Old, new bridges joined in exhibit

Photographs of the construction of the Cape Girardeau Mississippi River bridge taken more than 75 years ago contrast with video of work on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in a new exhibit titled "Bridge to Our Past and Future."

The free exhibition of memorabilia from both projects opens Saturday afternoon on the bottom floor of the H&H Building, 400 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. It will continue the following two weekends.

The exhibit is being mounted as construction of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is concluding. Sponsors of the exhibition are U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, along with H&H Building owners Jerianne and John Wyman and the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bridge is named for Emerson's late husband.

Much of the memorabilia was gathered by Emerson's office over the past 18 months on behalf of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge Steering Committee.

There are also displays by the ironworkers building the new bridge and by the Missouri Department of Transportation, including a wind model used to study the new bridge's aerodynamic stability.

"We wanted to tie that all together," said Kristi Nitsch, a staffer in Emerson's office.

The exhibit includes a number of photographs of Bill Emerson in addition to pictures of former President Ronald Reagan with the Emerson children.

Some items in the exhibit were donated by the Cape River Heritage Museum and by Southeast Missouri State University.

The memorabilia includes a photo of Agatha Mumma of Gideon, Mo., who won the beauty pageant held when the old bridge was dedicated. There also are playing cards with the image of the old bridge, a copy of the stock sold to fund it, invitations and programs from the 1928 dedication, and a copy of the legislation introduced to name the new bridge after Bill Emerson a few days after his death in 1996.

Cape Girardeans Dr. Stan and Sandi Williams contributed a number of items pertaining to the old bridge. Sandi Williams said the artifacts were discovered in a warehouse that was being torn down. They include a large poster announcing the bridge dedication on Labor Day 1928, the architect's original drawings, a chart showing the mileage from Cape Girardeau to various cities bridge travelers could reach, and a photograph of the construction workers who built the old bridge.

The Williams' daughter, Anna Wren, won the pageant title Miss Junior Diamond Cape last month as part of events commemorating the Emerson Bridge opening.

A watercolor of the old bridge, complete with toll booth, will be on display. The artist was Ione Hirsch, the sister of Cape Girardeau broadcasting pioneers Oscar and Ralph Hirsch.

Also on display will be winning entries in an array of contests -- essay, songwriting, drawing, photography and model building -- held in conjunction with the final stages of the new bridge's construction.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182