Gemini exhibit shows Missouri's involvement in the space race

COLUMBIA — "The St. Louis Gemini Story," an exhibit that shows Missouri's history of involvement in the space race, is on display at the State Historical Society of Missouri.

The exhibit illustrates the main themes and events of NASA’s Project Gemini. The project was conducted from 1963 to 1966 to practice and test procedures necessary to meet then-President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to have an astronaut land on the moon before the end of the decade.

Although the Gemini’s involvement in the space race is a major theme in the exhibit, it’s important to Missouri history as well.

"What was fun about this exhibit was discovering how involved Missouri was in the space race,” said Joan Stack, curator of art collections at the State Historical Society of Missouri.

The Gemini was designed, built and tested by many St. Louisans who worked for the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, which was close to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The efforts of the Gemini project hastened the success of the Apollo program, which placed the first man on the moon.

The exhibit was also featured at the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus. When it came to Columbia, Stack added pieces from the Western Historical Manuscript Collection to the exhibit.

“We wanted to add an artistic dimension,” said Stack, who sifted through a collection of editorial cartoons to choose those that best fit with the Gemini and space themes of the exhibit. The cartoons reflect the Gemini, the space race, lunar exploration and public sentiments about those topics. Some of the cartoons support the money spent on space explorations, while others reflected the views against it.

One of Stack’s favorite cartoons is of an astronaut reaching out towards the moon, which is drawn simply and without description.

Another of her favorites is of a Missouri donkey saluting an astronaut, which illustrates Missouri’s involvement in space exploration.