Ken Steinhoff, Author at Cape Girardeau History and Photos

October 25, 2010July 9, 2015

World War I Memorial in Jackson

On the south side of the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson, a World War I Private stands at parade rest with his rifle.

I thought it would be easy to uncover the history of the statue, but I ran into deadends and contradictions.

Memorial to The World War dead

On the side of the statue is a bronze plaque with the words, “In memory of those from Cape Girardeau County who gave their lives in defense of liberty in The World War. 1916 – 1918”

Beneath it is a list of 40 names. Interestingly enough, the name of Capt. George E. Alt is missing. He was an Englishman, who was born in Japan in 1870. He served in World War I, where he was killed in France under German fire. The Alt home was bought by Trinity Lutheran Church and renamed Trinity Hall. Some accounts say he was the first Cape County resident to die in the war.

War to End All Wars

The memorial was erected before we had to add Roman Numerals to our World Wars.

The Missourian editorialized on May 30, 1925: Legion Posts from all parts of the county assembled in Jackson to dedicate the memorial statue erected by the state and the county in memory of the young men and women who served in the world war, and who made as great a sacrifice as it is possible for citizens of America to make.

The statue in Court House Park in Jackson, while not a pretentious and costly shaft, will serve the purpose and will keep fresh in mind of all people the fact that when the country calls there is always a ready response, a condition that makes this the greatest nation on earth.

In the course of time we hope to see built in Cape Girardeau county a living memorial, one that will be an inspiration to the people to live better and have greater regard for the beautiful things in life. It was an ideal of citizenship that our your people fought for, and this ideal deserves to be carried out in the material things of our lives.

Statue history is confusing

Various stories in The Missourian had the statue made of various materials.

Oct. 11, 1924 – “The county court has finally decided to erect the memorial to the Cape Girardeau county soldier dead. The monument, a beautiful statue of white marble, representing a doughboy in full uniform and equipment, has been reposing in a local marble works shop for several years. It is now to be placed on the courthouse lawn on a appropriate pedestal, on which will be placed a bronze plate bearing the names of the Cape county boys who made the supreme sacrifice in the World War.”
Nov. 27, 1924 – “The concrete foundation for the world war soldiers’ memorial has been completed and is now ready for the erection of the statue and the bronze plate to be placed on the base thereof. The monument will stand about the center of the southeast quarter of the court house lawn, and near it will be the unsightly cannon of ante-bellum vintage.”
May 7, 1925 – “American Legion Posts throughout Cape Girardeau county are to participate in the dedication of the memorial to the war dead of the county at Jackson on Decoration Day, May 30… It is planned to have the program take up the greater part of the afternoon, and there will be a band, community singing and other features… The memorial is a statue of white Italian marble. It represents a soldier in full equipment, standing at ‘parade rest,’ and is life size. It is mounted on a five foot base of vermont marble. A bronze plate adorns one side of the memorial and on this plate are the names of the 40 men who lost their lives during the war. The statue cost approximately $2,200.”
May 25, 1987 – “The World War I memorial on the south lawn of the County Courthouse, Jackson, … is made of cement.”

Who was Dennis O’Leary?

Jackson’s statue was of a generic soldier. Wife Lila and I ran into a this tombstone for Dennis O’Leary when we were looking for the graves of her father and her uncle in the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, NM. There must be a fascinating story about a highly detailed sculpture of a young soldier in full uniform in a cemetery with otherwise plain markers, right?

The only problem was that there are more questions about Dennis O’Leary than answers.

October 24, 2010March 20, 2021

Nancy Jenkins Wilson ’65

Nancy Jenkins Wilson posted a comment wishing my mother a belated happy birthday. That reminded me that I had scanned some pictures of her before leaving for Cape.

Editor in Chief of The 1965 Girardot

Nancy was editor in chief of The 1965 Girardot and I was head photographer. We went to a week-long seminar for high school journalists at Missouri University the summer before we tackled the book.

At that conference, I got an inkling that (A) Nancy was going to be a great editor to work with, and (B) the Missouri University School of Journalism and I had very different ideas about photojournalism.

I was right on both counts.

Nancy turned out a great yearbook and I never considered going to Columbia.

Nancy in 2010

I found out that the years have been kind to my former classmate when we met at this summer’s reunion. She still has the smile I remember so well. Actually, it’s close to the expression she would get on her face just before she’d say, “You want to run a picture of WHAT?”

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Mother and Wife Lila said I should have used one where she was smiling more. Making them happy is a very important thing to my continued well-being. Happy to oblige.

October 22, 2010January 16, 2022

Cape Central Tigers vs Sikeston Bulldogs

It’s been more than 40 years since I last shot a Central High School football game. Maybe I should have passed on this one. According to news stories I’ve been reading, Cape and the Sikeston Bulldogs were undefeated for the season.

If I had to put bookends on the evening, the shot of a Tiger being consoled after the game would be at the back end and this shot of a Bulldog scoring the first touchdown would go on the front end. The Bulldogs scored in less than a minute, ending up with a 21-0 win.

Sikeston’s first touchdown

When I first started shooting sports, I was told a good photo was one that showed the ball, the player’s number, his face and action. Oh, yes, and it should be sharp unless you were trying for an arty effect.

You’re going to see a bunch of action shots here that bend that rule severely. I didn’t have any long lenses with me, so I was limited in what I could get. I decided to put in some of the marginal shots because (a) it doesn’t cost me anything and (b) somebody might recognize themselves.

Unpleasant flashback as the clock counted down

When I was shooting the final moments of the game, I had a scary flashback to a high school basketball game I shot in a small Ohio town. The game seesawed back and forth all evening. When the winning goal was shot at the buzzer, the losing cheerleaders started crying. Some of the fan objected to me taking pictures of that. I looked over at a local cop for support; he shook his head and said, “If they come after you, I’m out of here.”

A touch of class

Missourian photographer Laura Simon captured Cape Central defenders Rodney Reynolds and Devin Rowett helping Sikeston running back Darryl Howard get back on his feet in the fourth quarter. I missed seeing it, but I’m glad it happened. That’s the kind of sportsmanship you don’t see often these days. I’ve covered high school games where the coach berated a player for doing something like that.

I was touched, too, when I saw several players not only shake hands with their opponents after the game, but embrace each other.

The Jungle was full of Tiger spirit

I always enjoyed shooting the crowd more than the game. One Friday night in southern Ohio, I shot the best football game of my career. It had all the elements: enthusiastic fans, raving coaches, a kid who set a record in about every category you could think, winning cheerleaders, losing cheerleaders, a great photo of two opponents shaking hands at the end, and the losing team leaving the field.

Ohio football crowds

As it turned out, the sports editor ran a pedestrian action shot. On Monday morning, the published called me in to complain about our lackluster sports coverage of late. It gave me great pleasure to hand him the sheaf of photos I had taken at that game.

Did you hear her bell?

I was amused at the idea of the tiny bells being part of a band performance at a football stadium. (If those aren’t bells, I apologize. I know less about music than I do about football.)

Photo gallery from Cape vs. Sikeston

The gallery is in chronological order, from pre-game, game, half time, more action, then game end. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the photo to move through the gallery.

I wouldn’t waste a lot of time on the game action photos unless you’re looking for someone you know. I didn’t have the lenses to zero in on the action, it’s been over 40 years since I shot Central High School football and close to 20 years since I shot any kind of football.

October 21, 2010

Football Ghosts at Houck Stadium

If I can get in, I’m going to cover my first Central High School game in about four decades. When I asked Missourian photographer Fred Lynch what kind of credentials you need to get on the sidelines or if could I just talk my way in, he said it was pretty casual.

Don’t bother talking. Just head for the 30-yard line with a bigger lens than the high school kids use. You use a monopod? That makes you look like a pro. But I am sure that you carry yourself like a pro. No one will know you are retired.

Impersonating a photographer

If you don’t see anything here for a couple of days, you can assume that I’ve been busted for impersonating a photographer.

Football ghosts

I haven’t scanned many sports negatives because I have a problem figuring out which teams are in the photos. Most schools didn’t have team names or logos on their uniforms in those days. I’m only assuming these photos were taken at Central High School games.

If you click on the photo above to make it larger, you can see the ghostly images of football players hovering over the play. Number 24, in particular, shows up right above the quarterback.

The photographer was sloppy

I’d love to make up some scary story appropriate to the Halloween season, but there is a simple, technical explanation: the photographer was sloppy.

The photo was taken with a 4×5 Crown Graphic camera that used 4-inch by 5-inch sheets of film in a film holder or carrier.

When you went to take the first picture, you would insert the film carrier into the camera and pull a slide that protected the film from light when it was out of the camera. After taking the photo, you would replace the slide, remove the film holder and reverse it so the unexposed film was facing the lens. You would “pull the slide,” make the exposure, replace the slide, remove the holder and set it aside.

Sounds confusing, right? It was.

Lots of things could go wrong

You could forget to pull the slide, so the film was never exposed
You could forget to replace the slide, so the film would be ruined when it came out of the camera
You could forget to flip the folder, so the photos would be double exposed with more than one image on the film (which is what happened above).
You could grab a holder than had been used, which would result in a double (or more) exposure.

Four sheets of film, five flashbulbs

Film was expensive, so it was common to be sent to cover a football game with four sheets of film and five flashbulbs (the extra bulb was in case you forgot to pull the slide, see above). You learned to make every shot count.

Flash bulbs, cold weather and static electricity were a bad mix. You usually carried the flash bulbs in your pants pocket. On a cold night, static electricity could create a spark that would ignite a bulb in your pocket. If ONE bulb went off, they’d ALL go off. Flashbulbs put out a LOT of heat.

If you ever saw me jumping and thrashing around on the sidelines, I wasn’t trying out a new dance step. There was a fiery furnace raging in my pants pocket.

Author: Ken Steinhoff