Articles > Columns > Missouri Journal

French Lessons

Ste. Genevieve helps us look back … and forward

By Arthur Mehrhoff

Some people sample and collect fine wines, but I like to collect and savor vintage museum experiences. Following a workshop last spring at Cape Girardeau, I visited the Felix Vallé House State Historic Site in historic Ste. Genevieve. The experience of discovering a truly unique aspect of Missouri life interpreted by a first-rate museum made this French-American …... Read more >

Has Our Past Become a Foreign Country

By Arthur Mehrhoff

How to Make Our Past and Our Places Meaningful Without Manipulation

“You have to know where you are before you know who you are”

—Wendell Barry

At MissouriLife’s Weekend at the Lake this past October, I met a remarkable woman, Honey, from storm-ravaged Mississippi who was staying with some friends here in Missouri while recovering from her ordeal. She described her desperate attempt to “save some memories” of…... Read more >

Arrow Rock What Time is This Place

By Arthur Mehrhoff

When an old friend who shares my community design and preservation interests visited me last summer, I took him to see celebrated Arrow Rock, the first Missouri town named as one of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

This artifact in scenic Saline County lived up to its reputation as Missouri’s timepiece of preservation, but numerous for-sale signs made me think …... Read more >