Name/Title
Eleanor Roosevelt Unveils Gray's Pony Express Map, 1938Entry/Object ID
AM2002.24.405Scope and Content
Eleanor Roosevelt Unveils Gray's Pony Express Map, Oct. 16, 1938, St. Joseph News-Press. Photo at bottom of article shows students from Sacred Heart Convent viewing map.
First Lady, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, unveiled "The Pony Express Map" mural painted by George Gray for Hotel Robidoux in the hotel's Crystal Room. A photo of Mrs. Roosevelt with Mayor Welch and the mural is included.
Gen. James Leslie Kincaid, president of American Hotels Corporation, of which Hotel Robidoux is a unit, was the father of the idea for the mural. A brief biography of Gen. Kincaid is included HIs is pictured in a bottom photo with the students from Sacred Heart.
The artist, Gray, painted the mural using quarters on the 8th floor of the hotel. He acknowledged Frank Popplewell, an instructor at St. Joseph Junior College, among those who helped him with the information.
The legend of the Pony Express Map" was written by Popplewell is included in the article and is typed below.
The article comments on the other trails and notable events included on Gray's map, such as the Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail, Chief Joseph, Buffalo Bill, buffalo migrations, Army of the West.
(The back side of this article is one about the clock on the old Post Office being removed as the new federal building takes shape.)
Legend of the Pony Express Map:
The Pony Express
1860-1861
From the days of Ancient Persia to dawn of modern industry horse and rider served to bind together the provinces of monarchy, empire, and republic. No state long survived its inability to promote the dissemination of knowledge and information among its people.
In mid-century America, communication between St. Joseph on the fringe of western settlement and gold mining communities of California challenged the bold and made skeptical the timid.
Into this picture rode the Pony Express. In rain and in snow, in sleet and in hail, over moonlit prairie down tortuous mountain pat,. harried by lurking savage, pounding pony feet knitted together the ragged edges of a rising nation
From these hardy souls who toiled over plain and mountain that understanding might be more generally diffused, a nation spanning a continent was outs to inherit. In the spirit of The Pony Express its is for us to bequeath to those who shall follow new trails in the sky uniting a people in thought and in deed.Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
Print, PhotographicNomenclature Primary Object Term
PhotographNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsLOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Pony express, ArtSearch Terms
Roosevelt, Eleanor, Pony Express Map, Old Post Office Clock, Hotel Robidoux, Pony Express Map Mural, Gray, George, Old Post OfficeRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Eleanor RooseveltPerson or Organization
Gray, GeorgePerson or Organization
James Leslie KincaidPerson or Organization
Frank. S. Popplewell