St. Joseph Museums working on new Black history exhibits
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Black History Month may have passed, but a local museum is continuing to pay homage to historical movements with some new exhibits.
The St. Joseph Museums, 3406 Frederick Ave., is working on an interactive Civil Rights workshop and a history of the Black labor movement. These exhibits build on a newly renovated Civil Rights exhibit.
“There was just so much that we left on the cutting room floor, or we only touched on a little bit,” curator Max Morgan said. “The Civil Rights Movement is just so broad and complex. It’s really, really hard to narrow it down, even for a room that’s like chock full of content as our new Civil Rights room.”
Positive responses from kids visiting from local schools and adults inspired museum staff to continue building on the exhibit.
“We just had such a good response from it that we knew that there was an audience for more Civil Rights content,” Morgan said.
The Civil Rights workshop will highlight peaceful protests from the Freedom Riders, Greensboro Four and St. Joseph Civil Rights icon Kelsy Beshears’ protest of the Missouri Theater.
An interactive exhibit in the Freedom Riders section features a suitcase to show visitors what items they would take on long journeys.
“Something we found really interesting was books,” Morgan said. “Because they knew that they would be on the bus, or they would be arrested, and they needed something to pass the time.”
The Black labor movement exhibit, which was developed for Boehringer Ingelheim and discusses the history of the cause, is being updated for the St. Joseph Museums. Employees who have ties to local history, such as parents who were Black business owners, are being incorporated into the exhibit.
“Some of them contributed photos, but the main thing they contributed was their oral history,” Morgan said. “We were actually able to film them.”
The oral histories will play on loop on a television in the Black labor movement exhibit room. Morgan expects both exhibits to be completed in about a month, making room for another new exhibit.
“Our next exhibit that we are making is called Rewind Lake Contrary,” he said. “So that is for our big fundraising event that you can learn more about on our website.”
