Jane Randol Jackson

Two weeks ago Jane Randol Jackson, co-founder of the Red House Interpretive Center and former director of the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center, passed away at her home in The Villages, Fla.

Jackson -- the first woman to receive the Southeast Missourian's Spirit of America Award -- was a strong advocate for preserving local history. In her quest to research her family she discovered some of Cape Girardeau's rich history -- specifically regarding the Lewis and Clark expedition and Louis Lorimier.

This passion led her to serve on the national Lewis and Clark bicentennial commission. She then assisted in organizing the bicentennial commission in Cape Girardeau, leading to the group's re-enactment and rebuilding of the Red House -- a replica of Louis Lorimier's home. The Red House reconstruction project was one that she helped raise $130,000 for while donating $10,000 of her own.

In addition to her passion for history, Jackson touched many lives throughout her 34-year career as a high school French teacher, including four years in Vienna, Austria.

Now having a greater understanding of its past, Cape Girardeau is all the better thanks to Jane Randol Jackson's willingness and commitment to local history -- efforts that will impact generations in years to come.