Blunt tasks Missourians with observing Civil War's 150th Anniversary

Gov. Matt Blunt today named 18 Missourians to serve on the Missouri Civil War Sesquicentennial Com-mission, which he created to commemorate Missouri's role in the Civil War.

"Missouri played a unique and critical role in the war between the states. In Missouri, the Civil War truly pitted family against family, neighbor against neighbor and brother against brother," Gov. Blunt said.

"This commission will help Missourians recognize the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and ensure that future generations do not forget the heroic service of Missourians in this conflict."

In March, Gov. Blunt signed an executive order creating the Missouri Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission and secured $200,000 to support its laudable goals of honoring and remembering the bravery and sacrifices Mis-sourians made in the Civil War.

Funding is through the Department of Natural Resources to help the commission carry out its mission.

During the Civil War there were 1,162 engagements fought on state soil -- the third highest number among all the states.

Approximately 160,000 Missourians total fought in the war, for both the Union and Confederate sides, with an average of 122 men killed for every county in the state.

Gov. Blunt created the commission to commemorate the bravery and sacrifices Missourians made during the Civil War.

The commission will serve as the official liaison between other states and other public and private sesquicentennial committees to coordinate and plan activities that foster recognition of the Civil War in Missouri. The commission will be responsible for submitting a report to the governor each December on their recommendations to promote public awareness and observances of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, 2011 through 2015.

The following Missourians have been appointed to the Missouri Civil War Sesquicentennial Commis-sion:

* Terry Ramsey, Nevada, is a staff member at the Bushwhacker Museum in Nevada. She is an energetic supporter of Civil War and other heritage tourism activities in southwest Missouri. She is active in the Missouri Civil War Heritage Foun-dation and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area planning committees.

* Robert Archibald, St. Louis, has served as president and CEO of the Missouri Historical Society since 1988. He holds a doctorate in history with a concentration in Latin American History and the History of the American West.

* Dr. David Dalton, Hollister, holds the Elizabeth Hoyt Clark Chair of Humanities and is a professor of History at College of the Ozarks. Dalton holds a bachelor's degree Western Kentucky University and doctorate from the University of Kentucky, specializing in the Civil War. Dalton is published in numerous journals, including The Journal of Southern History, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, and The Encyclopedia of the American Civil War. He has forthcoming publications in new works entitled, Kentuckians in Gray, and Confederate Generals in the Western Theater.

* Dr. Debra Foster Green, Jefferson City, serves as an associate professor of history at Lincoln University. Dr. Foster received her doctorate in American History from the University of Missouri. She is a member of several associations including the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the Association of Black Women Historians, the Southern Association for Women Historians, and the Missouri State Historical Society.

* Thomas Higdon, Stark City, is treasurer of the Newtonia Battlefield Protection Association. Higdon was instrumental in securing grants to provide for professional battlefield surveys and analysis.

* Ted Hilmer, Nixa, has been with the National Park Service for 31 years. Mr. Hilmer has worked in Washington, D.C., three regional offices, Denver Service Center, and at three park units. His educational background is in civil engineering and environmental science. Mr. Hilmer has worked at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield since August 2003.

* Joseph K. Houts, St. Joseph, is the author of "Quantrill's Thieves" and "A Darkness Ablaze." Houts holds a history degree fromWestminster College and juris doctorate from Lewis University College of Law. He is currently a vice president for Community Development at Commerce Bank. He is also chairman of the St. Joseph Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration Committee.

* Beverly Jarrett, Columbia, has worked in scholarly publishing for over 30 years. Ms. Jarrett holds a master's in English from Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge in 1964. Since her tenure as director of the University of Missouri Press began in 1989, the publishing program has grown substantially, doubling its book sales revenue, and more than quadrupling the number of reviews each book receives.

* R. Crosby Kemper III, Kansas City, served as the chairman and CEO of UMB Financial Corporation and UMB Bank, from 2001-'04. He was appointed by Gov. Bob Holden to chair the blue-ribbon Citizens Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Missouri. He also founded successful, free, outdoor Shakespeare festivals in Kansas City and Saint Louis. He is vice chairman of the Truman Presidential Library and Institute Board of Directors. Mr. Kemper holds a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University.

* Gary Kremer, Jefferson City, is the executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Previously Kremer taught history at Lincoln University and William Woods University. He has written, co-written and co-edited ten books, including the recently released Women in Missouri History: In Search of Power and Influence; A Dictionary of Missouri Biography; A History of Missouri, 1875-1919 and Missouri's Black Heritage.

* Dr. Diane Mutti-Burke, Kansas City, is an assistant professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is currently completing a scholarly monograph entitled On Slavery's Borders: Small Slaveholding in Antebellum Missouri. Dr. Burke has used cases to investigate marriage and kinship ties between slaves, along with the nature of inter-farm slave communities. She is utilizing the records of the Missouri State Archives to more deeply explore the disintegration of slavery during the Civil War.

* Fred Palmer, St. Louis, is the senior vice president for Government Relations at Peabody Energy. Mr. Palmer received his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Arizona. Palmer was the 2004 recipient of the Erskine Ramsay Medal Award from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.

* Richard Peerson, Columbia, is a native Missourian, being the fourth generation to farm in Lafayette County. After thirty years of farming, he became the executive director of the Missouri Junior Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Peerson serves as chairman of the "Battle for Jefferson City" Civil War.

* Dr. William Piston, Springfield, is a history professor and Civil War scholar at Missouri State University. In 2004 he published a book, coauthored with William Hatcher, on the Battle of Wilson's Creek. He is active in the Civil War Roundtable of the Ozarks.

* Art Schuermann, Saint Louis, retired as a Major from the Missouri Air National Guard. During his years of service he worked as a full time employee for the Missouri Air Guard in the Base Engineering Office, supervising operations and maintenance at Jefferson Barracks. His position was also responsible for Historic Preservation and Environ-mental Compliance for the Air Guard. He holds a master's degree from St. Louis University.

* Thomas P. Sweeney, M.D., Springfield, retired from St. Johns Regional Health Center, in Springfield, Mo., as an Interventional Radiologist. Sweeney served as a board member of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland from its inception to 2002. He has been a member of the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Founda-tion since 1971.

Sweeney is also the owner of General Sweeny's Museum of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi located next to the battlefield. Tour groups to the museum included the Smithsonian Museum Tours, Blue and Gray Educational Society, numerous Civil War Round Tables around the country and local schools. The National Park Service purchased the museum contents and property and it remains intact atWilson's Creek National Battlefield Park to continue to tell the story of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi.

* Stuart Symington, St. Louis, is the former vice-president and general solicitor for Union Pacific Railroad Co. Symington has represented clients before a wide variety of local, state and federal agencies and departments in Washington, D.C., throughout the United States and overseas. His practice has included representation of individuals, charitable, educational and religious organizations, and private and major publicly-held corporations, including complex employment related immigration matters. Symington is a former civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army, chairman of the Missouri Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, and a former trustee of the Association of the United States Army.

* Mike Ussery, Springfield, is the director of Constituent Services for Gov. Matt Blunt. Ussery received his bachelor's degree in history from the College of the Ozarks and is currently working towards his master's in history from Missouri State University, with an emphasis on American History.