Field Trips Archives - Reynolds College Blog

Anthropology Club visits historic Danforth Cemetery

January 10, 2025 by Lynn M. Lansdown

Members of Missouri State University’s Anthropology Club visited the historic Danforth Cemetery in Strafford, Missouri, during the Fall 2024 semester as part of a field trip learning experience.

Nine members, along with club officers Erin Ashford and Cora Darmody, accompanied Dr. Elizabeth Sobel and Dr. Scott Worman from the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology on the trip.

Danforth Cemetery history

According to Sobel, the Danforth cemetery was established in the nineteenth century for the burial of White and Black pioneers. The oldest surviving grave markers date to 1860, but the cemetery may have been established before then.

“Black pioneers were enslaved, brought to southwest Missouri by force, rather than by choice,” Sobel said. “Like many other historic cemeteries, the Danforth Cemetery was historically racially segregated, with the south end serving as a burial ground for Black individuals.”

Sobel added that the cemetery remains active, used by descendants of both the White and Black founding families as well as other community members.

Historic ties to MSU

According to Sobel, one goal of the field trip was for students to understand the historical relationship between Danforth Cemetery and MSU.

The Black section of the Danforth Cemetery is but one example of the history of racial segregation in Missouri, she explained. It illustrates for students how their experience at MSU is connected to that history.

Danforth Cemetery is the resting place of Mary Jean Price Walls, the first Black person to apply to (then) Southwest Missouri State University.

Price Walls applied to MSU in 1950, prior to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling. She was denied admission to the university despite being an academically strong student, Sobel said.

In 2010, MSU granted Price Walls an honorary undergraduate degree in recognition of her significance as the university’s first Black applicant. MSU then named its Multicultural Resource Center after Price Walls in 2016. More recently, in August 2024 the Springfield-Greene County African American Heritage Trail placed a historical marker on the MSU campus to honor Price Walls.

Price Walls died in 2020.

Students sitting in cemetery — Anthropology Club students document head stones in the historic Black section of Danforth cemetery.

2024 archaeology summer field school investigates historic company town site

August 6, 2024 by Lynn M. Lansdown

Missouri State University conducted another successful archaeological field school May 20-June 14, 2024, at the historic Phenix Marble Company Town site in northwest Greene County, Missouri.

Once again, Dr. Elizabeth Sobel and Dr. Scott Worman of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG) directed the program. They also co-taught the field school at Phenix in 2019 and 2022.

Twenty Missouri State students, along with three teaching assistants, participated in this year’s field school.

This year the group investigated remnants of a company town where Phenix employees lived from the late 1800s to the 1930s.

Local focus gives professional training at reduced costs

Missouri State has been holding archaeological field schools nearly every summer since the mid-1970s, Sobel said.

“While there have been MSU field schools in places like New Mexico and Jamaica, the costs of travel, food and lodging made those inaccessible to many students,” she explained.

Instead, Sobel and Worman have opted for local field schools. These reduce costs while giving students the training they need to become professional archaeologists.

Sobel said she and Worman direct the field school every other year, alternating with staff from Missouri State’s Bernice S. Warren Center for Archaeological Research (CAR).

Phenix Site has many pluses

Sobel and Worman said they return to Phenix as a field school site for several reasons.

“The fieldwork at Phenix builds on our previous archaeological research, [which explored] daily life of Black families in nearby Ash Grove in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,” Sobel explained. “Like the Phenix community, much of the Ash Grove community worked in the limestone industry.”

“In 2019, we chose to expand this research to include the site of the Phenix Marble Company, which hired and housed only Whites to quarry and process limestone,” Worman added. “Our study can more fully explore both race and class dynamics in this part of the Ozarks in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.”

Several people at archaeological dig — The 2024 archaeological field school hard at work. Photo credit: Lucy Arras.

In addition, the Phenix Marble Company owns the site. The owners give the field school access to the property, maintain the landscape, share historical information about the site and even provide portable toilets, Sobel said.

These, along with the site’s proximity to campus, are additional benefits to returning to the Phenix site.

MSU group enjoys the “Vita Romana”

May 15, 2024 by Lynn M. Lansdown

Instructor of Classics Dr. Kristin Harper, of the Department of Languages, Cultures and Religions, led a group of 13 Missouri State University students to Rome, Italy, March 10-16, 2024, under a new Education Abroad program.

Students who were interested in the program and had faculty recommendations could enroll in “Vita Romana: Art, Poetry and Cuisine from ancient to modern Rome.”

The program was connected to the International Culture and Study Abroad (IDS 297) and Major Authors in Translation (LLT 296) courses.

The students who enrolled in this inaugural program were Josh Brushwood, Cooper Hays, Jess Zeppenfeldt, Hadley Hicks, Gretchen Lampe, Emily McKenna, Emily Knoppe, Jaden Melnick, Marianne Prax, Julia Walker, Eli Birdsong, Kailey Taylor and Eliot Gudreau.

Immersive learning experiences

“Vita Romana” encouraged students to learn more about the city of Rome and its culture, with a specific focus on its ancient roots, according to Harper.

“Rome is the city that blends so much of the ancient and modern together,” she said. “There is so much history, art and food that is preserved within the city limits.”

For Harper, Rome presented the ideal place for students to explore culture and history in an immersive learning environment.

“We focused on archaeology, art history, poetry, ancient Roman mythology and religion as well as early Christianity, trade routes and economics in the Mediterranean, military expansion and governance, and entertainment, literature and food distribution and production,” Harper said.

Combining immersive learning experiences with traditional assignments helped the students stay focused on these themes.

Group standing in front of Roman architecture — L-R: Cooper Hays, Emily Knoppe, Jess Zeppenfeldt, Josh Brushwood, Eliot Gudreau, Julia Walker, Kailey Taylor, Gretchen Lampe, Hadley Hicks, Eli Birdsong, Jaden Melnick, Emily McKenna and Marianne Prax. Photo credit: Kristin Harper.

MSU Chorale performs in South Korean international music festivals

April 3, 2024 by Lynn M. Lansdown

The Missouri State University Chorale was invited to represent North America at the 8th annual Jeju International Choir Festival and Symposium on Jeju Island, South Korea, Feb. 17-27.

The Chorale also performed in the Incheon Free Economic Zone International Choral Festival and the Pacem World Choir Festival.

During their stay, the Chorale sang in several of South Korea’s finest performing arts centers, alongside choirs from Estonia, Latvia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea.

“This trip was my first out of the country and I couldn’t be happier that it got to be with such an amazing, supportive group of people,” said Alandra Hutchens, a junior vocal music education major.

“People were weeping, with ear-to-ear smiles”

The Chorale enjoyed performing a wide variety of music—from American folk songs and spirituals to the music of Bob Dylan and Ruthie Foster—during their visit, according to Dr. Cameron LaBarr, Clif and Gail Smart professor in music and director of choral studies.

“The Chorale performed a choral arrangement of Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are a-Changing,’ which was quite meaningful to the singers and the audiences,” LaBarr said.

“With every new emotion we were trying to convey, the crowds were right there with us,” said Chorale baritone Gabe Adams. “Not only were we, as a choir, incredibly excited to share our music with the audiences, the audiences were also excited to hear what we had to share.”

Group of people singing — Graduate student Erich Eastman performs with the MSU Chorale at the Jeju Arts Center.

During their visit, the students enjoyed meeting and singing for Korean composers Hyo-Won Woo and Jihoon Park, as well as performing with traditional Korean drums played by Go Seokjin.

“Performing ‘Arirang’ with the Korean drums was the moment I truly understood how meaningful this song is, and it will be a profound memory of mine,” said sophomore vocal performance major Addison Collins. “The reaction of the audience solidified that for me, as people were weeping with ear-to-ear smiles—so touching and joyful.”

Photography students visit Kansas City photography collection

December 6, 2023 by Reynolds College

Several photography students in Missouri State University’s Department of Art and Design traveled to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City Oct. 2.

About 20 students and four faculty were guided through two exhibitions by Curator of Photography Dr. April Watson, who discussed the themes, ideas and history of the photographs in addition to the photographers’ backgrounds.

According to their website, the Nelson-Atkins Museum is home to one of the largest photography collections in the country. After the Hallmark Photographic Collection gifted 6,500 photographic works by 900 artists to the museum in 2005, the Nelson-Atkins dedicated the Bloch wing of the museum to showcase this still growing collection.

Field trip described as “impactful”

Professor of photography Gwen Walstrand organized the event and elaborated on the importance of the experience.

“Seeing so many important pieces in person, which students may previously have only seen in reproductions, allows for a much more profound impact,” Walstrand said. “Both exhibitions featured examples by photographers who have contributed to the history of art.”

“Dr. Watson was able to illuminate the significance of the historical and contemporary work with enthusiasm and a researcher’s expertise,” Walstrand added.

“I loved seeing the exhibit of the female artist, Evelyn Hofer, who wasn’t well known in her time,” said photography student Emery Wilcoxon. “To be able to see the artist get that recognition now was so impactful not only for me but for everyone in the group.”

Learn more about opportunities in Art and Design

News submitted by Mariah Hunter and edited by the Reynolds College Communications team.

Hunter is a graduate assistant for the Department of Art and Design. She is working towards her master’s degree in writing at Missouri State University.