Starting next week, people can not only shop their favorite stores at the East Hills Mall in St. Joseph, but also see a traveling historical exhibit.

The traveling exhibit, “Over There: Missouri and the Great War” will be in St. Joseph July 3rd through September 2nd. St. Joseph Museums Public Relations Officer Kathy Reno said the exhibit is produced by the Missouri Humanities Council along with the Friends of the Springfield-Greene County Library District and others.

“It’s a digital collection of historical documents, photographs, artifacts, oral histories and all kinds of original material from museums across the state and private collections,” Reno said. “It talks about the crucial role of Missouri mules, what was their role in the war, the work of Missouri nurses and female volunteers and the military service of Missouri soldiers. So there will be documents, keyword searches, 360-degree panning feature for the artifacts, historical articles, photos from the battlefield and the home front. The exhibit talks about what’s going on in Missouri at this point with 156,000 people ‘over there.’”

Reno said the exhibit also ties in to an exhibit currently at the St. Joseph Museums.

“We thought maybe people would go to the mall and see that and they’d be inspired to come see our exhibit, which is called, ‘WWI Saint Joseph:  Reflections on Community and Conflict,’” Reno said. “We talk about what’s going on in St. Joseph because there was a wage gap going on because of the war so the Tootle Lemon Bank in St. Joseph announced it would cover the wage gap for any of its employees who enlisted. So that’s one of the ways that St. Joseph helped during the war.”

The exhibit at the East Hills Mall will open on July 3rd and will be available to view for free during regular mall hours until September 2nd.

The exhibit at the museum is available for viewing during regular museum hours which are from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information, visit stjosephmuseum.org/events.