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Starting Monday, a special exhibit will be displayed in the Longwell Museum at Crowder College for a temporary time.
On loan from the Discovery Center in Springfield is “Hermann Jaeger, Ozark Grape Hunter: Saving European Vineyards in the Late 19th Century.” It is a historical and scientific exhibit about Newton County’s own Hermann Jaeger, who lived east of Neosho along what it is today State Highway 86. He emigrated to the U.S. from Switzerland.
Others more knowledgeable on the subject than I have written extensively about Mr. Jaeger over the years, and I’ve written a little on it too, but, in a nutshell, prior to his mysterious disappearance in 1895, Jaeger played a key role in helping saving Europe’s wine industry. In the 1870s, a nasty plant louse called phylloxera was waging war on the grape vines, hitting France particularly hard. Jaeger, along with others, shipped over hundreds of thousands of cuttings from experimental hybrid vines and seeds and the French wine industry was saved.
For his efforts, Jaeger was awarded the French Cross of the Legion of Honor.
This display that will be at Crowder I have seen twice before, in different form, in Springfield and it is very interesting and informative, in my opinion.
It will be on exhibit in Crowder’s Longwell Museum, inside the Elsie Plaster Community Center, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, until Feb. 10.
I could seriously go on and on about Hermann Jaeger, but won’t today. Instead, I hope to see you at the exhibit!
Wes Franklin serves on the board of directors of the Newton County Historical Society. He is also a staff writer for the Neosho Daily News. He can be reached at 658-8443.
Starting Monday, a special exhibit will be displayed in the Longwell Museum at Crowder College for a temporary time.
On loan from the Discovery Center in Springfield is “Hermann Jaeger, Ozark Grape Hunter: Saving European Vineyards in the Late 19th Century.” It is a historical and scientific exhibit about Newton County’s own Hermann Jaeger, who lived east of Neosho along what it is today State Highway 86. He emigrated to the U.S. from Switzerland.
Others more knowledgeable on the subject than I have written extensively about Mr. Jaeger over the years, and I’ve written a little on it too, but, in a nutshell, prior to his mysterious disappearance in 1895, Jaeger played a key role in helping saving Europe’s wine industry. In the 1870s, a nasty plant louse called phylloxera was waging war on the grape vines, hitting France particularly hard. Jaeger, along with others, shipped over hundreds of thousands of cuttings from experimental hybrid vines and seeds and the French wine industry was saved.
For his efforts, Jaeger was awarded the French Cross of the Legion of Honor.
This display that will be at Crowder I have seen twice before, in different form, in Springfield and it is very interesting and informative, in my opinion.
It will be on exhibit in Crowder’s Longwell Museum, inside the Elsie Plaster Community Center, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, until Feb. 10.
I could seriously go on and on about Hermann Jaeger, but won’t today. Instead, I hope to see you at the exhibit!
Wes Franklin serves on the board of directors of the Newton County Historical Society. He is also a staff writer for the Neosho Daily News. He can be reached at 658-8443.
