Cape Girardeau in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Literary Giants
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Missouri Mule
Photographed by Sandra Hughes, August 12, 2012
1. Literary Giants/Missouri Mule Marker
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) was born in Lund, WI. In 1894 she moved to Mansfield, MO. where in the 1930s and 1940s she published her best selling Little House books chronicling her pioneer life. These books later became the basis for a long-running television series by the same name.
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) was born in Columbus, MS. An acclaimed southern playwright, he attended the University of Missouri and Washington University. His better known works include The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Eugene Field (1850-1895) was born in St. Louis. Best known for his childrens verse, Wynken, Blyken and Nod, he had a successful career as a St. Joseph, Kansas City and St. Louis journalist.
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was born in Joplin, MO. One of the Harlem Renaissance writers, he depicted the life of African Americans in the early twentieth century in his poetry, novels and essays.
Kate Chopin (1851-1904) is a native St. Louisan best known for her feminist novel, The Awakening. While her writings drew criticism during
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T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) is considered by some to be among the most influential authors in the early part of the 20th century. He won the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature. His poems, The Waste Land and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, are studied by thousands of students annually. One of his poems inspired the Broadway hit Cats.
Missouri Mule
The mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Many Missouri farmers with clay soil found mules superior as plow animals. Their unyielding determination to plow forward led to the expression stubborn as a mule.
Erected by Missouri Wall of Fame River Heritage Mural Association.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1894.
Location. This marker has been replaced by another marker nearby. It was located near 37° 18.121′ N, 89° 31.097′ W. Marker was in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in Cape Girardeau County. It was on Water Street. Located
Photographed by Sandra Hughes, August 12, 2012
2. Literary Giants/Missouri Mule Marker
Regionally, this marker was in Southeast Missouri. It was also in the American Ozarks, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, in the Corn Belt, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it was in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location: Literary Giants (here, next to this marker); Visionary Women and Writers (a few steps from this marker); "Show Me" The Entertainers (within shouting distance of this marker); Merriwether Pump Station (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Captains of Industry (within shouting distance of this marker); Men of Might (within shouting distance of this marker); Title Panel (within shouting distance of this marker); All Things Missouri (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cape Girardeau.
Other markers no longer nearby. Visionary Women / Entrepreneurs (was a few steps from this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Entertainers (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Captains of Industry (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Mark Twain / Missouri Generals / George Caleb Bingham (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. This marker has been replaced with the linked marker.
Also see . . .
1. Mississippi River Tales Mural. The Mississippi River Tales is a mural containing 24 panels covering nearly 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) of the 15-foot (4.6 m)-high downtown floodwall in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It illustrates the history of the area beginning with the Native Americans who inhabited the area between 900 and 1200. Each panel tells a story: Louis Lorimier platting the city in 1793, the transfer of Upper Louisiana from France to the United States in 1804, Missouri gaining statehood in 1821, the coming of the railroad in 1880, the Big Freeze of 1918-19 and the completion of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, among many others. The paintings are in a style similar to that of painter Thomas Hart Benton. (Pamela Selbert, Chicago Tribune, November 18, 2007). The mural was painted by Chicago artist Thomas Melvin,[1] in collaboration with several local artists, and was dedicated at a public ceremony on July 7, 2005. (Submitted on September 1, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
2. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Welcome to the official Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum website. We hope the history and heritage found here will inspire you to begin making plans to visit this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Each year, more than 30,000 fans from all 50 U.S. states and about 20 countries make their own pilgrimage to visit the famous Rocky Ridge Farm historic homes and museum in Mansfield, Missouri. (Submitted on September 1, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
3. Tennessee Williams Biography.com Playwright(1911–1983). Williams described his childhood in Mississippi as pleasant and happy. But life changed for him when his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri. The carefree nature of his boyhood was stripped in his new urban home, and as a result Williams turned inward and started to write. (Submitted on September 1, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
4. Eugene Field. Field attended several colleges but took no degree; at the University of Missouri he was known less as a student than as a prankster. After his marriage in 1873, Field did editorial work for a variety of newspapers, including the Denver Tribune. From his Tribune column, “Odds and Ends,” he gathered comic paragraphs to form his first book, The Tribune Primer (1882), journalistic joking in the tradition of American humorists Artemus Ward ... (100 of 283 words) (Submitted on September 1, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
5. Langston Hughes. ''I was so sick last night I Didn't hardly know my mind. So sick last night I Didn't know my mind. I drunk some bad licker that Almost made me blind.'' (Submitted on September 1, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
6. Kate Chopin. Her early novel At Fault (1890) was not much noticed, but The Awakening (1899) was widely condemned. Critics called it morbid, vulgar, and disagreeable. Chopins work was mostly forgotten after her death, but, beginning in the 1950s, scholars rediscovered it and praised it for its truthful depictions of womens lives. (Submitted on September 1, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
7. T. S. Eliot. Eliot attracted widespread attention for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915), which was seen as a masterpiece of the Modernist movement. It was followed by some of the best-known poems in the English language, including The Waste Land (1922), "The Hollow Men" (1925), "Ash Wednesday" (1930), and Four Quartets (1943).[4] He was also known for his seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral (1935) and The Cocktail Party (1949). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948, "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry".[5][6] (Submitted on September 1, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
Additional keywords. LGBT, LGBTQ, 🏳️🌈
Credits. This page was last revised on February 6, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 31, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 524 times since then and 19 times this year. Last updated on November 22, 2024, by Edward Troxel of Creal Springs, Illinois. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 31, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
