About Us -
​Our Volunteers and Organization

How we began... 
     On April 19, 1969, a meeting of interested people was held for the purpose of forming a Historical Society for DeKalb County. Those in attendance were Dorothy Caldwell, Associate Editor of the Missouri Historical Review, published by the State Historical Society, Lora (Redman) Lockhart, Ruth (Reed) Lybarger, Isabelle (Rickey) McDonough (later Isabelle Bram), Martha (Evans) Spiers and Bessie (Leonard) Whiteaker.
     A constitution and by-laws were written, a slate of officers was drawn up and the place and time of the organizational meeting was considered.  The following day, April 20, 1969, thirty-four people who were interested in the preservation of the county's history met in the Community Room of the courthouse and formed a Historical Society. Isabelle McDonough presided as temporary chairman and her husband, Judge Dayle C. McDonough, read the proposed by-laws and conducted the discussion after which the Society accepted the corrected form.    
       A motto, which had been suggested by Harley Fisher, was chosen; "A county that forgets its past will never have a future." The purpose of the DeKalb County Historical Society is to "study, preserve and record our heritage."
By the end of 1969, 167 members from many areas of the United States had joined the Society.

Our Mission
-To engage in all activities as permitted by Chapter 355 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri for corporation engaged in educational, civic, patriotic, cultural, literary and historical purposes 
-To discover and memorialize the history of the County of DeKalb, State of Missouri and the surrounding area;
-To discover, purchase, commission or otherwise support that which sheds light on the history of the region;
-To discover, procure, preserve physical objects that may relate to the history of the region;
-To establish and maintain a museum on land leased or owned by the society;
-To hold regular meetings and other activities for the recreation and instruction of the members and of the general public.

Adopted by the DeKalb County Historical Society Board August 4, 2010. 
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