Sparkle Schoolhouse

FIFTY Study Page: Missouri— "Rainbow Bridge"

FIFTY: Missouri — "The Rainbow Bridge"

*Each story in the FIFTY collection focuses on a remarkable American from a different state. Below are some recommended topics to inspire further investigation of the history and geography of the state, as well as themes that can support our children's growth and development. *

Miss Powell loves her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri and it troubles her to see it in apparent decline. When she hears a proposal from a local councilman to build a monument near the historic courthouse, she is determined to lend a hand. She assigns the class of 1931 the task of drawing pictures of possible monuments — and the result is not only profound, but remarkably accurate.

*Note: Though this is historical fiction and the characters have been developed to accommodate a story, their attributes and development may be useful as reference points and inspirations. *

Missouri History

• History of St. Louis as the Gateway to the American West
• History of the Gateway Arch Monument

Missouri Geography

• Map of St. Louis before and after the Arch
• Map of the Louisiana purchase and the significance of St. Louis

“The Rainbow Bridge” study topics Study of the design process of a monument Study of the influence of mythology and religion on architecture and design

Topics for Reflection

From a Child Development Perspective:

In this story, your child might learn that:

• When we care, we show true interest. When we show interest, we invest. Miss Powell truly cared about her hometown, St. Louis, and she truly cared about her students. She showed this by taking an interest in the history of her hometown as well as its potential regentrification. She also took an interest in her students’ capacities as designers for the new monument that would honor Thomas Jefferson and the great expansion westward.

• “Art is not what you see, but what you make other see.“ — Edgar Degas. Miss Powell’s students had many creative interpretations of what they thought the monument should look like, but it was Geneva’s drawing that was most compelling because it revealed something that was not there. It was a simple arch that suggested a rainbow bridge. It was “more than special and even more than beautiful.” To Miss Powell, the rainbow bridge was the expression of something that was an embodiment of Truth, of a connection of the east to the west. It perhaps also signified the connection between the St. Louis of her past and the one of the future, or even also the connection between heaven and earth. Geneva’s art was more than what was seen — it was what it made Miss Powell able to see.

• Sometimes we don’t know the significance of things when they’re happening, but their importance is revealed to us in the future. Although Miss Powell very much appreciated Geneva’s drawing, she had no idea that 30 years later the monument that would be built, the Gateway Arch, would be exactly like the drawing that Geneva had created so many years earlier. Although this story is historical fiction, such magical coincidences can happen in our own lives. This is just part of the mystery of being alive. Some things we can only marvel over, even if they cannot be explained. In the case of Geneva’s drawing, it could well have been that the Truth that Miss Powell saw 30 years earlier — the connection among all — was the thread that was enduring.

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