Hidden in Plain Sight: A Missouri History Podcast has an interview with Elyssa Ford and Melissa Middleswart at the Nodaway County Historical Society about Alma Nash.
(often referred to as “Hidden Missouri”) is a non-fiction audio series hosted and produced by the mother-daughter team Margot McMillen and Heather Roberson. [1]
- Margot McMillen lives on her independent farm, Terra Bella Farm, located near Fulton, Missouri (specifically within southern Callaway County).
- Heather Roberson is a writer and journalist who is based out of New York, New York. [1, 2]
Because of their different geographic bases, they leverage digital recording setups and grant partnerships to collaborate remotely across states for the podcast.
Focus and Themes
- Overlooked Stories: The podcast explores underreported historical figures, places, and cultural milestones across Missouri rather than mainstream or top-level political narratives. [1, 2, 3]
- Project Support: The series is supported by grants and partnerships, including the Missouri Humanities. [1]
- Key Topics Covered:
- The story of Martha Jane Chisley Tolton and the Brush Creek Church in Ralls County.
- The 1855 case of Celia, an enslaved teenager in Callaway County, leading to a historic posthumous pardon.
- Early forest management and the depression-era history of Shannondale in Shannon County.
- The legacy of Mark Twain at the Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site in Monroe County.
- Women’s suffrage and community history, such as Alma Nash and the Nodaway County Historical Society. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Episodes are available on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Podcast Addict. [1, 2]
The hosts of Hidden in Plain Sight: A Missouri History Podcast, Margot Ford McMillen and Heather Roberson, are a mother-daughter team of authors, historians, and educators dedicated to preserving the lesser-known cultural history of the Show-Me State. [1, 2]
Margot Ford McMillen
Margot Ford McMillen is a Missouri-based historian, author, educator, and independent farmer. Her career spans decades of oral history preservation, grassroots media, and academic instruction. [1, 2]
- Academic Background: In the late 1970s, she pursued a graduate degree in English. She later worked as an instructor at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. [1, 2]
- Oral History & Preservation: Her interest in capturing vanishing history began in the 1970s when the Union Electric utility company began purchasing farmland in southern Callaway County for a nuclear power plant. Equipped with a recording kit, she gathered oral histories from local train engineers, riverboat captains, and independent farmers to document a disappearing rural way of life. [1]
- Media & Radio: McMillen co-hosts the weekly sustainable agriculture radio program Farm and Fiddle on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Missouri, where she advocates for local farmers and rural communities. [1, 2]
- Farming: She owns and operates Terra Bella Farm near Hatton, Missouri, where she raises sheep and cattle and rents land to young agricultural interns growing herbs and vegetables. [1]
- Solo Publications:
Heather Roberson
Heather Roberson is an author who began her career collaborating with her mother to uncover and write about the histories of disenfranchised or overlooked populations in Missouri. [1, 2]
- Early Career: Roberson entered the media landscape early on, writing a daily column for the Columbia Daily Tribune.
- Education: She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
- Audio Production: In addition to co-hosting and researching for Hidden in Plain Sight, Roberson manages the audio storytelling production workflows for their independent grant-funded projects. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Joint Literary Works
Before launching their audio series, the duo co-authored two historical books part of the Missouri Heritage Readers series, focusing heavily on marginalized narratives: [1, 2]
- Called to Courage: Four Women in Missouri History (2002) – Examines the lives of four impactful Missouri women who navigated cultural and systemic obstacles to influence state history. [1]
- Into the Spotlight: Four Missouri Women (2004) – Chronicles the stories of four additional figures, including Sacred Sun (Mohongo), an Osage woman who traveled to Europe in 1827 following the loss of tribal lands. [1]
Alma Nash
Alma Nash (1883–1965) was an American musician, bandleader, and prominent Missouri suffragist best known for leading an all-women’s marching band at the head of the historic 1913 national women’s suffrage parade in Washington, D.C. [1]
Notability
- Suffrage Bandleader: She conducted the Missouri Ladies Military Band (composed of women from Maryville and Nodaway County, Missouri). [1]
- 1913 D.C. Suffrage Parade: On March 3, 1913, parade organizers placed her band at the very head of the entire massive national suffrage procession down Pennsylvania Avenue to open a path through the dense crowds. [1, 2]
- Statewide Advocacy: Following the parade, she led a suffrage musical tour across central Missouri to build support for voting rights. [1]
- Commemoration: She is honored on the National Votes for Women Trail with a historic marker supported by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. [1]
Connections to Maryville
- Birth and Early Life: She was born in Maryville, Missouri, on June 14, 1883, to Dr. George A. Nash (a local physician and surgeon) and Mary C. (Houston) Nash. [1]
- Education: She attended Maryville High School and graduated from the Maryville Seminary in 1902, where she specialized in string instruments. [1, 2]
- Local Music Career: In 1905, she opened her own teaching studio—the Maryville School of Banjo, Mandolin, and Guitar—located above her father’s medical office on Buchanan Street. She also founded local ensembles, including the Elite Mandolin Orchestra. [1]
- Community Roots: Her all-women band that marched in Washington was rooted directly in Maryville, and after leaving the area around 1920, she was laid to rest at Miriam Cemetery in Maryville following her passing in 1965.
Jokes
Jokes about Alma Nash
Here are a few jokes inspired by Alma Nash and her historic Maryville-to-D.C. marching band:
- The Ultimate Crowd-buster
Parade organizers didn’t put the Missouri Ladies Military Band at the very front of the 1913 march out of alphabetical order. They did it because they knew a wall of determined Maryville women playing banjos, mandolins, and brass at full volume is the most effective crowd-clearing technology known to man. Move over, police escorts—Alma’s tempo waits for no one. - A Very Specific Commute
People in Maryville used to say you could always tell when Alma Nash was teaching a lesson on Buchanan Street. Not because of the music, but because trying to tune a banjo and a mandolin at the same time in 1905 was basically the early-20th-century equivalent of dial-up internet. - The True Test of Suffrage
Marching down Pennsylvania Avenue in front of thousands of people for women’s voting rights takes an incredible amount of courage. But honestly, the real bravery was Alma convincing an entire ensemble of musicians to pack up their banjos, mandolins, and heavy wool uniforms for a 1,000-mile steam train ride from Northwest Missouri to D.C. just to play in the freezing March wind. - The 1913 Sound Check
“Alma, the crowd is blocking the entire street and the police aren’t helping!”
Alma: “Don’t worry. Hit the bass drum and tell the mandolins to play aggressively in G-major. They’ll move.”
Jokes about Hidden in Plain Sight: A Missouri History Podcast
- Why do Margot and Heather make the perfect podcasting duo?
Because nothing says “family bonding” like digging up three-hundred-year-old local gossip from Callaway County. - Why is it so hard to get an interview scheduled for the show?
Because one host is dealing with New York subway delays, the other is chasing sheep on a farm in Fulton, and the guest has been dead since 1855. - Did you hear about the listener who tried to use the podcast as a GPS guide through Missouri?
They ended up completely lost, but they did find three forgotten suffrage monuments, a historic barn, and an old cornet. - Why do the hosts never argue about the audio editing?
Because after researching centuries of historic Missouri family feuds, they know better than to start a new one. - What’s the unofficial motto of the podcast?
“We’re here to prove that Missouri history is just like the weather—if you don’t like it, just wait a century, and someone will uncover a weird law about it.”