Almost Yesterday

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the Roberts, Johnson and Rand Shoe Company of St. Louis opened a manufacturing plant in Cape Girardeau . The date was September 9, 1907 and this proved to be a significant development in the economic growth of the city. In 1900 Cape Girardeau was a small community of fewer than 5000 residents. But it was eager to grow. In 1904 a railroad connected Cape to St. Louis, enabling residents to visit the World’s Fair and bringing frequent visitors from St. Louis.

In the fall of 1938 Mark Scully was named the principal of Jackson High School in Jackson, Missouri. Young Mark Scully said that his days as principal and teacher in Jackson were some of the most enjoyable of his 47 year career. Well…all but one. Early one morning in the late autumn of 1941, Scully opened the door to the high school and immediately recognized the powerful odor of a skunk – the smell penetrating every corner of the building. A quick survey located the body of the small creature

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Warren Eastman Hearnes became governor of Missouri. Born in Moline, Illinois, on July 24, 1923, Hearnes grew up in Charleston, Missouri, the county seat of Mississippi County, a place he called home for the remainder of his life. While in high school he determined that he wanted to attend West Point in pursuit of a military career. The desired appointment was received and he graduated from the academy in the class of 1946. In 1947, Hearnes married his high

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the first commercial airplane landed at Chicago's Municipal Airport, later Midway Airport. The plane came in from Omaha, Nebraska, with passengers and several bags of mail. The date was December 1, 1927, and it was an historic first for aviation in Chicago. The Boeing Aircraft was piloted by Ira Oris Biffle, from Patton, Missouri. Biffle was born on September 14, 1886, the son of Valentine and Matilda Berry Biffle. Biffle spent his first eighteen years on the

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Hollywood came to Southeast Missouri. A production company headed by prominent director Roger Corman came to Charleston and East Prairie in 1961 to produce a movie based upon Charles Beaumont’s novel about race relations and school integration in the American South. Filmed one year prior to the classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Intruder was a commercial failure. Corman was unable to secure support for the film from Hollywood Studios, thus this socially