EXHIBIT ON GERMAN IMMIGRANTS IN MISSOURI OPENS
AUG. 23 IN THE STATE CAPITOL
JEFFERSON CITY, MO., AUG. 12, 2008 -- On Aug. 23, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources is opening a new exhibit entitled "From Southwest to Midwest: A Story of Germans who Became Missourians" in the Missouri State Museum in the State Capitol. The grand opening event is 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The public is invited.
This exhibit is the culmination of the Missouri State Museum's partnership with Haus der Geshichte (the state museum in Stuttgart) through the International Partnerships among Museums program. The exhibition tells the story of Germans who emigrated from southwest Germany and made Missouri their adopted home.
Activities will start with Civil War re-enactors on the south Capitol lawn portraying the 3rd Missouri Infantry Regiment, a German Civil War unit led by German immigrant Franz Sigel. The regiment will lead visitors into the Capitol rotunda where there will be a short presentation by William Keel, Ph.D., an expert on German language and immigrants. The presentation will be followed by a ribbon cutting at the exhibit, which is located in the northeast section of the History Hall on the first floor of the Capitol. Following the ribbon cutting, there will be German music, food and more history from the re-enactors.
The exhibit will remain open through December 2009. The museum and the Capitol building are open to the public free of charge from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (except New Year's, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day).
For more information, contact the Missouri State Museum office at 573-751-2854 or the Department of Natural Resources toll free at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-379-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). For information on state parks and historic sites, visit the Web at www.mostateparks.com.
