Group revels in progress in recent years, current status

By Jessica Breger Special to the Monett Monthly

The Monett Historical Society held its February membership meeting with a focus on connecting locals to their past through new and ongoing displays and events at the Monett Museum. 

The program “Treasures Under Our Roof” was presented by Museum Curator Pro Tem Jan Rowell and Historical Society President Jeanne Ann Camp.

The women shared how the museum came to be as it is now as well future plans to connect the town to its past.

One such project may involve community input to help finish. Working with records available, the historical society wants to develop a walking tour of parts of Monett.

“When we applied to be a historical district, the architect who did our building here gathered all this information and it’s quite interesting,” Camp said. “He has pictures of the buildings as they are today and he has a summary of what was in that building from like 1897 or whenever each building was built, who built it, what it was used for and so on.” 

Rowell said this includes a map showing each lot which is to be enlarged. The society hopes to have this done by the summer at which point they intend to ask the community for help recounting the histories of each building. 

“Now, multiple businesses have been in those buildings,” Rowell said. “So, what we were talking about was getting together, some people who have grown up here to sit together and say, ‘OK, I remember when this building was this business,’ so we will have that.”

The women said this map with the buildings’ histories could then possibly be turned into a walking tour of the town’s businesses. 

They also revealed a new display now available for viewing in the museum focused on office life in early Monett. Showcasing items such as an antique typewriter, calculator and register, the display shows how offices ran before modern technology. 

The display is completed with a scene that connects the present as it displays a simple chair adorned with an old fashioned fedora hat and an early edition of The Monett Times newspaper. 

The scene is one that staff agreed reminded them of local present day reporter Murray Bishoff, making the display more relatable to current times.

Rowell said as a previous librarian, she was a storyteller at heart and shared the story of the museum with the gathered crowd. 

“So, once upon a time there was a little tiny museum and thanks to a lot of fairy godmothers and fairy godfathers that museum turned from two or three tiny rooms into what we have now,” she said. “Now, thanks to multitudes of people, we have three buildings and two stories. No one in the beginning thought we could ever fix this up, no one, will guess what? We are now not only full, we are full to bursting.”

Rowell said that since opening in the current building, the museum has had guests from over 30 states, including Alaska.

“We are no longer a tiny little museum,” she said. “We are a darn good medium-sized museum. It started with a building, but then it depended on the people who donated things.” 

She shared that as of the donation she cataloged earlier that day, the museum has had 912 people donate items or belong to the Historical Society resulting in over 12,000 items in the museum. 

She said it is a tribute to the city and its people that so many are willing to donate to enhance local historical preservation.

Commenting on the local aspect of the items, Rowell said that it is the local connection to the items that make them so significant.

“They’re interesting on their own; they’re interesting in the knowledge that they bring today, but when you know the story behind something then, they become alive, then they’re something living and breathing.” she said. 

Rowell then shared the stories behind some of her favorite pieces displayed in the museum, reminding those in attendance that these stories can be shared to all guests who ask for a tour during their visit connecting guests to the lives of each item. 

Locals were encouraged to take a tour and bring non-locals as well to hear the stories of Monett’s past. 

The Historical Society also encourages community members to join them at the meeting on March 17 to hear and share stories of generations picking strawberries in the area as strawberry season grows close.

The meeting, held at the Monett Historical Museum Event Center, is free and open to the public. 

The Museum is open five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.