WWI Event at Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Missouri Over There recently held a WWI event at the Cape Girardeau Public Library in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Project staff gave a presentation about the project to interested parties in Southeast Missouri, which included representatives from the Current River Heritage Museum and the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum. Staff also visited the Special Collections and Archives department at the Kent Library at Southeast Missouri State University. Read on to find out more about some interesting World War I collections in Southeast Missouri.



Lynn Maples, Curator of the Current River Heritage Museum, attended one of the presentation sessions and informed project staff of the WWI related items held at the museum. The Current River Heritage Museum has several interesting photographs and newspaper articles concerning Missouri and the Great War. Photographs include a 1919 bond rally held in Doniphan, Missouri, one of several men standing on a tank in the middle of the rally, a group photo of Company E, 6th Missouri Infantry, a photo of Captain Henry E. Braschler, and a portrait of 1st Lt. David M. Robertson. Also included in the museum’s collection is an interesting newspaper biography of Dow Hobbs, a Missouri soldier born in Ponder, Missouri.

Also in attendance was Jim Phillips, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum. Jim informed staff that the museum has a collection of WWI artifacts. These items include boots, jackets, and belts from WWI. For more information click here.

Along with the WWI event, project staff also had a chance to visit the Special Collections and Archives department at the Kent Library at Southeast Missouri State University. The library had eight collections that were related to Missouri and WWI. Four of those collections are highlighted below:

Photo courtesy of Southeast Missouri State Univ.

World War I Student Card Files, 1915-1918: These cards contain the names, addresses, service branches, dates of enlistment, and in some cases service information of students who were enrolled at Southeast Missouri State Teachers College before serving in World War I.

World War I Time Capsule Contents, 1921-1923: Contents include information of students who served and were decorated in WWI, the Teacher’s College’s Service Flag, the Capaha Arrow from November 18, 1921, and other newspaper articles related to the bronze memorial tablet placed on one of the main pillars of Academic Hall.

Photo courtesy of Southeast Missouri State Univ.

Grant Frye Letters, 1930: Contains a letter written from Frye, who served in WWI, to Sadie Kent, a Librarian at the State Teachers College. Included in the letter are transcriptions of Frye’s letters written home during the war and postwar correspondence regarding his service.

Memorial Fund File, 1921: Includes subscription cards pledging money for the building of a World War I memorial on the Southeast Missouri State Teachers College campus.





Sources:

Photos are courtesy of the Special Collections and Archives at Southeast Missouri State University.