democrat Gena Ross.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, (right) speaks to a farmer at the Port of St. Joseph on September 1, 2020 (photo courtesy of Congressman Graves’ Facebook page)

Graves, the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Transportation Committee, tells Missourinet that it’s humbling to be re-elected.

“You know I want to continue to do exactly what I do, and that is represent the 6th District to Washington D.C. I will not represent Washington D.C. back to the 6th District,” Graves says.

His top priority is getting the economy open again.

“We have businesses and small businesses that are literally going broke because of what the government has done. And we have to get this economy going again and we got to get people back on their feet,” says Graves.

He’s also focusing on agriculture. He notes there are fewer and fewer farmers in the Congress.

The sixth congressional district covers 36 counties, and is larger than nine states. Graves’ district includes St. Joseph, Bethany, Chillicothe, Hannibal, Macon and Memphis.

Graves is the new dean of Missouri’s congressional delegation, after U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, was defeated in the August primary by Cori Bush. Ms. Bush was elected to Congress on Tuesday, becoming the first African-American female to represent the state in Congress.

Graves and Clay had been the co-deans of the delegation. Both were elected to Congress in 2000.

Kehoe wins Missouri Lt. Governor’s race; plans to focus on infrastructure and veterans issues

November 4, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missourians overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to give Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe (R) a full term.

Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe (left) and Governor Mike Parson wave to supporters at Jefferson City’s Memorial Park on September 23, 2019, on the night Kehoe announced his candidacy (file photo courtesy of Kehoe campaign)

The Jefferson City Republican defeated Democrat Alissia Canady. He tells Missourinet he’ll continue to focus on workforce and infrastructure, which are also two of the governor’s priorities.

“A lot of people don’t talk about all the construction jobs that we have going across our state right now, and that’s largely due to, A, several things MoDOT has done, but also the bridge package that we passed,” Kehoe says.

More than 100 bridges in Missouri’s $350 million bridge bonding plan are now under contract.

Governor Mike Parson (R) appointed Kehoe to the post in June 2018, after Parson was sworn-in following Governor Greitens’ resignation. Kehoe is a former Senate Majority Leader.

Kehoe says veterans’ issues continue to be a top priority, noting Missouri has 450,000 veterans. That’s the fifth-highest in the nation.

“Our core issues are veterans, working with our veterans community. We know how important those heroes are in our state. Tourism, helping them rebound from the COVID crisis, that’s an issue,” says Kehoe.

Kehoe praises Canady for running a positive campaign, saying they both focused on the issues.