Out of the past: May 7

1994

Southeast Missouri State University holds commencement ceremonies at the Show Me Center in the afternoon; 663 undergraduates and 36 graduate students receive their degrees; keynote speaker is Jackson attorney John Lichtenegger.

A thousand additional copies of the Southeast Missourian's pictorial history, "Images of the Past in the City of Roses," have been printed and are available for sale at the Missourian offices in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Chaffee, Missouri; in December, 2,000 copies of the book sold out in two weeks, prompting the reprint.

1969

In a colorful naturalization ceremony held yesterday afternoon in Federal District Court in Cape Girardeau, five people became citizens of the United States; they were Erika M. Adams of Perryville, Missouri, a native of East Germany; Gilberto Hinojusa-Alcala, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and a native of Mexico; Marga Leach of Sikeston, Missouri, a native of Latvia; Danielle R. Gillespie of Puxico, Missouri, a native of France; and Spec. 5 Giusto Ascanio, formerly of Italy, who is presently serving with the U.S. Army at the Granite City, Illinois, Army Depot.

With approval for a $15,000 payment, the Cape Girardeau City Council votes to exercise its option to purchase 54 acres known as the Koerber farm for park purposes; the tract is in the northern section of the city, in the Cape Rock Drive-Perryville Road area.

1944

The Rev. William Huffman tenders his resignation as pastor of Red Star Baptist Church; Huffman, who came to Cape Girardeau in 1941 from Jonesboro, Arkansas, has accepted a call as pastor of the Baptist Church at Kingfisher, Oklahoma, a community 50 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau crested overnight at 40.8 feet; brought about by failure of all the normal flow of the floodwaters to escape through the confined channel at Thebes, Illinois, plus the surge given to the river by water from inside the McClure, Illinois, basin, the new crest was reached at 6 p.m. Saturday and remained at that level until shortly after midnight.

1919

The 140th Regiment is scheduled to leave Memphis, Tennessee, about 6 tomorrow morning, arriving in Cape Girardeau between noon and 2 p.m.; the regiment is traveling on three special trains of 14 coaches each; Col. Albert Linxweiler, in command of the regiment, has wired the Cape Girardeau Commercial Club that the soldiers are all well and happy and are anxious to parade here in front of the people of Southeast Missouri; he said a regular regimental parade and review will be given at the fairgrounds.

The County Court postpones its earlier order for the burning of the Cape Girardeau Township railroad bonds from Thursday until Friday, because many people from Cape Girardeau want to be present at the event, but can't be in Jackson tomorrow because of the coming of the 140th Regiment.

-- Sharon K. Sanders