This Month in St. Louis History

A Missouri cow milked on air flight in 1930

The Missouri cow didn't fly over the moon in 1930 but was the first to fly in an airplane during the International Air Exposition here. Elm Farm Ollie also was the first cow milked while in the air.

Other people and events with February anniversaries include the death of a Jewish Holocaust artist, appointment of St. Louisan William Webster as FBI director and delivery of a famous telegram regarding pay for Negro soldiers in the Civil War.

(Each month, Young Saint Louis.com meets with staff at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. We look for people and events in St. Louis and Missouri history that have unique or significant anniversaries in the current month.

(If you would like to know more about state and city history, visit www.mohistory.com)

The flying Missouri cow

The 72-mile flight of Elm Farm Ollie from Bismarck, Mo., to St. Louis occurred on Feb. 18, 1930. The promotional flight was a part of the 1930 International Air Exposition, being held in St. Louis.

During the flight, the Guernsey cow was milked by a farmer, Elsworth W. Bunce. The milk was then packaged in paper cartons and parachuted to spectators below. Reportedly, airman Charles Lindbergh received a glass of that milk.

After her flight, Elm Farm Ollie became known as Sky Queen.

Although the cow was born and raised on the Bismarck, Mo., farm, recognition of the unique anniversary lives on in Wisconsin, known as the dairy state. Every Feb. 18, the Mount Horeb (Wis.) Mustard Museum celebrates the anniversary.

A festival feature is the production of a lighthearted operetta entitled, "Madam Butterfat."

For more, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm_Farm_Ollie as well as http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/02-98/02-25-98/b05ad073.htm.

Artist David Friedmann dies

Artist David Friedmann at work

Famed artist David Friedmann is best remembered for his depictions of life in German concentration camps during the Holocaust of the 1940s. He was born in Europe and lived there through World War II.

However, he and his family later emigrated to the U.S., where he became a commercial artist for the General Outdoor Advertising Co. After starting in New York, he was transferred first to Chicago and later to St. Louis. He died Feb. 27, 1980, in St. Louis.

He survived the Holocaust primarily because of his well-known artistic ability. Some of his artwork was done for Nazis.

But, his greatest fame came from his drawings, etchings and paintings that depicted life of the six million Jews who were victims of the Nazi persecution. Some of his work is displayed in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

For more, including samples of his artistic work, visit: http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/responses/friedmann/
timeline.html and http://www.jewishgen.org/AustriaCzech/wall-of-fame/friedmann.html.

William Webster becomes FBI chief

William H. Webster

William H. Webster of St. Louis was appointed chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Feb. 23, 1978. He served until 1987.

He was born in St. Louis on March 6, 1924, and had a long career as a lawyer and a judge. He practiced law in St. Louis for 10 years before service as U.S. Attorney for Eastern Missouri.

He also served as a judge for the U.S. District Court in Eastern Missouri and as a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th District. From there, he began his 10 years as FBI chief.

For more, visit www.fbi.gov/libref/directors/webster.htm.

A telegram about Negro soldiers' pay

Two African-American Soldiers during the Civil War

The papers of Abraham Lincoln in the Library of Congress contain an unusual telegram sent to Lincoln by Maj. Gen. W.S. Rosecrans, who was commander of the Department of Missouri. The telegram was sent from St. Louis on Feb. 20, 1864.

It said: "Will the law provide that the pay of colored troops (in the Union Army) shall be the same as for others? Will the families of these men be made free? It is important and just that they should be so. Will you give me Col. Sanderson? I beg an early reply."

Lincoln said he was sending Colonel Sanderson to Rosecrans. But, regarding the other questions, Lincoln said he "was not prepared to answer."

The National Archives has two links with more about the question of pay for black troops as a civil rights issue during the Civil War.

Visit: www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war and www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war
/equal-pay.html.