Yesterday was a really great day of detective teamwork at the JCHS! This group of (r-l) Dr. S. Mustakeem, Librarian Makiba Foster and two students Will and Zoe traveled from Washington University in St. Louis to seek information for an article Dr. Mustakeem is writing on an important person in Missouri history about whom almost nothing was known. I'd like to share this great example of accidental history in action!
The goal of their visit was research of primary sources focused on a young woman, Amanda Umble, who was sentenced to hang for stabbing another woman over a man. (Much like another case a few years later in Johnson County when one of the Heard girls from Bristle Ridge was killed by another with "an old case knife".)
Umble's case was a rallying cry for the rights of black women at the time, and Dr. Mustakeem's research had led her search to Johnson County where Amanda had later married a man named John Miller. Miller was a hostler at T.E. Cheatham's which we discovered may have been the old Grover place in the 200 block of East Gay Street. The group first searched through the card catalog, family files and city directories for any traces of Amanda Umble and her family. She had proved difficult to locate before, but clues emerged from the files and records.
By afternoon all hands were employed in seeking out hidden tidbits. The students continued combing the family files. Herb Best went to find the graves of Miller and his son at Sunset Hill. Betty Marr found a photo of the old Grover place. Dr. Mustakeem and I went down to the archives and looked for a circuit court record of a divorce which was indicated in a census. There was high glee when it was located! The team reassembled in the Archive Room to intensify the search. The photo above shows the group searching for mentions of the case in court indexes.
The afternoon ended with a trip to Sunset Hill cemetery to see the gravestones of John and his kin and then on to Trails Regional Library where I left the team looking at microfilm of newspapers more recent than those in our collection. At Trails, Ms. Foster shared with me that she was so excited that their search had begun in the CARD CATALOG! She has noticed, as have I, that younger generations are under the false impression that EVERYTHING is on the internet. She is hoping to start a program that will encourage this generation of students to seek out these valuable and unique resources. What a great day of delving into the informational treasures of the JCHS. Thanks to all those who have gone before us for creating this great trove of knowledge!!! Lisa Irle, Curator
Fascinating. When did Amanda Umble live in this area?
ReplyDeleteShe lived here in the early 1900s... and when she left, she might have cleaned out her kind husband who was a long time servant of the Cheathams, .. but,I think I should leave the writing to the students and Dr. Mustakeem.
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