Bill Hart, the new director of the Perry County Historical Society, began his new role in mid-December.
At his office, located at the Perryville Higher Education Center (108 South Progress Drive), he assists with the archiving gifts, helping individuals with genealogical queiries and producing a monthly newsletter.
Prior to answering a question, Hart briefly took a phone call from a women attempting to get into the Daughters of the American Revolution.
"They must prove their lineage to an individual who served in the Revolutionary War," Hart said. "She has a Perry County ancestor that she's trying to verify to the DAR so she can prove that lineage. They need to have that connection, people looking for a copy of their great-great-great...."
His voice trails off, then he mentions the other day he came across an old marriage record, written in Latin from 1839.
The library and archive the historical society operates at the PHEC is more genealogical, with a focus on research.
The location at the higher education center has been sparsely attended the past several weeks, Hart said. It's where Hart spends most of his time.
"This is place where I'm parked Monday through Thursday," Hart said.
Hart described getting into historic preservation.
His first job at the Medical School Library at Washington University in St. Louis
"I ended up finding that I was interested in historic buildings and architecture," Hart said. "I joined the National Historic trust for historic preservation and moved to a historic neighborhood in the city in St. Louis at the time."
Friends of his purchased a structure in the Lafayette Square, and he developed an interested in older buildings and historic preservation.
"I kind of got bit by the historic architecture bug then," Hart said.
Hart recalled how an article on educational programs and historic preservation in Preservation News, piqued his interest.
"At the time, I had a career and eventually I got to the point where I could go back to school as a non-traditional student," Hart said. "I discovered that there was a historic preservation degree program at Southeast Missouri State.
He transferred college credit to Southeast Missouri State University, then commuted from St. Louis, eventually earned his degree.
"It can be all over the place academically because historic preservation embodies so many things, material culture, archives and historic records, historic architecture, archeology is a part of historic preservation, museums are a part of historic preservation," Hart said.
Prior to his role with the historical society, Hart said the archiving wasn't something he had a great deal of experience with.
"Before this, I wasn't really involved in the paper record of historic preservation," Hart noted.
Hart has a degree in historic preservation. He also studied architecture as part of a graduate program at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
"I worked for about eight years as a general contractor and developer, I did mostly historic building rehab," Hart said. "It's been really good for me because I feel better connected to my own history here."
His family has been in the Perry County region since before Missouri gained statehood in 1821. His great-great-grandfather, Thomas J. Hart, emigrated before 1820s and married Elizabeth Layton, the daughter of Bernard Layton, who was one of the founders of Perryville. Bernard Layton donated land obtained through a Spanish land grant that eventually became Perryville.
"I feel reconnected and better connected, now that I have more of a historic background in education. I can provide a better service to people who are researching their families in Perry County because I just know from osmosis what a Uniontown name is or what religion someone was probably so I could be looking for their family in the graveyard at whatever church."
The Perry County Historical Society also operates a museum, at 601 Freedom Park Drive, by the Perry Park Center.
It openeed for the season March 2. New this year
Hart mentions he recently was given an ash tray from Lueckel funeral home, which hasn't been open in decades
"It basically has artifacts, old furniture, they have a doctor's office," Hart said.
Perry County material culture
Museum hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1 to 3 p.m., and Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to noon. Additional tour hours are available by appointment.
Hart isn't involved with tours at the museum but he soon will be able to show individuals the Faherty house (which is supposedly the oldest structure in Perryville, constructed between 1827 and 1831), now frozen in the time of the 19th century, with family portraits, providing a slice of life from an earlier time period.
The Faherty house is open by appointment only, and has a kitchen portraying the 1828-1840, along with a couple of rooms more in the 1870s or 1880s style.
The historical society's library and archive used to be by Faherty house, 11 South Spring Street, until it outgrew that space.
