Heritage Museum to open Truman, old Cape bridge construction exhibits

The Cape Girardeau Heritage Museum will hold three new exhibits for their official opening with an unveiling from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 19.

The exhibits include a history of the old Cape Girardeau bridge’s construction, President Harry S. Truman’s involvement with Southeast Missouri and The Art of American Quiltmaking. The exhibit “From Farmhouse to White House Harry S. Truman at 140” was made by Southeast Missouri State University’s “Problems in Historic Preservation” Spring 2024 class.

A LIFE magazine with Harry S. Truman on the cover on the shelf under the display for the museum's opening on April 19.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com

Cape Girardeau Heritage Museum’s Jerry Ford said the students did all the research for the display.

“Once a year they do an exhibit because SEMO’s one of the few colleges in the country that has a degree in historic preservation,” he said. “So, it's pretty neat.”

SEMO student Jerry Henson cleans a tool for one of the upcoming displays for the Cape Girardeau Heritage Museum.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com

SEMO student Jerry Henson said the project was worked on by a class of 15. Henson said the display is divided into different sections exploring Truman’s early life to his presidency.

“So, there are four or five different groups working on that information,” he said. “We also knew there was going to be, like, an exhibit like this and so I wanted to make sure we had plenty of visuals.”

Henson said Truman became “good friends” with Cape Girardeau, Sikeston and Nevada political leaders. He also added that he had an “affinity” for Scott County residents.

SEMO student Jessica Hunter cleans a tool with her fellow students for a Heritage Museum display.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com

Student Jessica Hunt said when they wanted to present information about the president, they wanted to focus on aspects that were not as well-known about Truman.

“We wanted to really focus on the local connection because that's what makes him unique for this area,” Hunt said. “When he finished office, he wasn't a politician that kept going. And he came home and he came back to a farm, and he lived his everyday life.”

Henson said certain aspects of Truman’s personal life humanized him.

“The fact that he was a piano player,” he said. “That’s how he relaxed.”

The students of the class also helped with cleaning older farming and construction tools for another display for the museum’s opening.

The old Cape Girardeau bridge display goes through the history of the bridge's construction in the 1920s.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com

Ford also said they had paraphernalia documenting the history of the old Cape Girardeau bridge’s construction in the 1920s. He said the bridge was probably one of a few that was built with local funds without state or federal money.

“Calvin Coolidge, when he was president, had to sign the deal to let them go ahead and build the bridge,” Ford said. “About 400 Cape Girardeau businessmen in 1926 actually reached $400,000 in just a couple of days.”

Ford said for “The Art of American Quilting”, the quilts on display were all from the 1800s. He also said the SEMO 150th anniversary display was changed and showed different parts of the university’s long history.