West Plains, MO. – The Ozarks Heritage Research Center at Missouri State University- West Plains is hosting the presentation “An Oral History of West Plains”. The presentation will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, at the OHRC, located inside MSU-WP’s Garnett Library. The presentation is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served to those who attend.
Ozarks storyteller, Danette House, will be telling the story of West Plains’s significant historical events and lives of historical characters. In a press release officials stated, “Within this narrative, we’ll experience both moments of great joy and heart-wrenching tragedies that made West Plains not just a town, but a home for generations of Ozarkers.”
House is a life-long resident in the Ozarks. She is a seventh-generation Ozarker, retired educator, and lover of history, and she taught at West Plains for 31 years. Her Ozark heritage goes back to her three-time great-grandfather, Washington P. Hawkins, whose family moved to Ozark County near the North Fork of the White River in the 1830s. As a boy, Washington had visited a nearby settlement named West Plains and had described it as “just a blackjack log house, occupied by a man named Howell”.
For more information about the presentation, contact Rebekah McKinney at 417-255-7949 or RebekahMcKinney@MissouriState.edu.
