What was director oscar micheaux known for?

Oscar Micheaux was an African American novelist and filmmaker. Over the course of his life, his travels took him from Southern Illinois to the West, South America, and Europe. His work and art also brought him to live in Sioux City in the West 7th Street neighborhood. Today he is recognized as a pioneering filmmaker, but also as a man ahead of his time.

Micheaux was born in Metropolis, Illinois on 2 January 1884 to a family of farmers. At a young age he helped his family as a farm hand. While he was still a teenager he left his family to work in car manufacturing plant in Carbondale, Illinois. After many jobs that did not satisfy his desire to create art, Micheaux decided to homestead in South Dakota. Part of his decision to move west was his belief that the only independent future for the Black man laid on the Western Frontier.

By 1905 Micheaux had purchased a 160-acre tract of land near Gregory, South Dakota where he built a house and farm. It was during the move from Illinois to South Dakota that Micheaux began to think about writing. Farming conditions were poor for him and his neighbors as drought struck much of the Midwest. He was forced by these poor conditions to sell his homestead in 1911. Fortunately, Micheaux had already begun work on his first novel.

The theme of the westward movement of the nation fascinated him and that idea became the subject of his 1912 novel, The Conquest. His search for publishers led him through Sioux City and Lincoln, Nebraska. After more than a year of looking, Woodruff Press in Lincoln agreed to publish the book.

In autumn of 1913 he began his second book, The Forged Note, which was published in 1915 by the Western Book Supply Company in Sioux City. From 1914 to 1918 Micheaux spent much of his time traveling between Sioux City, Gregory, and Lincoln trying to sell his books.

During those years much of his time was spent in Sioux City. He lived in several different apartments in the West 7th Street neighborhood. The area had long been the center of Sioux City’s African-American Community. While living in Sioux City, Micheaux wrote his third novel – The Homesteader. Micheaux was undoubtedly influenced by the diverse cultures that lived in Sioux City, especially by fellow African-Americans. He also decided to begin putting his novels up on the big screen.

The Homesteader was published in 1917 in Sioux City. Shortly after publication the Lincoln Motion Picture Company attempted to buy the rights to the novel. Micheaux, however, had other plans and decided to film the book himself. From 1917 to 1919 he shot the story near Winner, South Dakota. The Homesteader was the first feature length film by an African American. During the making of the movie, the young filmmaker also formed the Micheaux Book and Film Company based in Chicago and New York City.

Aside from his early work that dealt with westward migration, the majority of his novels and films focus on race relations. His second film, Within our Gates, was a reaction to D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation. More than just a reaction, the film was a depiction of racism in the 1910s. After the film was released, Micheaux traveled to Europe and South America, where the film did well, to gain worldwide rights.

In 1920 Micheaux’s success led him to Harlem in New York City where he made many more films. Many prominent African-American stars acted in these later films including Paul Robeson and Robert Earl Jones. His film company went bankrupt in 1928, but with the help of two white theatre owners he went on to make almost 20 more movies.

By the end of his filmmaking career, Micheaux had written and directed 43 movies, 27 silent films, and 16 sound features. Not all were successes; some were so controversial that they were banned from theaters. A complete list of Micheaux’s films would cover varieties from comedies and Westerns to musicals and gangster sagas.

Micheaux’s films were important to many people, though his name has not always been well recognized. He helped dismiss stereotypes of Black people as childlike or the White man’s burden. Micheaux, in his films, emphasized the everyday lives of African-Americans and the racial prejudices they faced.

Not only did Micheaux’s work empower African-Americans and help break stereotypes, but it also influenced other filmmakers. Spike Lee, John Singleton, and Melvin VanPeebles often credit Micheaux as one of their greatest influences and as a true film pioneer.

In the recent past, several documentaries have been made to celebrate Micheaux’s daring and creative works. The Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame named their award for achievement in Micheaux’s honor. Micheaux, his career, and his films are celebrated every year at the Oscar Micheaux Festival in Gregory South Dakota.

Oscar Micheaux, an African American who wrote novels, made films, and fought racism and stereotypes was indeed a man ahead of his time.

Sources:

Chester J. Fontenot. “Oscar Micheaux,Black Novelist and Film Maker” Vision and Refuge: Essays on the Literature of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press, 1982, pp. 109-25.

Floyd Webb and Julie Dash. Oscar Micheaux. http://geechee.com/Micheaux.htm

Oscar Micheaux biography file, Sioux City Public Museum Research Center.

Oscar Micheaux www.imdb.com/name/nm0584778

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One of the most respected and popular educators in Sioux City throughout the years has been M. G. Clark. Doctor Clark served as superintendent of Sioux City Schools for twenty years.

Mel Clark was born in Belleville, NY, in March of 1868. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1898. He served as superintendent of schools in several towns in Illinois before accepting the job in Sioux City. When he took over the schools, the district was in very bad shape. The buildings were old and rundown. Over the years he was able to build new schools and improve the ones the district already had.

His most important contribution to education was in the field of instruction. Doctor Clark had very specific ideas in regard to textbooks. When he could not find textbooks available that he felt met his standards, he wrote his own. He wrote MOTIVATED LANGUAGE and HABITUATED ARITHMETIC in 1919. APPLIED ENGLISH was published in 1924 and LANGUAGE IN USE, books I, II, III, in 1926. He also wrote a book based on his idea of a "spiritualized citizenship", that children should learn from the study of our history. He called this book PROGRESS AND PATRIOTISM. Many districts throughout the country used the books he wrote.

Clark was also very active in the community and educational organizations as well. He served as the first President of the Iowa State Education Association and served on both state and national committees. He served as a leader of the Men's Bible Class at First Presbyterian Church, was a leader in the Rotary Club and was president of the Sons of the American Revolution.When Doctor Clark had a heart attack and died while still working as superintendent, the whole school district was closed down in mourning. Praise for this great educator arrived from all over the United States. The faculty of Sioux City Schools wrote the following: "Two decades ago, the school system of Sioux City had disintegrated to such a degree that the term 'system', as applied to it was a misnomer. A crisis in the educational development of the city had come, and someone to meet the challenge was called, a man forceful, dynamic, of tireless energy, of indefatigable industry. Gifted with unusual constructive ability and extraordinary foresight, he soon succeeded in reducing to order the educational chaos which existed when he came. This man had in him something of the spirit of the adventurer, yet he Comprehend his trust and to the same Kept faithful with a singleness of aim."

An elementary school on the north side of Sioux City is named in his honor.

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Even in its infancy, the citizens of the town realized the need to start a school to educate the children. Local businessmen pledged money to run the school for the first six months. On April 26, 1857, the new teacher arrived on the first steamboat of the spring season, the Omaha. Mary Wilkins, a nineteen year old from Keosauqua, Iowa became the first teacher. The salary for her first term was fifty dollars per month. She lived with a married couple she had met on the steamboat.

When Mary arrived, she was interviewed by two of the school board members and asked questions to see if she was qualified. They approved.

Mary experienced many problems when setting up the new school. The building scheduled to be completed May 1st was not close to being finished. There were no books. Not waiting for the building to be completed or the books to arrive, Mary started school. She started with 15 students ranging in age from 6 to 19 (her age). Many of these students were the children of pioneers and had always lived in wilderness areas, so even though they were older, they had never been to school and could not read or write or do math. Miss Wilkins was in the front of the room on a raised platform and the students sat at table with benches. The small children sat in front and the larger in the rear.

Within the first six weeks the school was finished, books arrived and the number of students attending school had more than doubled.

With the completion of her first successful term, the school received public funds. This meant Mary was now to be paid by the taxpayers of the city. Some objected to paying a young single girl fifty dollars per month. The school board thought Mary was worth the salary so worked out a compromise that satisfied all sides. Mary's salary was lowered to thirty dollars per month for fifteen students. For each student more than fifteen she would receive more money. Because of the number of students, Mary wound up making more money than she had the previous term! Mary taught for two years and then married a local man named C. B. Rustin and later moved to Omaha. She lived there until her death in 1934.

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Wambdi Okicize is commonly known as War Eagle. He was born in either Wisconsin or Minnesota around 1785. His Indian name means "Little Eagle" but whites always referred to him as War Eagle. This is odd because all through his life War Eagle sought to keep peace. He even left his home tribe the Isanti (sometimes referred to as Santee) to avoid a battle as to who was to become chief.

War Eagle served as a riverboat guide or pilot on the upper Mississippi, he worked for the American Fur Company delivering messages, and during the War of 1812 he carried messages for the government. Having spent all this time with the whites greatly affected his view toward these people. He saw them as friends rather than enemies.

After marrying Mazakirawin in Minnesota, he was adopted into the Ihanktonwan or Yankton Sioux around 1830. War Eagle and his wife had seven children, four girls and three boys.One of the things War Eagle was most proud of was a silver medal he received from the President of the United States, Martin Van Buren in 1837. His family still proudly displays this medal. By this time he had been elected chief of the tribe and been invited to travel to Washington, D.C. with other tribal leaders from around the nation to negotiate peace treaties.

War Eagle was related to the commander of the Vermillion trading fort, William Dickson. Mr. Dickson had married a cousin of War Eagle. War Eagle also had two of his daughters, Dawn and Blazing Cloud marry Theophile Bruguier. Bruguier had been accepted into the Yankton tribe and traveled with War Eagle's band for several years. He told War Eagle of a dream he had of a beautiful place where two rivers joined together. War Eagle told Bruguier he had been to that place and would show it to him.

Bruguier claimed the land at the confluence of the Sioux and the Missouri river. Here in 1849, he built a cabin and with his two wives began to homestead the land and trade with the Indians. War Eagle and his band visited the area often and stayed in teepees and log cabins located on the property.

In the fall of 1851 War Eagle died. He was buried on top of a bluff overlooking the Missouri River Valley. Along with War Eagle his two daughters Dawn and Blazing Cloud, and several others including grandchildren were buried on this bluff. Today the bluff is part of War Eagle Park and the monument pictured honors the great chief.

War Eagle is best remembered as a person who believed in peace and worked his whole life toward that goal. Because of his leadership among the tribes, the Indians and the whites learned to work together without having to resort to violence.

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James Booge was born in Vermont in 1833. His family lived for awhile in Canada and then moved to Indiana, where he helped on his father's farm. His education was limited.

In 1854, Booge went to California to work in the mining industry. Then, in 1858 he moved to St. Louis, where he worked for the Wabash Railroad. On October 11, 1858, Booge arrived in Sioux City, then a little town of only 500 residents. He brought with him a supply of apples, flour and whiskey, and he opened a wholesale grocery company.

Soon after making Sioux City his home, Booge bought a steamboat's water-logged load of wheat. He fed the grain to a herd of hogs, butchered the hogs and sold the meat. His customers included the local butcher shops, but most of the meat was sold to Army outposts further west. With this venture, Booge started a meat-packing business that helped make him a wealthy man. His first pork-packing business was little more than a shack located along Perry Creek at the corner of Fifth and Water Streets. By 1873, he had constructed a three-story building on the same site and was slaughtering 123,000 hogs per year.

The city was growing as rapidly as Booge's packing house business. The downtown location was no longer practical for his expanding industry. So, in 1881, Booge built a plant in the stockyards area that began to slaughter 1,600 hogs a day in winter and 800 per day in the summer. Half of the plant's products were sold in Liverpool and London.

Booge became a very prominent businessman and Sioux City promoter. He became involved in the Union Stockyards Company, National Bank of Sioux City, Sioux City and Northern Railroad, the elevated railroad and many other ventures.

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Dr. John Cook was born in England. He went to school at Oxford University and was a graduate of the London College of Medicine and Surgery. Before moving to the United States, he served in some of London's most famous hospitals.

Cook decided to move to the United States. Many of his friends had already made the trip and wrote letters describing this new land. Arriving in Illinois, Cook decided to work as a surveyor for the government. Here he met a young woman who lived in a neighboring settlement and asked her to marry him. The woman had been married before and had a daughter named Henrietta.

Several years passed and all the surrounding lands in Illinois had been surveyed. More and more people were settling the land. Cook was asked by the United States Government to move to Iowa where the lands were to be surveyed. He moved his wife and daughter to a small town on the Missouri River named Kanesville. This town is now named Council Bluffs. There he met a man named James Jackson. Mr. Jackson and his partner, Milton Tootle owned several small stores located in towns south of Kanesville. Mr. Jackson fell in love with Henrietta, Cook's stepdaughter, and married her.

Mr. Jackson had met and dealt with Theophile Bruguier for several years. Bruguier had complained to Jackson that he had to come a long distance just to purchase needed goods. He asked Jackson to consider building a store near the area where he lived. Jackson was not enthusiastic about traveling so far north into a country with sparse population except for migrating bands of Indians. However, encouraged by his wife, Jackson made the trip in 1852 and was very impressed with the location between the mouths of the Floyd and Sioux Rivers. He came back to Kanesville and spoke with Doctor Cook, who was quite interested.

Doctor Cook, James Jackson, Iowa Representative Bernhart Henn, United States senators George W. Jones and Augustus C. Dodge, and Jesse Williams, Iowa territorial official, formed the Sioux City Land Company. Cook served as both president and representative for the group. Cook moved to the area and discovered that much of the land had already been settled by Joseph Leonais. Leonais's land encompassed the area from the Missouri River to Seventh Street and from what is now Water Street to Jones Street. Cook then claimed the only land left available, 160 acres west of Leonais' claim across Perry Creek.

He then began the job of plotting of his new city. Shortly after beginning this survey, Dr. Cook found many Yankton Indians camped at the mouth of the Floyd River. Led by their leader Smutty Bear, Cook was ordered to quit his survey and leave or there would be violence. Dr. Cook reportedly replied that if Smutty Bear were not peaceable, he would go at once for white men of sufficient number of exterminate (kill) the tribe. The Indians chose to leave and the survey was completed.

Dr. Cook realized that the members of the company would not be very happy with his location for the new city. For the city to be successful, it would need a levee built so steamships would be able to stop, load and unload needed goods. He visited William Thompson and offered to buy his land. But Thompson wanted to start his own town, so he refused to sell.

Dr. Cook had been staying at Leonais' cabin and began to try to convince him to sell his land. He first offered Leonais $100 for the land. That is what Leonais had paid Bruguier for the land. Leonais had plenty of customers at his store and had already raised three crops of corn on the property, so he wasn't interested in selling. Cook responded by increasing the offer to $500. Leonais looked to his sister, Mrs. Lapore, who was living with him for advice. She told him not to sell. Dr. Cook told them he wanted the land to build an orchard to sell fruit to the pioneers. They did not believe him. They had figured that he wanted the land to build a town, and said they were going to stay and sell lots themselves. Dr. Cook then asked Leonais how much he wanted for his claim, to which Leonais replied, "three thousand dollars". While this was quite a shook to Cook, he finally agreed to the price, knowing he had to have the land for the city to develop. This area was called the East Addition.

Senators Dodge and Jones were able to convince the President of the United States, Franklin Pierce, to establish a post office and a land office in Sioux City. These additions gave the city an advantage over all the other small rival cities.Building of a levee began immediately and was completed in June of 1856. Now ships could dock. Cook convinced Jackson and his partner Tootle to build a store here as soon as possible.

Later that year the steamboat Omaha arrived with the new prefabricated store on board. The boat had been chartered for $24,000. The value of the cargo was placed at $70,000. On board the boat was the first frame store. There was also lumber, a sawmill, dry goods, hardware and other merchandise. The store had been built in St. Louis at a cost of $800. All that was needed was to put the pieces together. The store was called "Tootle and Jackson".

That same year Dr. Cook became the city postmaster and county judge. It is said that Dr. Cook carried the mail around in his hat and, when he saw someone he had mail for, he would then give it to them. The future for the city and Dr. Cook seemed bright. Soon, more than 90 building had been built. Lots were selling at a fast rate, and steamboats were docking at the new levee.Then in 1857, a financial panic hit the United States. The value of real estate dropped and many people lost their fortunes. In order to make a living Dr. Cook was forced to return to the practice of medicine. From that time until he moved away in 1879, he continued his practice on a limited basis.

Until leaving town for St. Louis in 1879, the doctor was held in high esteem by the community. He served as mayor in 1861 and '62 and was active in the city's Masonic Lodge. He died in 1885 at the age of 86.

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One of the most colorful figures in Sioux City history, John Peirce was born in Pennsylvania March 17, 1840. He came to Marion, Iowa, at the age of 21. There he married Alice Granger.

Soon after his marriage, Peirce joined the Sixth Iowa infantry and fought in the Civil War. In April of 1862, Peirce lay seriously wounded on a battlefield, a severe wound to his chest. A confederate surgeon passed by him, saying that Peirce could not be helped. According to the often-told story, Peirce opened his eyes, raised up on his elbow and said, "Like hell I'm as good as dead! I'll still be alive when you Johnnies are licked."

Peirce lost a lung as a result of his wounds, but after spending a long time in the hospital, he recovered and the Peirces moved to Sioux City in 1869. A major promoter during Sioux City's boom years, Peirce become involved in the real estate business. He was instrumental in developing the north side, grading the hills and building a cable line the full length of Jackson Street all the way to 40th Street. At its end, the cable line looped around a wooden pavilion that provided shelter and soft drinks for customers. Dances held at the pavilion were a popular activity. A power plant at 29th and Jones Streets provided power for the cable line and street lights in the area.Peirce was active in promoting projects for the development for Sioux City including cable lines, businesses and railroads. He built a stone mansion for his family at 29th and Jackson (which later served as the site of the Sioux City Public Museum for nearly 50 years). In 1890, Peirces sold their old home at 21st and the Boulevard to the Sisters of Mercy as a site for a hospital. Apparently, the Peirces left all of the furnishings behind for the sisters, including the horse, buggy and cow.

Mr. Peirce lost most of his fortune in the financial panic of 1893. He sold his mansion though a lottery, which later was shown to be fixed.

The Peirces left Sioux City in 1901 and moved to Seattle, where Peirce went about the business of creating another fortune. He and his wife left on a long-planned trip to Europe, where his health started to decline. Despite his poor health, the Peirces traveled through France, the Holy Land, and India before they returned home. Soon after his return to the United States, Peirce died of cancer, which had developed in his wounded chest. He died June 14, 1910.On February 12, 1901, Peirce and his family left Sioux City for Seattle. It was at that time that Peirce delivered his bittersweet "Farewell to Sioux City."

Farewell to Sioux City

Goodbye, Sioux City, perhaps for aye. You are at once the birthplace of all my ambitions and the graveyard of all my hopes.After dedicating thirty years of my best strength to your development, you are not a city but a town, with an interesting past, an uneventful present, and a peaceful and conservative future.No devotion of mine could prevent the calamity which spread your broken idols all around, and unrelenting fate still holds the ruins in her embrace. No period of prosperity can lend new animation to your fettered limbs, for commerce has her lines not laid within your favored zone.Yet, old girl, there burns within my bosom that youthful first love that knows no death, and my hope is that, while you lie bound Prometheus-like, no vultures will further pluck your vitals.

Goodbye, goodbye.

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Edwin Peters (1836-1917) was an early Sioux City promoter, developer and speculator. He is perhaps best known for developing and promoting the area of the city known as Morningside.

Peters was born on a farm in Pennsylvania October 23, 1836. He graduated from the National Law School of Poughkeepsie, New York when he was just 21 years of age. After a move to Niagara Falls, he spent a year with the law office of A. P. Floyd. Then, in 1861, President Lincoln appointed Peters to the position of deputy United States Marshall. Later, he was commissioned Deputy Collector of Customs at Niagara Falls. While in Niagara Falls, Peters married Sarah Scott and also developed a growing interest in insurance and real estate.

During the spring of 1870, Peters left Niagara Falls and came to Sioux City to take a position with the bank of Weare and Allison. While at the bank, Peters continued his interest in the insurance business. Soon, he joined with George Murphy in purchasing the insurance branch of the bank and together they opened the first savings bank in Sioux CityDuring one of his frequent walks near the city, Peters discovered a lovely parcel of land southwest of the city limits. He became captivated by the area and recognized its potential. So, just the second year after his arrival in Sioux City, Peters bought the 300-400 acre tract at a cost of $7 to $10 an acre. With a group of others who had come with him from Niagara Falls, Peters built a house on the site and established the settlement he named Morning Side. Peters promptly bought an additional 120 acres and built the house his family would call home until 1892. The land eventually became part of what is now Morningside College and the house served as a campus building. Unfortunately, not long after opening his insurance business and establishing Morningside, Peters suffered a head injury, which left him unable to work for nearly four years. In 1877, he traveled to the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he had an appointment as the first treasurer of Pennington County. Later, he was commissioned there as a probate judge.Peters did not stay long in the Black Hills, however. Just one year later, in 1878, he came back to Sioux City to stay. He returned to his home in Morningside and devoted much of his time to the development of the suburb. Many prominent Sioux City families established homes in Morningside, including the Garretsons, Jacksons and Pelletiers.Peters helped establish the Sioux City Rapid Transit Company, becoming its president in 1888. In 1890, that company began construction of the Elevated Railroad, an elevated and ground railway system that provided convenient access to the developing suburb of Morningside. He was also involved in the founding of the University of the Northwest in Morningside, which eventually became Morningside College. He became a vice president and chairman of the executive committee. The University purchased part of the Peters estate for its campus.The Peters family lost most of their fortune in the Financial Panic of 1893. In later years Peters recalled, "Before the crash, we were millionaires. If I had turned my holdings in Morningside three months before the bubble broke I would have been worth upwards of $1,500,000. After the crash I was penniless. I was wiped out, and I found paper on my hands that left me $7000 in debt."Despite the heavy losses, Peters stayed in Sioux City and worked hard to repay all of his debts. He continued to be a respected leader in the community.

In an article celebrating Peters' 80th birthday, the Sioux City Journal stated, "Besides being the father of Morningside, Mr. Peters might also be termed the father of the park movement in Sioux City." He was head of the Park Commission that presented Grandview Park to the city in 1908

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"Lets make music together." Leo Kucinski (1904-1998), long time Sioux City conductor, educator and musician often spoke those words in his efforts to bring the best possible music to the people of Sioux City. In his long career, he exposed thousands of school children to the finest music, nurtured a little orchestra into a superb symphony and brought extraordinary music to the community of Sioux City.

Leo Kucinski was born in Warsaw Poland on June 28, 1904. He was the oldest of eight children and the son of a pattern maker for steel companies. He started to study the violin at the Warsaw Conservatory of Music at the age of six. He studied with Edward Idzikowsk until his father decided there would be greater opportunities in the United States for his talented son.

The Kucinski family moved to Lorain, Ohio, where Leo began his study of music at the nearby Oberlin Conservatory of Music. When Kucinski was just fifteen years old, he conducted a festival grade school orchestra in Lorain. He later organized and played first violin in the Lorain String Quartet.

While at Oberlin, he studied with internationally known artist Charlotte Demuth Williams. Kucinski continued his studies at the Cleveland Institute under the guidance of the great Swiss violinist Andre de Ribeaupierre. He also received a fellowship in conducting at Juilliard Graduate School of Music. He later received a degree in music education from Morningside College in 1936, and he was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree from Morningside in 1958.

However, it was Kucinski's connection with Charlotte Williams that led him to Sioux City. While Williams was visiting Sioux City as a guest artist with the Civic Concert Course, she mentioned Kucinski to her host, Professor Paul MacCollin of the Morningside Conservatory. She praised Kucinski's abilities, and soon he had a job offer to teach violin at Morningside College.

When Leo Kucinski came to Sioux City in 1923, not long after graduating from Lorain High School, he immediately began to impact the music community, an influence that is still evident today. His incredible abilities and passion for good music inspired his students and others around him. He played his violin for concerts and recitals, and he established an excellent reputation as a gifted violinist.

In 1925, he took over leadership of the Morningside Orchestra. The small orchestra was originally organized to give students the opportunity for orchestra experience, but under his direction, the orchestra began to include musicians from the community and surrounding area. By 1929 the orchestra had grown to fifty members and was called the Sioux City Community Orchestra. That growth continued until the organization became the Sioux City Symphony orchestra in 1946. Kucinski conducted the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra until 1977. While director, he brought a national reputation to the orchestra, conducting many famous performers including Van Cliburn, Benny Goodman, and Meredith Wilson.

Kucinski was a perfectionist who demanded the best from those working under him. He was never satisfied until the results were as perfect as possible. Whether the piece was a light-hearted polka or difficult symphony, he treated each with respect. "All music worth playing at all is worth playing to the best of our abilities," he said.

Kucinski took on additional duties when in 1929 he became the director of the world famous Monahan Post American Legion Band. The band won many awards, including seven first place prizes at international competitions from San Francisco to Paris.

Kucinski was a leader in the effort to erect a band shell in Grandview Park. He felt the award-winning Monahan Post Band deserved a respectable place to play.

"At first we were crestfallen," Kucinski said in a 1936 Sioux City Journal interview, "when the opponents of the project obtained an injunction against the building of the band shell, saying that such an edifice would be an eyesore. We were downhearted then. But our sorrow soon turned to joy, and now, in place of a $15,000 band shell, we have a $60,000 pavilion that is famous nationally and even internationally."

Despite the fact that Kucinski rehearsed, trained and conducted the Monahan Post Band, he could never lead it during the competitions because he was not a member of the American Legion. The situation was remedied when at the age of thirty-eight Kucinski joined the United States Army in 1942. Members of the Monahan Post Band paraded from their headquarters to the Milwaukee railroad station, where Kucinski lead them in four selections before boarding his train.

He served as bandmaster in the Army Air Corps, spending time in the South Pacific during World War II. When he returned to the Monahan Post Band podium, Kucinski was an official card-carrying member of the American Legion.

The Monahan Post Band eventually became the Sioux City Municipal Band, and Kucinski remained its leader until 1980.

Leo Kucinski was convinced that good music was an important part of any community, and he worked tirelessly to develop the finest music programs for Sioux City. He also worked with Sioux City School Superintendent M.G. Clark to bring violin and orchestra instrumental classes to the music curriculum in the public schools.

As early as 1946, Kucinski introduced "pops concerts" designed to appeal to the young people of the city. "We want to expose these young people to good music presented briefly and in an attractive way," Kucinski said.

In his long and distinguished career, he also conducted the Lincoln, Nebraska Symphony for eight years and the Sioux Falls Symphony for fourteen years.

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The first bank in Sioux City was a tin box about the size of a cake box. George Weare brought the box with him to Sioux City December 26, 1855. At the time of his arrival from Cedar Rapids with the tin box with $1000 dollars in gold, Sioux City consisted of 6 log cabins! Three or four feet of snow covered the ground.

He found a place to work in the attic of a log cabin on the corner of third and Pearl . The bottom floor was occupied by the United States Land Office. His furniture consisted of an old drygoods box that served as the counter and his tin box that served as his safe. The box is now on display in the Public Museum.

This was a difficult time to start a bank in Iowa. The state constitution prohibited banks in the state. Many small banks had started and then collapsed leaving their investors with no money. People were suspicious of putting their money into something that could close at any time.

In the spring, George built a log building to serve as his bank on Douglas Street near sixth. He stayed here until 1857 when his banking business was expanding and he needed more room.

In September of 1860, Weare formed at partnership with John P. Allison and a new bank was built. The old log building was purchased by the pioneer school board and moved to Fifth and Pierce. The new building was of frame construction and painted to look like it was made of stone.

By 1862 the business district had moved west so Allison and Weare moved again. Still later in 1878 the partners built the brick structure pictured here. They continued to be partners in their success bank until they merged their bank with the Iowa State National Bank in 1901.

Mr. Weare served the city as alderman and mayor. Had it not been for his leadership, many pioneer businesses would not have been started.