People behind the effort to construct The Museum of Unity and Hope in Festus will hold an upcoming event, their initial fundraising function for the project.
The museum is intended to preserve Black history of the area, including information and relics of the old Douglass Cooperative High School, which served Black students during the segregation era. The museum is to be built in Shropshire Park along South Fourth Street, where Douglass High School once stood.
The Trivia Night Supporting The Museum of Unity and Hope will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at American Legion Post 253, 849 American Legion Drive, in Festus. Doors open at 6 p.m. The cost is $200 for a table of eight. To reserve a table, text 636-236-8602.
The Douglass Alumni Association and others interested in the project are sponsoring the trivia, said Ron Herrington Jr., the organization’s president.
“For the museum itself, this is actually the first fundraising event,” Herrington said. “We have started soliciting donations from businesses. We’ve sent notifications to businesses in the area and some outside.”
He said those working on the project should soon be able to publicize specifics on the museum. As the trivia night approaches, the scope of the project is still under development, he said.
“Well, we don’t right now (have a fundraising target), because the plans are in the hands of the architect,” Herrington said. “When the architect gets back to us, he’ll tell us about what we need. We don’t know right now. We’re getting really close. I anticipate something in March on the funds we need. That’s kind of why it’s hard to raise money right now, because we really don’t know what to ask for.”
Douglass High School, which operated from 1939-1955, enrolled Black students from Festus, Crystal City, Herculaneum, De Soto, Bonne Terre, Farmington, Potosi, Fredericktown, Ironton, St. Mary and Ste. Genevieve, according to information from the Festus R-6 School District.
“Douglass School was closed in 1955, and the African-American students started attending Festus High School in 1956,” Herrington said. “So, we want to make sure that history is not lost.”
According to the museum project website (museumofunityandhope.org), the organization intends for the museum to offer interactive exhibits, oral histories, archival photographs and educational programs highlighting “the everyday struggles and triumphs of Black students, families, educators and community leaders as they advocated for integration.”
The old Douglass school closed in 1959 and was demolished decades ago, but the Festus R-6 School District owned the property where it once stood and for many years leased it to the city of Festus for $1 a year to use as Shropshire Park. The district donated the property to the Douglass Association in 2024.