If anything can dispel the gloom of a negative historical anniversary, it is music. That seems to have been what motivated Dr. Michael J. Budds to produce a book, 200 Memorable Missouri Musical Moments, for Missouri’s Bicentennial.
The Bicentennial itself conjures up a time when the status of slaves was bartered politically as well as economically and their freedom came to depend on which side of the Mason Dixon Line they found themselves. The Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to become the 24th state in the Union in 1821; this settlement stopped northern attempts to forever prohibit slavery’s expansion by admitting Missouri as a slave state in exchange for legislation which prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel—except for Missouri.
Dr. Budds was a beloved, longtime professor at the University of Missouri School of Music who founded and endowed the Budds Center for American Music Studies at the University in 2019.
He recognized the rich musical heritage of Missouri across the state. Dr. Budds described the scope of his book in his preface. He had the notion that:
"…a worthy introduction of the Budds Center to the public could take the form of a volume in which I identified days of significance in the history of music in Missouri. For each I would prepare brief
