Project Overview
Probably the farthest thing from young Marian Louisa Powers' mind the day the above snapshot was taken at her home in Carthage (806 Grant Street*) was the thought that her doll umbrella and doll buggy would end up in a museum. They did though after Marian Powers Winchester passed away in 1981. After several years of estate processing, the Powers Museum opened to the public in June of 1988 thanks to the generosity of this little girl who grew up to honor her beloved town of Carthage, Missouri.
In 2020 Marian's doll umbrella, doll buggy and one of her well-loved Teddy Bears (also seen here) were to greet museum visitors in one of the first exhibit cases in the museum's gallery that was slated to host "Growing Up in Carthage: 1900-1980," an exhibit reflecting on childhood during the decades that coincided with Miss Powers' lifespan. This was meant to be a fun and light-hearted exhibit after successfully creating and hosting former exhibits focused on Carthage businesses for Carthage's sesquicentennial in 2017 and a two-year look at Carthage during World War I in honor of the war's centennial.
"Growing Up in Carthage" was progressing nicely under the supervision of our volunteer Exhibit Committee but by mid-March work had to stop with the Covid-19 shut down. Then in early April, almost half the exhibit had to be moved or taken down in order to clean-up water damage along the museum's west wall from a spring storm. Thank goodness no artifacts were seriously damaged! The estimate for work needed to repair and repaint wall surfaces, replace ceiling tiles and perform other related repairs came in at just under $2,000. It was an unexpected expense.
In an abundance of caution, in late April the Powers Museum Board voted not to open for the 2020 season. Completion of the repair project has been delayed due to availability of workers. But in order to acknowledge the efforts of the Exhibit Committee as well as the generosity of local individuals who had loaned artifacts for the exhibit, the museum plans to present portions of the completed exhibit virtually this fall.
Please help the museum meet our expenses as outlined in our project summary and donor incentives. The museum needs the support of the Carthage community on this Give Carthage Day so that other little girls and boys who grow up here (and adults, too) can enjoy Marian Louisa Powers Winchester's gift and the gifts of many other generous donors and foundations who have supported the museum with their work and financial support these past 32 years. Thank you for your consideration.
* Marian Louisa Powers lived at these locations in Carthage: 806 S. Grant (pictured here), 208 W. Macon, and 314 Euclid Boulevard.
Updates
Powers Museum Give Carthage Day
Dear Powers Museum Friends and Donors,
The Powers Museum Board thanks you most heartily for your recent donation to the museum through this year's Give Carthage Day campaign. The amount raised will be enough to cover our remaining repair expenses for our spring storm damage to the exhibit gallery. We are grateful for your generosity.
If you did not save your Give Carthage/Cause Momentum confirmation of gift email for tax purposes and need us to send you one specifically from the museum, please email powersmuseum@att.net, and we will be glad to send another donation acknowledgement.
Also, as given on our project outline, we want to acknowledge you on our museum FB page this month. HOWEVER, if anyone would prefer not to be mentioned, just let us know by email by the end of this week. We had several anonymous donors and if you don't want your name mentioned, we will add you to the total count of those anonymous gifts.
Again, thank you for your support to the Powers Museum and to Give Carthage Day. The event was a great success for all the organizations participating and the Powers Museum appreciates the efforts of the Carthage Community Foundation and its 2020 event sponsors on behalf of all of the organizations!
Michele Hansford, 2020 Give Carthage Day Chair, Powers Museum
