ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Franklin County Historical Society executive Deborah Barker received the Billings MVP Award at the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area awards luncheon Thursday in St. Joseph, Mo. Barker was nominated for her enthusiasm in support of the development and mission of Freedom’s Frontier since its inception. She has volunteered hundreds of hours for Freedom’s Frontier. She has reached across the Missouri-Kansas border to establish partnerships that strengthen the heritage area, the group’s Sonia Smith said. Barker has brought to the heritage area and its partners a background of historical, anthropological and curatorial expertise, and has proven her willingness to share her skills, Smith said. For example, Barker developed a method to create exhibit panels on a tight budget working with affordable software. She used this method to enrich exhibits at the Old Depot Museum and has presented a workshop to Freedom’s Frontier partners and to the Missouri-Kansas Border War Network to help partners develop those skills. Early in the development of Freedom’s Frontier, Barker developed a Freedom’s Frontier class for the Friends of Franklin County Historical Society to learn about the history of surrounding areas and their connections to Franklin County. This class included a tour to Cass County, Mo., to learn the effects of the Civil War on the Missouri border. The Cass County Historical Society reciprocated this tour and visited several Franklin County historic sites. These field trips led to the uncovering of a wealth of shared stories of people who lived in both Franklin and Cass counties during the border war, enriching the understanding and interpretation of both areas. Barker and Carol Bohl of Cass County discussed the tours and findings at the 2013 Kansas Museum Association Conference.
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 9 a.m.
