Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: 2002 Awards Presentation for the Historical Society
2002 Awards Presentation for the Historical Society
November 5, 2002
Missouri Baptist University hosted the 2002 Awards Presentation for the Historical Society of St. Louis County on October 17, 2002, in the Pillsbury Chapel and Dale Williams Fine Arts Center. The program began with a welcome and invocation delivered by Dr. Arlen Dykstra, provost and vice president for academic affairs followed by Mrs. Pat Lacey, professor of music, singing “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
The Missouri Baptist Chorale directed by Dr. Larry Smith, professor of music, contributed special music prior to the keynote speaker, Dr. Mary Bagley, professor of English, presenting “The Fabulous Fox”. As the author of The Front Row: Missouri’s Grand Theatres, Bagley presented the Fox Theatres in St. Louis, New York, Hollywood, San Francisco, and Atlanta, emphasizing the Fox Theatre located in St. Louis.
Following Dr. Bagley, Thomas Bauer presented The Henry Sutton Award for Governmental Affairs to Francis G. Slay, mayor of St. Louis. Ms. Dianne White, special assistant to the mayor, received this award on his behalf. The Sutton Award is presented to public servants who make a difference in our community.
Mayor Slay, sworn in as the forty-fifth mayor of the City of St. Louis, has led the revitalization of downtown St. Louis, as a leading center for commerce, culture and entertainment in the midwest. He has also worked on a stadium project for the Division Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Mayor Slay is a graduate of Quincey College and received a law degree from St. Louis University. He served on the St. Louis Board of Alderman and later was elected president of the Board of Alderman.
Ms. White, special assistant to the mayor, was the first Africa-America weathercaster in the United States. She was also named a member of the St. Louis Black Journalist Hall of Fame.
Mr. John Waide presented the James O’Flynn Award for Community Service honoring civic-minded individuals who have made significant contributions to the St. Louis area. The recipient of the award is Dr. Edwin Benton, an East St. Louis native. After serving in the U.S. Army, Dr. Benton earned his bachelors’, master’s and doctrine in education, with a minor in history. For five years, Benton taught every level of education from elementary through high school and served as one of the area’s leading administrators as superintendent of the Riverview Gardens School District. Benton currently is the director of The Museum of Western Jesuit Missions.
Dr. Dykstra presented the William Barnaby Faherty, S.J. Award to Dr. Louis Gerteirs, at the service’s conclusion. Dr. Gerteis is a professor and chairman of the history department at University of Missouri- St. Louis. His major publications include From Contraband to Free Man: Federal Policies toward Southern Blacks, 1861-1865 and The Border of Loyalty: St. Louis in the Era of Civil War. This award is named after Father Faherty, a St. Louis native and author of twenty-eight books.
Missouri Baptist University hosts the Missouri Historical Society Awards presentations annually each fall.
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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