Nancy Hunter DAR tours museum

The Nancy Hunter Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution toured the Cape River Heritage Museum which now features an exhibit about Marie Watkins Oliver, who designed the Missouri State Flag. Southeast Missouri State University students, Brittany Contratto of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Samantha Hennenfent of OFallon, Missouri, presented a program about Mrs. Oliver. Both students, volunteers at the museum, became interested in Mrs. Oliver while taking an Archives Class at the university and did extensive research for the display.

Marie Oliver, wife of Robert Burett Oliver, joined the Nancy Hunter Chapter in 1904. At the annual conference of the Missouri State Society in 1908, she was appointed chairman of a committee to design a state flag. Her design was later adopted as the official flag of Missouri, making Cape Girardeau the "Home of the Missouri State Flag." In 1910 she was elected president of the Missouri society.

In addition to the state regent's sash, the chapter also presented the museum with a copy of Mrs. Oliver's DAR application and references to her various activities as recorded in early Minute Books.