GRANT FUNDS STUDENT WORK AT STE. GEN.

Two historic-preservation students at Southeast Missouri State University will live and work in historic Ste. Genevieve this summer thanks to a $4,000 grant.

Les Amis (the friends) a new not-for-profit support group for Ste. Genevieve, got the grant from the Allen P. and Josephine B. Green Family Foundation to establish two summer internships.

Dr. Bonnie Stepenoff, coordinator of Southeast's historic-preservation program, said the interns will work for 10 weeks in Ste. Genevieve. They will help open the Amoureaux House for visitors, serving as guides conducting tours and other programs at the house.

The Amoureaux House is one of four historic structures in Ste. Genevieve managed by Missouri's Department of Natural Resources. The house, built around 1792.

Jim Baker, administrator for the Felix Valle State Historic Site in Ste. Genevieve, said the Amoureaux House is open one weekend a month. He hopes that with the interns the house will be open every day.

The interns will assemble materials, locate documents and take photographs of the Amoureaux House and other properties in Ste. Genevieve for a study guide. The guide will be used by students and teachers participating in a field school to be established in summer 1997.

Students in the university's historic preservation program developed the proposal for Les Amis.

Elizabeth Gentry Sayad, president of Les Amis, said the support group is 7 months old. It was established by people interested in preserving Ste. Genevieve's French-American heritage in the wake of recent Mississippi River flooding.

Sayad hopes the $4,000 grant will open the doors for other grants and donations to encourage historic education in Ste. Genevieve. Tax-free donations can be made to Les Amis, Deloitte & Touche, One City Center, St. Louis, Mo. 63101.

The Allen P. and Josephine B. Green Family Foundation funds educational and health-related projects in Missouri.