On Thursday, February 11, 2016, the Black Archives Museum of the St. Joseph Museums will host Greg Olson, Missouri State Archives curator of Special Exhibits and Special Projects. He will give a presentation on early St. Joseph, Missouri, history and the topic of his new book Jeffrey Deroine: Ioway Translator and Frontier Diplomat. Olson’s previous books include The Great Walker: Ioway Leader, The Ioway in Missouri, and Noble Savages, Voodoo Priests and Ozark Gypsies: The Life of Folklorist Mary Alicia Owen. The event also features the opening of newly renovated Black Archives Museum exhibits on the history of African Americans in Buchanan County and an exhibit on the Folklore of Mary Alicia Owen.
The life of Jeffrey Deroine was an amazing journey. He was a slave of St. Joseph founder Joseph Robidoux whose freedom was eventually purchased by an unknown person after a lengthy court battle. He spoke 12 languages and was a skilled translator and a signer of the Platte Purchase Treaty. He even traveled to the courts of Europe with 14 Ioway Indians where he met royalty, politicians, and other distinguished people. Olson’s book on Deroine is part of the nonfiction book series, Notable Missourians.
Olson has also written about Mary Alicia Owen, another interesting historical figure from St. Joseph. Owen was a folklorist who recorded African, European, and Native American stories in the 19th Century. Her work illustrates the diverse intermingling of cultures that happened when St. Joseph was located at the edge of civilization and the western wilderness. The new interactive exhibit, “The Folklore of Mary Alicia Owen”, focuses on the importance of storytelling and includes an area for children to perform their own puppet show. Significantly, the St. Joseph Museums has received a temporary loan of Sac and Fox items collected by Owen in the late 1800s for the exhibit. These beautiful examples of Sac and Fox culture will be on display for one year due to their fragile nature. The items are on loan courtesy of the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City.
“A tremendous amount of collaboration and research has gone into the creation of these new exhibits,” said Sara Wilson, Executive Director of the St. Joseph Museums. “The connections we have made in the present and with the past have been unbelievable. As we were curating the exhibit, we learned that our Board Member Gary Wilkinson’s great-great grandmother, Charlotte Harvey escaped as slave from St. Joseph and crossed the Missouri River to White Cloud, Kansas, near the Iowa Reservation. His great-great grandfather, Amos Stillman served as a member of the United States Colored Troops in the Civil War. Jeffrey and Mary Alicia’s St. Joseph was incredibly diverse, where African slaves, Native Americans, and early European settlers came together and created amazing stories.”
The event will be held at the Black Archives Museum of the St. Joseph Museums Inc., 3406 Frederick Avenue. It is open to the public and admission is free. Copies of Greg Olson’s books will be available for purchase. A reception will be held beginning at 5:30 p.m. and the program will take place at 6:00 p.m.