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Photos of Victims Speak of the Holocaust by John J. Dunphy
One would hardly think that seeing old photographs of people one never knew would be an unforgettable experience. But some photos I saw at the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center in Creve Couer, Missouri proved to be precisely that.
The exhibit, called "The Last Album: Eyes From the Ashes of Auschwitz-Birkenau," consisted of selected photos from a book of the same title by Ann Weiss. The photos are of Jews who were murdered by the Nazis at that death camp. Jews who had been deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau brought these photos with them. Read full article...
A CELEBRATION OF MOTHER JONES' LIFE AT MT OLIVE by John J. Dunphy
The tiny town of Mt. Olive, Illinois, located about 40 miles northeast of St. Louis, is the site of the Union Miners Cemetery, the only union-owned cemetery in the United States. It is appropriate that it is the resting place of Mary "Mother" Jones, one of the giants of the American labor movement.
In her 1925 autobiography, Jones stated that she was born Mary Harris near Cork, Ireland on May Day 1830. Many scholars now believe that she was actually born on August 1, 1837. By claiming May Day - a day that celebrates international labor solidarity - as her birthday, Jones might have been expressing her kinship with all working women and men. Read full article...
FLEEING THE FAIR TO FREEDOM by John J. Dunphy
The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair breathtakingly mirrored that era's progress in science, industry, agriculture and the arts. Too few people seem to realize, however, that the fair also reflected that epoch's racism.
The World's Fair Anthropology Department featured outdoor displays of peoples from around the world. To give fair-goers the illusion of authenticity, Alaskan Inuits were forced to wear their native cold-weather garb even during the heat and humidity of a St. Louis summer. Read full article...
MYTHS OF CAMP RIVER DUBOIS by John J. Dunphy
"The mouth of the River Dubois is to be considered as the point of departure," Captain Meriwether Lewis wrote on May 14, 1804 as the Corps of Discovery left Camp River Dubois to begin its journey to seek the Northwest Passage. The party of explorers had spent the winter of 1803-04 in the Illinois country at the mouth of the River Dubois, which we know today as the Wood River.
Area residents are justifiably proud that one of history's greatest expeditions began here. We also take pride in the knowledge that Camp River Dubois played a vital role in ensuring the venture's success. Read full article...
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