Stories by Aiden Drohr on Medium

Oral Histories

Aiden Drohr — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 23:21:08 GMT

In our various classes, we have talked about how oral histories (interviewing people who have a connection to an era or specific event) are important in the museum scene. We have talked about their pluses and the downsides that they offer, but overall, oral histories provide museum professionals a unique way to present information about an event for an exhibit or display. During a class discussion, I mentioned how using elements from oral histories in a museum space might allow museum guests to better relate to a certain event if they are able to read or maybe even hear the story of that event from a person who had experienced it firsthand. For my own path, which at this point I’m fairly certain will be with most transportation- or railroad-related institutions, I have been thinking of ways that oral histories could help to forward information and help explain on exhibits and displays. One sect of history that also interests me is labor history, and because of that I would like to talk to people that have worked in the industry. At this point, it’s very hard to find people who were working before the 1960s. I have come across people who either worked on the railroad or had a father, brother, or uncle who worked for the railroad during the 1940s and 1950s. People like these, I would also love to interview and hear what they have to say. In addition to the people who worked on the railroads, I would also like to hear from the people who used them. Just for example, my grandmother grew up riding streetcars in downtown St. Louis. She and I have talked about that for hours. I’m honestly considering doing some kind of project about St. Louis streetcars, as for so many people back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, they were a big deal and the only way to get around for some people. Overall, that’s how I will try to use oral histories in the museum environment to try to enhance exhibits and/or displays.

Review of Tiya Miles, Tales from the Haunted South

Aiden Drohr — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:59:25 GMT

Tales from the Haunted South by Tiya Miles is about how various historical sites across the South use the stories of ghosts to tell their history. She shares her experiences at these sites, how she felt, what she thinks they did right, and what she thinks they did wrong. In Chapter One, she visits Savanna, Georgia, and the Sorrel-Weed House is said to be one of the city’s most haunted buildings. While at the home, she would learn the story of an enslaved girl who was having an affair with her white master. Upon the discovery of the affair, his wife would throw herself out a window, and the man would kill the enslaved girl. However, further research by Miles confirmed that this story is 100% made up. She would spend the rest of the chapter discussing how false narratives like this are damaging to the real stories of people who were enslaved and how over-the-top storytelling can overshadow the problematic history of slavery. In the second chapter, Miles visits New Orleans, Louisiana. In this chapter, she talks about the various ghost tours that are offered throughout the city. One person who kept coming up in various stories was Madame Lalaurie. Lalaurie was a wealthy white woman who had a history of abusing and torturing her enslaved individuals. Story goes that after a fire was started in her house, firemen would find an enslaved woman chained to a stove and would later find more enslaved people on the third floor of the house; many of these people had been badly injured or mutilated. Local people were outraged by these atrocities, and Lalaurie eventually fled the city. Miles would also visit outside the home and see various tour groups telling some version of the story above. While the story of Lalaurie helps to expose the horrors of slavery, that’s just it; it really only talks about this extreme example and turns it into nothing but a thrill for tourists. It doesn’t focus on the human element; when people hear stories like these, it’s hard to remember they were real people. The third chapter focuses on plantation homes. The chapter focuses mostly on the plantation known as the Myrtles. At the Myrtles, Miles heard stories about Chole and Cleo. Chole was an enslaved girl who was brought into the house by the owner at the time, Mr. Woodruff, to be his concubine. However, when Chole was brought into the house, she would drop in on Mr. Woodruff’s business conversations, and as a result of this, she would have her left ear cut off and would be removed from the house to the kitchen. In an attempt to win back the favor of the Woodruffs, she would make a cake for the kids but have it laced with poison so she could bring them back to good health; however, her plan would backfire, and the kids and wife would all die. Chloe would eventually be hanged for this. Cleo was an enslaved Voodoo priestess from a nearby plantation; she was called to the house by its new owners, the Stirlings, as one of the children had Yellow Fever. She would do some magic to save the child, and she would claim that the child was healed, but unfortunately the child died the next day, and Cleo was hanged in the front yard. Again, when viewed in the larger context, these stories shed light on enslaved African American women, but they tell us little about them as people; instead, they read like legends and ghost stories, which we already know are flawed. Miles goes on to also recommend that these plantations be recognized as places where slavery took place and that they might shed more light on what actually happened on these properties.

While history is my primary interest, I would be lying if I said that the paranormal was not an interest of mine, and much like Miles, I have found myself on a small handful of these somewhat dubious haunted tours of historical sites that did not leave me with questions of ghosts but more about where the tour guide got their information. The first such tour was in New Orleans and was very similar to the tours Miles discussed in chapter two. This tour was held later at night, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.; we toured various above-ground cemeteries in the city. The tour guide seemed knowledgeable about various aspects, especially how things like the crypts worked and other cemetery features. Some of his history seemed embellished at best, or made flashier for a tourist crowd, since I’m sure there wasn’t a single local on our tour. While the tour mentioned slavery, it did so in passing, as something that happened and led to greater things. Granted, this tour was 100% a ghost tour; there was no historical connotation to it, but with ghosts comes history naturally, and because of that, it’s important to mention that history in its full context and not leave things out, or conversely add things in to make the story more flashy or memorable for good or for bad. My experience in New Orleans was by no means bad, and the tour, for all intents and purposes, wasn’t terrible either, but if you want a real historical tour of New Orleans, I would highly encourage you to find a different one. Another ghost tour I took was closer to home, at the Elms Resort and Spa in Exslore Springs, MO. The hotel was built in 1913 and has hosted many famous guests, including the infamous gangster Al Capone and President Truman. The hotel has so many ghost stories that it offers nightly ghost tours that wander the halls of this old building. A member of the hotel staff led the tour and took us through the hotel to the rooms where Al Capone would have met and where a speakeasy once operated in the 1920s. While there were lots of ghost stories and tales of haunted rooms and such, they were all well intertwined with the hotel’s real history, and after further research after my stay, everything was accurate, with little to nothing embellished for the tour. Again, while the New Orleans tour wasn’t bad, this tour at the Elms was much more history-focused, even though it was advertised as a ghost tour. While the Elms does not have to deal with the troubling history of slavery as many of the locations in the book do, it’s interesting to see what some of these places could still learn from the Elms as they present the ghost stories within the context of the history of the hotel, and it would be nice to see some of the locations in Miles’ book adapt some of the same principles.

Overall, based on the evidence from the book, it’s clear that Miles sees that many of these historical locations have ties to some of the darkest moments in American slavery, and that all of these ghost tours might need to find a way to present their history in a way that does not only tell a bone-chilling ghost story to make any tourist run for the hills but to tell the story within the context of real history. Tell the ghost story within the context of what was happening in the nation and then in the local area, so the history feels more grounded, and then add the ghost stories. In addition to that, additional steps to put the history of slavery into proper historical context need to be made as well, so that these stories of slavery are not overshadowed by over-the-top storytelling by a tour guide.

Role of the Public Historian

Aiden Drohr — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 01:47:52 GMT

The role of the public historian is very interesting in the modern day, as the position that they have held over the course of history has changed significantly from what it was in the past to what it is today. Looking at the past, public historians and museums were viewed as these impeccable institutions that always had the last say when it came to elements of history. However, these institutions and the people running them would start to roll back on some of these ideas and would give the public a say in the way that certain elements of museums and exhibits can be organized and presented. Today the role of the public historian is just that: present history to the public, preferably in a way that people can understand and relate to so that they might be able to take something away from a museum visit or even just looking at an exhibit. Moving even further, the public historian should look at what is most factual and find a way to present that to the public free of any bias. In addition to that, when the public historian is looking for that factual information, they should reach out; we have seen and read this in many of our texts, and reaching out beyond the museum space is crucial to getting an understanding of historical topics and how people grapple with these various ideas. Without the public historian, the way information is disseminated through museums could be manipulated to fit certain ideas that have biases and do not properly reflect historical events or give an entire picture of said historical event. Overall, the role that the public historian plays is the role of being able to present history to the public in a way that is as factual as possible and is free from bias from outside forces that might want to promote other ideas.

Hanley House Fall Festival

Aiden Drohr — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 03:33:00 GMT

On Thursday, September 17th, we attended the Hanley Fall Festival, which was held at the Hanley Historic House in Clayton, MO. As part of the festival, we interviewed community members to learn how they felt about the Hanley House and their place in the history of the house and the city of Clayton. I only got the chance to interview one community member, but he and I talked for a long time because he had a wealth of knowledge and unique experiences with the house. He told me that he had lived in Clayton since he was a young kid and had grown up just behind the house while the Yore sisters (granddaughters of the original Hanley family) still lived there. He told me how he would regularly see them out and around the house. We then talked about the house’s historical impact, particularly the importance of the enslaved quarters and how important it is that the structure survived. He also said that he could feel a connection to the Hanley family, as much like his own ancestors; they came from Virginia to settle in the area in the 1850s. While he didn't give specifics about what his family did once they arrived, he said he felt a connection between his family and the Hanteys. During the festival, the house was open to visitors. It was interesting to see how people interact with the house, since it now has no interpretation of the artifacts and no plaques or signs inside, so people generally don’t spend much time there. That’s our job, as over the next few months we will hopefully add meaningful, impactful interpretation to this house, since you can tell so many stories from not only St. Louis history but also American history. The founding of the city of Clayton, the St. Louis City-County split, the American Civil War, and westward expansion are all historical themes that connect back to the Hanley House and make it so important to this community.

A Decolonized View of the 1904 World’s Fair

Aiden Drohr — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 02:48:12 GMT

The 1904 World’s Fair and Olympic Games marked a pivotal moment in St. Louis's history. For six months, the world's attention narrowed on St. Louis, with people eager to walk through massive palaces filled with art and machinery, try new foods from around the world, and ride George Ferris’s wheel. However, while these wonders were there, the fair would ultimately be a microcosm of the world it reflected. That world was one where the United States continued to expand in the days after the Spanish-American War and spread its imperial influence across the world. This was also a world where most people viewed those of European descent as superior to other people in the world, and this sentiment would not be displayed at the fair, but it would be displayed so arrogantly at the fair that today it can be interpreted as nothing else but the U.S. trying to make itself and its empire seem like the best in the world.

One of the best institutions to learn about the 1904 World’s Fair is the Missouri History Museum located in St. Louis. The MHS recently renovated its exhibit on the 1904 World’s Fair, and the new exhibit includes a 17-by-25-foot model of the fair itself. While the model definitely can dominate the exhibit, the walls are surrounded by extensive information about the fair. One section of the exhibit is dedicated to the human zoos and the fair’s representation of the U.S. empire. The most extensively covered part is the Philippine Reservation at the fair. In 1904, the idea was that the best way to show off the U.S.’s newest imperial possession was to build an entire Philippine village, then transport people from the Philippines and showcase them at the fair. It would become one of the fair’s infamous human zoos. In recent years, the History Museum has made a greater effort to tell the history of a given topic or person from all sides, and this exhibit is no different. The display for the Philippine Reservation makes it very clear that the sole reason for this village’s existence was for the personification of the U.S. empire and to try to showcase the superiority of the white man over uncivilized people. In the display itself, it point-blank calls the village racist and states that fair planners were using the reservation to justify imperialism. While I have no benchmark for what past exhibits may have looked like, overall the current exhibit does a very good job of presenting this story as it was, without sparing any detail, and using words like “racist,” as I have seen other museums tiptoe around strong words like that at point-blank call-out events like these. In addition to the explanation of the village, the exhibit includes four real artifacts from the Philippine Village, which elevates the impact because you are not just reading a sign; you are also confronted with real historical artifacts. Overall, the Missouri History Museum has done an excellent job decolonizing the history of the World’s Fair by presenting the facts as they are.

Intro Post

Aiden Drohr — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 20:15:37 GMT

My name is Aiden Drohr, and I have been interest in history for a while and more recently a growing interest in museums for a while now, which is partially what has led me to the MHPH program at UMSL. I graduated from Maryville University in May with a BA in History. My primary interest in history is transportation, specifically railroad history. That interest is what has led me to my current job at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. I have worked at the museum for just a little over four years now, and I have served in many different roles over that time, doing and learning all kinds of different skills. I started as a tour guide, I then operated their miniature train, I worked in the library and archives for a summer as an intern, and I did adjunct maintenance every once in a while. All of that has led me to my current role as the museum’s curatorial assistant and museum operations associate. In this role, I have taken on more projects with the core of the museum’s collection and have continued to broaden my skills when it comes to museum work. My work at the Transportation Museum has primarily led me to this course, as one of my colleagues made me aware of it. Once I have finished my time in the program, I hope to be able to expand my work and hopefully stay at the Transportation Museum long-term if it’s a doable option at that point. If I am unable to stay at the Transportation Museum, I wish to remain in the railroad preservation scene, as there are many great institutions and sites across the country that I would love to work with or for at some point in my life. Overall, I hope to gain a better understanding of museum work through this program, and I hope to use what I learn in my job.

Introduction Post

Aiden Drohr — Sat, 05 Sep 2026 02:21:36 GMT

Hello, my name is Aiden Drohr. I’m a student in the Museum Heritage and Public History program at the University of Missouri St. Louis. I graduated with a Degree in History from Maryville University in St. Louis, and I want to continue to pursue my education in history and museum work. My background is predominantly in railroad and transportation history, as I have worked at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis County for the past 4 years. Because of my involvement at the Transportation Museum, I have continued my education, as working there has fostered my love of museum spaces. Talking about museum spaces, there are various different ways that museums can feel welcoming and other ways that they feel alienating. I have a few examples from my own experiences. One way I feel welcomed at a museum is in large open spaces (great hall, atrium, tall ceilings, etc.), especially when these spaces are well-lit. One example from my own experience is the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, where much of the museum is housed in a large building with tall ceilings and skylights throughout. One way I feel alienated at a museum is when there is a lack of interpretation; for me at least, it makes it seem like the museum doesn’t even know what they are. One place where this happened to me was not necessarily a museum, but still a very historic structure at St. Louis Union Station. There is little to no history of the building displayed anywhere, and it now has more in common with an amusement park than anything else, which is unfortunate for a deeply historic building like that. In this particular class, we are working at the Hanley House in Clayton, MO, in preparation for its reopening next year. We are going to be doing work on interpreting objects and the house's history, with the hope that some of this information will be used upon its reopening to the public.