County of area: New Madrid County
Location of rest area: I-55, Milemarker 41, SB, near Marston
Open: 24/7
Phone: (888) 275-6636
Marker erected: 2015
Marker erected by: Lincoln University Cooperative Extension Media Center
Marker text: The Missouri Bootheel and Lincoln University
A LONG HISTORY OF COOPERATION
1803
Native Americans in Missouri
The Osage Indians settled along the Missouri River around 1803. The Creek, Cherokee, Shawnee and Delaware Indian tribes also lived in the area. The Creek and Delaware, in particular, are often discussed by the earliest settlers who interacted with them via trade and/or land purchases. Unfortunately, by the time Europeans arrived, the native people moved around so often that it is difficult to give distinct tribal identifiers to those who lived in this region.
1818
Petition to Adopt the Bootheel as Part of Missouri
John Hardeman Walker was an influential landowner with many acres in Little Prairie, Missouri, near what is now Caruthersville. In January 1818, the first partition was made to Congress for the Missouri Territory to become a state. It placed the southern boundary of Missouri about twenty-five miles north of Little Prairie. Walker did not want his holdings to be ruled by the Arkansas territorial government, so he lobbied successfully in Missouri and Washington, D.C., to have the Bootheel area become part of the state of Missouri
1820
The Missouri Compromise
In 1820, the Missouri Compromise was passed by Congress during the presidency of James Monroe. The law maintained a balance between free and slave states. Missouri entered the United States as a slave state while Maine came in as a free state. The compromise also made slavery illegal in the former Louisianan Territory north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, other than in Missouri.
1866
Lincoln Institute
At the close of the Civil War, the 82nd United States Colored Infantry (stationed at Fort McIntosh, Texas, but composed primarily of Missourians) took steps to establish Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri. Additional money came from the 65th United States Colored Infantry. The institute was designed to teach African Americans, who had not been allowed access to a formal education under slavery. Later, the institute added college-level work and became Lincoln University in Missouri.
1872
Charles and Bettie Birthright
Charles Birthright and Bettie Scott were born into slavery in Virginia. Their separate respective owners later moved to Southeast Missouri
They married in the fall of 1860, and settled in Clarkton, Missouri, after the Civil War. As free blacks, Charles worked as a bartender and Bettie as a seamstress and cook; they both farmed. They eventually owned a total of 520.4 acres and became wealthy by renting land to cotton farmers. The Birthrights grew to be so financially successful that they loaned money to several individuals, some of whom were white. They contributed money to build a school in Clarkton, giving the largest donation. The Birthright's estate was willed to the Tuscaloosa Institute, a Presbyterian school devoted to educating black ministers. The school later became Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
1890
Second Morrill Act
The Morrill Act of 1862 and the Morrill Act of 1890 are United States statues that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges.
The first Morrill Act was first proposed in 1857, and was passed by Congress in 1859. However, it was vetoed by President James Buchanan.
A second Morrill Act in 1890 had the greatest impact in the former Confederate States. The act required each state to show that race was not a college admission criteria or designate a separate land-grant institution for persons of color. The passage of this act made way for the establishment of black land-grant colleges on the South. They are referred to as "1890 land-grant institutions," also known as HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities). As Lincoln University was established in 1866, it is the oldest 1890 land-grant institution in the United States.
1914
The Smith-Lever Act
The Smith-Lever Act passed in 1914, created the Cooperative Extension Service as a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state land-grant institutions and individual county governments.
[Seal of Lincoln University]
1921
Lincoln University
In 1921, the Missouri Legislature passed a bill introduced by Walthall M. Moore, the first black American to serve in the Missouri General Assembly. The bill changed the name of Lincoln Institute to Lincoln University and created a Board of Curators to govern the institution.
1939
Sharecroppers Strike
Sharecroppers were people who performed farm labor for a share of the profits on the land. As part of the New Deal Program of the 1930s, American farmers were granted subsidies to cut farm production. The subsidy checks went to the landowners, who were supposed to share a portion of the payment with their sharecroppers. A loophole in this policy allowed plantation owners to keep government money they owed the sharecroppers. This would happen only if they fired their current sharecroppers and hired new ones to take their place. Many planters, rather than share the subsidy payment, kept the money for themselves and moved the sharecroppers off the land.
January 9, 1939
Missouri Sharecroppers Make
Their Plight Known to the World
On the night of January 9, 1939, an exodus of black and white sharecroppers moved across Southeast Missouri. The homeless sharecroppers camped along U.S. Highways 60 and 61, south of Sikeston, Missouri.
Organized by the Rev. Owen Whitfield, the sharecroppers moved to the roadside of these heavily traveled routes to protest their evictions and to demonstrate their plight to a regional and national audience. Their protest worked. They eventually received some aid from the federal government that established small communities, provided water, roads and other facilities.
April 1939
Dr. Lorenzo J. Greene
Lincoln University professor, Dr. Lorenzo J. Greene visited the sharecroppers in April, Upon returning to campus, Dr. Greene inspired students to get involved by supporting the sharecroppers. Lincoln University sororities organized a drive to assist the sharecroppers. They collected clothing, food, and money which helped to support the sharecroppers during their plight.
June, 1939
Rev. Owen Whitfield
The Rev. Owen Whitfield, and African American minister, and his friend, Thad Snow, who was a white landowner, met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss help for Missouri sharecroppers. Snow, despite owning thousands of acres in the Missouri Bootheel and having employed sharecroppers, criticized the system and allowed a union to organize workers on his land. Rev. Whitfield later became the vice president of the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union.
1941
Homes for the Sharecroppers
Rev. Whitfield purchased land and established Cropperville, near Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Lincoln University students made donations toward the purchase of the land. Eighty black and 15 white sharecropper families moved to the site, lived in makeshift shacks and formed a cooperative farming community.
The federal Farm Security Administration later formed the Delmo Housing Corporation to provide adequate homes for displaced sharecroppers. Each home had electricity, plumbing, storage, garden space and a porch.
1972
Lincoln University
Cooperative Extension is Established
Lincoln University Cooperative Extension (LUCE) was established under Public Law 89-106, Title V of the Rural Development Act of 1972.
Since its establishment, LUCE has played an important role in improving and enriching the lives of Missourians in the Bootheel area. Programs for youth include summer enrichment; youth are taught about science and technology, agriculture, and leadership. The Teen Talk program, offered through area schools and community organizations, is a teen pregnancy prevention program. It empowers teens through peer-to-peer counseling and mutual support. LUCE provides programs for adults and seniors, including ex-offender job readiness, senior computer literacy classes, intergenerational programs and more.
1983
New Madrid County
Blueberry Trails
Lincoln University Cooperative Extension conducted the first research project on high bush blueberries in 1983. Dr. Dyremple Marsh, a professor at Lincoln University, was the principal investigator who was in charge of this research. The project was conducted on one acre of land located on Lillian Glass-Hunter's farm in New Madrid County, Missouri. Local residents picked and harvested the blueberries, and Glass-Hunter developed a blueberry cake recipe. She shipped blueberry cakes throughout the United States and Germany. It was a very profitable venture.
Charleston (1991)
The first Lincoln University Cooperative Extension satellite office opened in Libourn, Missouri, in 1991. The office was moved to Charleston, Missouri in 2014.
The office was located in a Delmo Housing Corporation building like the one pictured below, left. The Delmo Housing Corporation occupied half the space , LUCE held classes and programs in the other half.
One of the main programs started in this office was the Kids' Beat program, which includes programs for youth on HIV/AIDS/STD awareness, youth leadership and healthy lifestyles. The Kiddie Kidz Gardening program teaches youth about eating healthy and plant science by planting and growing vegetables.
Caruthersville (1998)
The first Lincoln University Cooperative Extension opened in Caruthersville, Missouri, in 1998.
The Intergenerational Program is located in Caruthersville, Missouri. The program's target audience is Southeast Missouri residents. Senior citizens are encouraged to participate. Programs are developed based on the suggestions of the participants. Attendees learn how to consider their skills, such as quilting, and teach these to the group. Once these skills are perfected, senior citizens share with the next generation to preserve their skills and memories.
The participants also engage with robotics and other types of technology. The dynamics of the Intergenerational Program allows LUCE to preserve the history of those who attend.
Sikeston (2004)
Lincoln University Cooperative Extension opened a satellite office in Sikeston, Missouri, in 2004.
Sikeston has developed a very popular double Dutch jump rope program that has helped area youth to stay physically fit and active. The double Dutch program is aimed at promoting active lifestyles to prevent obesity in minority youth. In addition to practice sessions to enhance double Dutch skills, the program teaches nutrition and the importance of physical fitness. Demographic information is recorded for each student along with weight, waist, hip and chest measurements. Teams showcase their jumping and choreography skills in competitions across the state in a effort to gain the state championship title. The program is open to Missouri boys and girls in Sikeston, Charleston and Caruthersvbille.
February, 2010
Black History in the Bootheel
On Feb. 24, 2010, Yvonne Matthews, Interim Associate Extension Administrator and State Extension Specialist from Lincoln University, conducted the first Black History Month observance at the Clarkton C-4 School District. She explained that Dr. Carter G. Woodson is considered the "Father of Black History." Woodson began the practice of celebration Black History Week in 1926. This was extended to its month-long observance in 1970. In her talk, Matthews stated, "Black History is everyone's history."
2013
Lincoln University FINCA Garden
The Spanish word "finca" refers to a small farm in Latin America where native crops are produced for the family to eat and to earn income. The Lincoln University Cooperative Extension (LUCE) Native Plants Program (NPP) has borrowed this small farm diversification concept. The FINCA model has been given added meaning; Families Integrating Nature, Conservation and Agriculture. This concept is being used to transform nonproductive land in rural and urban areas into useful land. Families and communities can produce, consume and sell specialty crops, fruits, and vegetables. A model FINCA was constructed in the village of Haywood City, ten miles south of Sikeston in the Missouri Bootheel.
2018
Looking to the Future
A new Lincoln University Cooperative Extension satellite office will be built at Lincoln Park, Sikeston, Missouri, by 2018.