By Jeff Murphy,
September 14, 2021
“The House of Representatives,” a painting by Samuel F.B. Morse from 1822, courtesy
of the National Gallery of Art, depicts Missouri's legislature in its early stage
and is reminiscent of what visitors will encounter when viewing the Struggle for
Statehood, Missouri’s Official Bicentennial Exhibit, Sept. 22-Oct. 26 at the University
of Central Missouri-Lee’s Summit.
WARRENSBURG, MO – An opportunity to learn more about the challenges Missouri’s founders
faced more than 200 years ago, the ŷƵ is bringing to the
Kansas City area the Struggle for Statehood, Missouri’s Official Bicentennial Exhibit.
This free, public exhibit will be on display at UCM-Lee’s Summit at the Missouri
Innovation Campus (MIC), 1101 NW Innovation Parkway, Sept. 22 to Oct. 26. It will
be supplemented with a virtual bicentennial keynote presentation Sept. 23, and an
in-person lecture Oct. 16, providing more insight into Missouri’s pathway to becoming
the nation’s 24th state.
The Struggle for Statehood is being presented through the efforts of faculty members
in the UCM History Program with support from the Missouri Humanities Council, MIC,
and the UCM Center for Teaching and Learning, which has provided funding for the lecture
and online presentation.
“It’s truly an honor that UCM was selected as one of the stops for the exhibit during
the 2021 bicentennial year,” said UCM Professor of History Jon Taylor, Ph.D., who
has played a key role in planning and seeking funding for the event.
The exhibit has been traveling through Missouri since February, and was developed
by the Missouri Humanities Council in consultation with the Kinder Institute on Constitutional
Democracy, with support by the Missouri Bicentennial Alliance. A digital exhibit
tour providing a look at items to be on display also can be viewed on the Missouri
Humanities Council .
Along with the display at the MIC, the virtual presentation at 6:30 p.m. Thursday,
Sept. 23, features Dr. Tai Edwards, associate professor of history at Johnson County
Community College, and author of the book, “Osage Women and Empire: Gender and Power.”
Her presentation titled “Osage Nation and Missouri Statehood” can be viewed online
by clicking on the virtual . Interested individuals also can stop by the MIC at the time of the presentation
and watch it in conjunction with the Struggle for Statehood Exhibit.
Dr. Chris Childers, associate professor of history at Pittsburg State University and
the author of “Failure of Popular Sovereignty,” will make a presentation at
11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16 at the MIC. His remarks will focus on “Sectional Tension
and the Missouri Compromise of 1820.”
Taylor said the importance of the exhibit is two-fold. First, viewers can get a sense
of the significant role that Missouri has played in the nation's history and the sectional
struggle that developed when it became a state. Second, it also supports the university’s
longtime role in sharing Missouri history. The event is taking place at the same time
UCM is celebrating its sesquicentennial.
“The exhibit, while it does not mention UCM faculty by name, also honors the scholarly
contributions that UCM history faculty members like Drs. C. H. McClure, William Foley,
Perry McCandless, Roy Stubbs, and Leslie Anders among others, have made to the study
of the history and significance of Missouri History since the founding of the institution
in 1871,” Taylor said. “Current UCM History faculty continue to make scholarly contributions
to the study of Missouri history, which is still passed on to the general public by
hosting public exhibits like the Struggle for Statehood, and, most importantly, to
the students who either go on to major in history or who go on to teach history in
the public and private schools of the state.”
Individuals who want to know more about the Struggle for Statehood exhibit are welcome
to contact Taylor in UCM’s School of Communication, History, and Interdisciplinary
Studies at taylor01@ucmo.edu.