A Friday evening news dump *:

Department of Natural Resources moves LGBTQ exhibit to Lohman Building
Friday, September 3, 2021
Lohman is part of Jefferson Landing State Historic Site

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, SEPT. 3, 2021 – The Missouri Department of Resources announced today that an exhibit detailing the history of the LGBTQ community in Missouri has been relocated for display at the Lohman Building, part of the Jefferson Landing State Historic Site. The exhibit will be available for viewing beginning tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 4. (The Missouri State Museum and the Jefferson Landing State Historic Site will be closed Sunday and Monday for Labor Day.)

The Lohman Building is located adjacent to the Capitol and is easily accessible. Missouri State Museum team members staff and operate the Jefferson Landing State Historic Site.

The display was moved from the Missouri State Museum in the Capitol earlier this week after the department received complaints.

“We apologize for the way this unfolded,” said Dru Buntin, director of the Department of Natural Resources. “We agree the history of all Missourians is an important story that needs to be told, and we’ve made a commitment to work with the members of the State Capitol Commission and the Board of Public Buildings to do so.”

Careful review of the museum’s interpretive and exhibit guidance shows that exhibits on loan from other institutions like this one are often housed at Jefferson Landing State Historic Site.

The Making History: Kansas City and The Rise of Gay Rights exhibit is on loan to the Missouri State Museum from UMKC. The exhibit, which was produced by UMKC, was borrowed due to its connection to a notable date – the formation of the Phoenix Society of Individual Freedom – on the Missouri Bicentennial timeline on display in the museum’s History Hall. It is on loan through the end of the year.

“In response to a number of concerns, we made the decision to move the exhibit while we clarified and reviewed our internal process to make sure we were complying with state law,” said Mike Sutherland, deputy department director.

The Department of Natural Resources is charged with maintaining an historical state museum in the Capitol. The museum develops many of its exhibits, but it also accepts exhibits on loan from other institutions to expose visitors to a wide variety of topics significant in Missouri history and culture. State law requires the museum to coordinate with the Board of Public Buildings for the use of space in the Capitol. The board has delegated responsibility for that coordination to the Missouri State Capitol Commission.

The department invites the public to attend its Sept. 16 public meeting for the Missouri State Museum and Jefferson Landing State Historic Site. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Riverside Collections Facility, 117 Riverside Drive, Jefferson City. Following the informational meeting, museum staff will provide a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum’s collections area.

Another profile in courage.

“…’In response to a number of concerns, we made the decision to move the exhibit while we clarified and reviewed our internal process to make sure we were complying with state law,’ said Mike Sutherland, deputy department director…” Ah, pearl clutchers.

Previously:

What are they afraid of? (September 3, 2021)

* A tip of the hat to Dave Helling for the meme, pace Blue Girl.