How MMFF Came To Be, An Extraordinary Event
Annette Curtis (as told by Bill Curtis)
"Ron Putz had been on a research quest for names of Mormons who lived in Jackson County between 1831 and 1834. Among the places he had used locally were the Jackson County deeds and other official county records, the Jackson County Historical Society Archives (JCHS) and the Archives of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) (now the Community of Christ Archives). He felt he had exhausted what the JCHS Archives had and he was planning to visit the RLDS Archives. But he had a feeling that he should go to the JCHS Archives although he did not know what he could possibly find there. The feeling kept returning as he mentally argued against it. Finally he followed that urge.
"On that same day after a long absence from visiting the Jackson County Historical Society Archives, Bill Curtis decided to take in some glass negatives to give them. He visited with people there and he seemed very knowledgeable about local history as Ron overheard his conversations. Ron went over to Bill and asked him if he knew anything about the Mormons in Jackson County. Bill said, “Well, maybe a little” and they began to visit. Bill told Ron things about the Mormons in Jackson County that he had never heard before. After Bill left, Ron asked the person then in charge of the Archives what she knew about Bill, could he believe what Bill said. The Archives director said that if Bill said it, it was true. She knew Bill well and respected his knowledge highly. They had worked together on a number of things including preservation of the Truman neighborhood and of the BinghamWaggoner estate. It was years before Bill visited the JCHS Arhives again. He could not forgive them for the way they had treated his wife when she left their employ. Annette Curtis had been acting director back in the 1960s and again in the 1980s.
"Later Bill took Ron to see some of the little known Jackson County Mormon history sites. Ron came to the conclusion that they should begin an organization similar to Nauvoo Restoration to research, preserve and mark the Missouri sites so important in Mormon history. A small group of people began to meet and draw up the necessary paperwork to establish Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation. Early on Ron Romig, Archivist at the RLDS (now Community of Christ) Archives, joined the group and added greatly to the drafting the Bylaws and purpose of the organization.
"An organizational meeting was held on September 22, 1992 in the LDS Visitors’ Center. Officers and board members were elected. They were President: Ronald E. Putz; Vice President: Ronald E. Romig; Secretary: William J. Curtis; Historian: Elda Mae Billings; Treasurer: Jesse D. Ehlers; and Board Members: Karen Henderson, Tony Sarver, Annette W. Curtis and Allen Roza (Independence Visitors’ Center director and a great help in legal issues). Those who joined before the end of 1993 were to be considered charter members. The treasurer was authorized to open a checking account and incorporation papers were prepared. The certificate of incorporation was issued on July 27, 1993.
"The first publication project was a walking tour guide for Independence. The first event MMFF assisted with was a commemoration of the explosion of the Steamship Saluda at Richmond, Missouri. By July of 1993 four Visiting Historian Series lectures had been sponsored with speakers being Susan Easton Black, Royal Skousen, Jesse E. Ehlers, Bruce A. VanOrden, and Lyndon Cook. The First Annual Meeting was held November 9, 1993 and the original organizational officers were elected. Board members elected were Annette Curtis, Alta Short, Henry Inouye and Drew Henson. The first MMFF Newsletter appeared in September 1993 with Annette Curtis as editor.
"And so MMFF was born with Ron Putz as the founding force. Without his inspiration to go to the JCHS Archives that day, it never would have happened."
MMFF Newsletter Number 43, pgs 3,4.
