Cape Girardeau History and Photos

September 24, 2012June 2, 2013

School Under Construction

These photos of what appears to be an elementary school under construction were shot June 24, 1966, if I can believe the negative sleeve. Unfortunately, that’s all I know about them. I looked at the Google Archives around that date and didn’t see anything that looked like these pictures.

There’s some printing on the pickup truck on the right, but I couldn’t get it clear enough to read. It looks like a gym or stage has been pressed into classroom use in one of the photos. For some reason, the location has the feel of Advance to it, but I can’t tell you why I think that.

UPDATE – School Identified

I ran across a September 23, 1966, Missourian clip that clears up the mystery. It WAS the Advance Elementary School. The photo caption read, “Pupils at the Advance Elementary School are anxiously awaiting the completion of a two-room addition to the present building. Particularly interested are the kindergarten children who are now holding classes on the school stage. Only a curtain separates the make-shift kindergarten room from the multi-purpose room which is used as a cafeteria, band and music room. Mrs. Grace Williams, kindergarten teacher, has 30 children in her morning class and 26 in the afternoon. Mitchell Wills, principal, said no tax was needed to build the addition.”

Mystery school photo gallery

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery.

September 23, 2012April 15, 2021

Smokey Robinson at Ohio University

I covered a lot of concerts and music groups without really knowing (or caring) who they were. I didn’t even bother to label the negative envelope in many cases, so I don’t know if the group went on to become famous or they were were just a garage band that somebody wanted to review.

These photos WERE labeled and dated, but I can’t, for the life of me, remember the concert. It said “Smokey Robinson 2/17/68.” I did some research and found that Smokey Robinson & The Miracles DID perform at Ohio University on that date. I must have covered this for The Ohio University Post.

Is he still alive?

Compounding my embarrassment, I asked Wife Lila, “Is he still alive?” she said that he was not only alive, but she had gone with a friend to see him perform in West Palm Beach not long ago. “He still puts on a fantastic show.”

When I went to the official Smokey Robinson website, I saw that a “legendary Rolling Stones photographer” was selling prints of Smokey on stage in 1968. Too bad I’m not legendary. These pix might be worth something.

Photo gallery of Smokey Robinson concert

Since I don’t have anything to add, I’ll just post the photos and let them speak for themselves. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or ride side of the image to move through the gallery.

September 20, 2012

Exhibit Sneak Peek

Here are layouts of some of the photos you’ll see at my exhibit in Altenburg. I ran a press release for the event yesterday.

Exhibit when and where info

Watch this space for a date and time when I’m going to be doing a dry run of the presentation I’ll be giving at a conference on October 25. Think of it as a war story blooper roll. I have way too much material and need to figure out what works and what doesn’t before I turn it loose on a real audience.

Photo Gallery of layouts

Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the photo to move through the gallery.

September 19, 2012September 16, 2015

My Exhibit in Altenburg

The kind folks at the Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum were kind enough to send out a bunch of press releases today.

For Immediate Press Release:

The Perry County Lutheran Historical Society’s, Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum is pleased to open a new exhibit: “Ordinary People Doing Ordinary Things: Ken Steinhoff Photojournalist, 1964-Present,” featuring nearly 50 years of photography from: Cape Girardeau County, Perry County, New Madrid, MO; Tower Rock, portraiture, and other rural documentary photography.

Steinhoff’s take on his work is, “I’ve covered popes, presidents, and the Queen of England, but I really like to shoot ordinary people doing ordinary things: the invisible folks whose names only appear in the paper when they are born, when they die, when they get married and when they get a speeding ticket.”

Open Daily Now- through November 2–10:00am-4:00pm-. Free Admission

Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum, 75 Church St., Altenburg, MO 63732

573-824-6070

Sneak Preview

You can see more layouts here.

I’m going to be doing a photo and video presentation at a conference at the museum on October 25, but I’m setting up a “dress rehearsal” a week or so in advance of that. I have way too much material and want to know which babies to throw out of the lifeboat. I’ll post more info when I get to Cape around Oct. 10 or so. I’d love to see some of you up there so you can hear my war stories in person.