Learning center back in Sikeston

Thursday, May 18, 2006

SIKESTON - At 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday the Southeast mobile learning center will return to the Sikeston Depot; this time the exhibit will teach visitors about Missouri's history.

The mobile learning center is a 38-foot walk-through museum sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University and the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services provides hands-on interactive learning for both students and adults.

"Many people in this area do not have the opportunity to see and touch artifacts in a museum environment," said Sikeston depot Curator Dililah Tayloe, "so we are bringing the museum to them."

The exhibit is free to any person regardless of age.

The mobile center is a rotating exhibit and has already visited Sikeston as well as 57 other towns in the Bootheel area twice with exhibitions on NASA and Native Americans.

This exhibition on Missouri history will highlight such topics as the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Civil War, famous Missouri artists and writers, the transformation of the Bootheel, the Mound Builders and a number of other topics pertaining to Missouri's history.

Along with the museum exhibit, Michael Comer, site administrator of the Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site, will be dressed as a Civil War soldier. He will give special presentations at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon on the daily lives of Civil War soldiers. The presentation will include a firing demonstration .

"A lot of people don't know it, but Missouri is one of the most important places in Civil War history," said Comer, "only Virginia and Tennessee had more battles fought in them. I am here to inform the people about this rich history."

Comer has studied the Civil War since his youth and has done reinactments as a hobby for years.

If there is any worry about finding the mobile exhibit "all you have to do is look for the huge neon green, red, and blue RV parked by the caboose next to the depot," said Tayloe.

"This is meant to be a family exhibit," continued Tayloe, "and everybody is more than welcome to come."

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