LOCAL

An attempted lynching. An 'Indian fighter.' Do these murals belong at Boone County Courthouse?

Charles Dunlap
Columbia Daily Tribune
A mural painted by Sidney Larson in 1994 is one of two that adorn the walls of the second- and third-story stairways of the Boone County Courthouse. A group of Boone County attorneys wants the county commission to consider removing the murals.

Columbia artist Sidney Larson, a former Columbia College professor, provided murals to the Boone County Commission in the mid-1990s depicting Boone County history.

These pieces were then installed at the Boone County Courthouse.

The murals' subject matter has concerned former Boone County Circuit Court Judge Gary Oxenhandler ever since they were put up, he said. Oxenhandler, who still practices as an attorney, and attorney Rusty Antel have spearheaded a group asking the county commission to remove the paintings from the courthouse. 

"Ever since the murals were put in place 25 years ago, I have been having discussions with fellow lawyers, clients, judges with regard to the inappropriateness of the murals and what they portray and depict," Oxenhandler said.

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Not everyone is opposed to the art by Larson, who died in 2009. 

Attorney Bill Powell, past president of the Boone County Historical Society, noted in a letter to the county commission that the removal request has politicized the art.

Powell's letter to the county commission was as a private citizen.

A mural painted by Sidney Larson in 1994 is one of two that adorn the walls of the second- and third-story stairways of the Boone County Courthouse. A group of Boone County attorneys wants the county commission to consider removing the murals.

What do the murals depict?

The murals depict aspects of Boone County history through most of the 19th century, according to remarks Larson gave to the commission in 1995.

The art was privately funded through trusts, such as the Boone County Trust, Fred V. Heinkel Trust and the J.W. Stafford Trust. 

Various Boone County historical figures are shown, including early settler Bill Callahan, known as a hunter and, as Larson described, an "Indian fighter." Part of one mural is an image of Callahan, a white man, pointing a rifle at a Native American in a tree. 

Other material includes an attempted mob-justice lynching.

"The backstory as explained in the plaque near the painting indicates this is based upon (the attempt) that was interrupted and stopped as unjust by James Rollins, founder of the University of Missouri," Powell wrote in an email to the Tribune. "That segment of the mural should be seen as near-injustice that was prevented here."

There is a depiction of the county courthouse being built by enslaved people, who are carrying a stone with the inscription, "Oh, justice, when expelled from other habitation, make this thy dwelling place."

Powell does not want the reminder removed that enslaved people built the courthouse, inclusive of the inscribed stone.

"(It denies) them the honor of being remembered in artwork installed there," Powell wrote, adding their inclusion does not dishonor people now living. 

For Oxenhandler, however, the mural subject matter sends a "terrible message."

"(The murals) comment on how we punish people. They comment on the role of women in Boone County society since 1821; they are not portrayed in power," he said. "The murals are inappropriate in the venue they are located in."

Oxenhandler expressed concern over how the murals are perceived by students on tours as well as defendants, witnesses and jurors at the courthouse for cases.

Options for the murals

Oxenhandler is not suggesting the murals be discarded, but that there are better places to put them, he said.

"They could go to the Missouri Historical Society, they could go up in the (Boone County) Government Center," he said. "The issue that Rusty Antel and I have identified is they should not be where they are."

If the murals remain, there could be more prominent explanations about the artwork, Powell suggested.

"I further think it would be a good idea to add to the walls near the murals an accurate description of the current controversy they have engendered," he wrote. "I see potentially great value to the community from this controversy. That it has occurred I think is an indication of the art's value to the community."

Oxenhandler balked at the idea of a larger descriptor next to the murals. There currently are small plaques located next to the murals. 

"The problem with this art is that it sends an instantaneous message," Oxenhandler said, adding some nice text won't lessen the impact of people seeking justice at a court date. "There is nothing that would satisfy me short of removal."

Oxenhandler has a suggestion for what could replace the murals in the courthouse.

"What I would put in the staircase instead of what is there is the preamble to the Constitution of the United States," he said.