An Audrain County mainstay has announced she is stepping down from her role with the Audrain County Historical Museum. Lori Pratt has been director of the Audrain County Historical Museum for 10 years, spearheading the museum’s efforts, including, but not limited to, Walk Back in Time, over those years.

It was a lucky accident that she took on the role back in 2015, as she never really thought of herself as a particularly big “history person.” It felt like God was pointing her to the role, though, when Tony Robertson, then board president, gave her a call in the fall of 2014, so she started shadowing during the last part of that year and took over her role after the turn of the year.

“I’m so glad I did!” Pratt is quick to say. “The experience completely changed my picture of how exciting and how meaningful history can be once you get beyond just reading about it in a book.”

Over the years, she has helped to accomplish some things that she is really proud of, like working with the board and the dedicated volunteers to grow Walk Back in Time from between 9,000 to 10,000 people to something closer to 15,000 the last couple times. She is also glad to have been able to acquire the stained glass windows for the church from an old church in Laddonia, Olympic medals from the Staley family, and the historic windows from the lobby of the old Hoxsey Hotel here in Mexico.

There have also been some important renovations to the museum, like upgrading the bathrooms and the kitchen, as well as repairs, like preserving the floor in the main house. At the same time, Pratt explains that she never really saw her role as one with goals of changing things, but really more as being a steward to take care of the wonderful work and history already in place.

It is easy to think of a place like a museum as static—as something that just sits there. Over the years, though, there have been a lot of projects Pratt worked with to remind people that it is very much a living, breathing, active part of the community. Things like the Ulysses Grant Symposium, collaborating with the city on tourism initiatives, and connecting Mexico with the larger vision of the Missouri Humanities Council are all examples of that.

Asked if there was something about her t10 years at the museum that she would point to as her favorite, she was hard pressed to choose between two things. The first is the great people who have shared stories with her—like the 3rd-great grandson of William Clark (of Lewis & Clark) or the son of Admiral Fuqua (the Admiral was a hero at Pearl Harbor, and his medal of honor is on display at the museum). The second is being able to go out in the community and share those stories with others, and she loves seeing students light up when, like her, they discover history can be a lot more exciting than they thought.

As far as things she wished she had done during her time with the museum, Pratt offered a surprising thought. “I really wish I’d seen a ghost,” she said with youthful energy. “I’ve heard some stories over the years, but I was never lucky enough to see one myself.”

With her attention turning to what comes next for her, she shared that some of the bigger things are spoiling her two granddaughters, but she is also committed to staying involved with the ACHS, like volunteering with Walk Back in Time as well as helping to train the new director.

If there was anything else she would pass on to the new director, Pratt offered, “There are so many great things happening for Mexico with new investment and development, it will be exciting to see how the museum will be a part of all that.”

Watch for the job posting coming soon.