Historian to win Spirit of America Award

Jane Randol Jackson, co-founder of the Red House Interpretive Center and former director of the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center, will receive this year's Spirit of America Award.

"I was blown over," said Randol Jackson about being told she won the award. "It caught me off-guard. I'm still in shock."

Randol Jackson's commitment to the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition at the Red House and to the organization of the county archives were among the reasons she was selected.

"Jane Randol Jackson stood out this year for her long dedication to making a dream come true in Cape Girardeau, the establishment of the Red House and the commemoration of Lewis and Clark's impact on our area and the entire country," said Jon K. Rust, publisher of the Southeast Missourian. "Through her efforts both with the Red House and the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center, she helped bring history alive for area families."

Debra Baughn, a friend of Randol Jackson's and fellow docent at the Red House, initiated the effort to nominate her. She said Randol Jackson had exceptional enthusiasm and organizational skills.

"She's just a tremendous person," Baughn said. "She's very deserving of some recognition."

Randol Jackson graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1968 with degrees in education and French. She has 34 years of teaching experience, including 26 in Missouri and four in Vienna, Austria.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Jane Randol Jackson is the recipient of the Spirit of America Award.

Randol Jackson said her interest in history did not begin until 1987 when she worked on a family genealogy project as a gift for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Randol Jackson's family, the Randols, came to Missouri in 1797 after living in six other states.

As she worked on the project, Randol Jackson became interested in the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Meriwether Lewis was welcomed into Louis Lorimier's home, the Red House, in Cape Girardeau on Nov. 23, 1803. Since Randol Jackson's family came to Cape Girardeau in 1797, she said she thought her ancestors could have been present when Lewis and Clark were in town.

As the bicentennial celebration of the expedition drew near, Randol Jackson met with two other area historians in 1999 to see what could be done to recognize the expedition's stop in Cape Girardeau. The group formed the Cape Girardeau Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, which decided to stage a re-enactment and to rebuild the Red House.

The original Red House, on the parking lot next to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, had been destroyed. To help the reconstruction effort, the Cape Girardeau City Council granted the commission land across the street of the original building. Randol Jackson helped raise $130,000 for the building, worked with volunteer laborers and donated $10,000 herself to the reconstruction of the building. The Red House Interpretive Center opened Nov. 23, 2003 — 200 years to the day after the arrival of Lewis and Clark.

Randol Jackson has also been instrumental in the organization of the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center. From 2000 to 2007, Jackson served as director of the archives. According to Randol Jackson, it is the best archive in the state, and the state government hails the center as a model to be followed by other county archivists within the state.

The sixth annual Spirit of America Award will be presented to Jane Randol Jackson at 5:15 p.m. Friday at Libertyfest. Since the Red House was the organization to nominate Jackson, it will receive $1,000 to go toward its foundation fund, which will allow the center to manage itself in case of repairs, upgrades or disasters.

tthomas@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 197

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