5 Joplin alumni, community trailblazer recognized at hall of fame event

Oct. 19—The Joplin Schools Foundation celebrated a new district milestone with its first Hall of Fame induction ceremony Tuesday for outstanding alumni who had attended one of Joplin's four public high schools.

Katherine Browne, Emerson Foulke, Jim Goodknight, Henry W. Robertson Jr. and Mary Curtis Chenoweth Warten were part of the first class to be inducted Tuesday. African American educator and activist Melissa Fuell Cuther was also honored posthumously with the foundation's inaugural Meritorious Award for her dedication to the Joplin School District.

The awardees were given plaques, and their names are now part of a permanent Joplin Schools Hall of Fame installation located in the Joplin High School Performing Arts Center. The inductees were nominated by community members, vetted by a nominating committee and chosen by a selection committee.

Gloria Turner, president of the Joplin Schools Foundation, said the Hall of Fame has been several years in the making.

The Hall of Fame, officially established in 2021, recognizes and honors the achievements of outstanding alumni who have excelled in their career and life pursuits. The vision of the Joplin Schools Foundation is providing all students inspiration, opportunities and a helping hand so no dream is out of reach.

Bryan Vowels, chairman of the Hall of Fame committee, said the goal is to celebrate the history and future of the schools by highlighting the achievements of the students who have walked the halls.

"We want to use that celebration of history to inspire future students to do great things in their lives," he said.

Event proceeds from the banquet will benefit the foundation's Sue Day Scholarship to support Joplin graduates as they pursue a postsecondary education.

To be recognized in the Hall of Fame, an individual must have spent a majority of their education at one of Joplin's four public high schools: Joplin, Parkwood, Memorial or Lincoln. They must also have been out of school for at least 25 years.

—Browne graduated from Memorial High School in 1972 and is a professor and renowned anthropologist. After working nearly three decades as a professor in the department of anthropology and geography at Colorado State University, Browne was named the winner of the prestigious Franz Boas Award for Exemplary Service to Anthropology in November 2018.

In 2019, Browne was appointed as a University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University, a title awarded to only 1% of all 1,500 tenure-track faculty. She has also been recognized through teaching awards including Best Teacher Award from the Colorado State University Alumni Association in 2011 and the Ann Gill Excellence in Teaching Award in 2016.

"Anything we can do to bring attention to the fundamental mission of education, I'm in favor of because I am an educator, and I think it's really special for me to get an award where there's an acknowledgement of my hometown," Browne told the Globe. "I experienced a lot of great things here growing up, and it's kind of coming back full circle."

—Foulke, who died in 1997, was a graduate of Joplin High School Class of 1947 and was known for his research regarding blindness and Braille. He established the research laboratory at the University of Louisville and served as a professor of psychology for more than 25 years. He was recognized with a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Louisville. He served as the director of the International Braille Research Center in the mid-1990s and was a leader of the National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky.

Foulke received the Distinguished Blind Educator of the Year Award by the National Federation of the Blind in 1993. He was also widely published in the field of Braille and tactile communications. He was one of the pioneers of the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille and a leader of the National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky. He won the Louis Braille Memorial Award for significant contributions to Braille and tactile communication from the International Braille Research Center in 1997.

—Goodknight is a 1962 graduate of Joplin High School and a U.S. Army veteran. He served as a general partner at Edward Jones for decades and is known as an innovative industry leader. He served in the U.S. Army in 1966 and 1967, spending a year in Vietnam.

In 1970, Goodknight joined Edward D. Jones, where he became a general partner in the firm and served as a regional leader until 1993. He oversaw the firm's branches in southern Missouri, Southeast Kansas, Northeast Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Goodknight retired in 2002 and was named the Touchstone Award winner in 1997, one of the highest recognitions an associate of Edwards Jones can receive. He was recognized as an outstanding alumnus at Missouri Southern State University in 2006. The Edward Jones Investment Center at the university was dedicated in his honor that same year. He was later inducted into the Edward Jones Hall of Fame in 2011.

"This is a real honor, and it's very much appreciated," Goodknight said. "I know that the foundation does a huge amount of good, and if I can be some part of that, now or in the future, then I'm all for it."

—Robertson is a 1947 graduate of Joplin High School, where he played football and was an accomplished athlete on the basketball court and in track. He received eight letters during his high school career. He was also in Joplin High School ROTC and served as class president where students held scrap drives to contribute to the war and postwar effort.

He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1953. Upon his return home, he joined his uncle's car sales business, R&S Motor Sales Co., and became secretary-treasurer of the company in 1958.

The nomination form said that Robertson has achieved numerous recognitions over the years for his leadership abilities in his own business and his contributions to Joplin business and economic development. He received Time magazine's Quality Dealer Award in 1996 for leadership in his business and work in the community. He was added to the Beta Theta Pi Wall of Fame at the Chapter House at the University of Missouri in 2014.

"It's an overwhelming honor to be associated with this inaugural group," Robertson said. "I think that the foundation has a great objective by nominating people for this Hall of Fame to show that Joplin students can achieve and reach objectives that can help the community."

—Chenoweth Warten, who died in 1991, was a 1933 graduate of Joplin High School who became a writer, actress and community leader. She served as director for the Radio, Television and Motion Picture Information Association of the American Red Cross in the Eastern Area during World War II. She worked as a fashion publicist and coordinator for the Retail Merchants Bureau of the New Orleans Association of Commerce. She was fashion director from 1947 to 1948 for Godchaux in New Orleans as well as the first regional director and founder of The New Orleans Fashion Group Inc., according to her obituary.

In the early 1960s, she was one of the founders of the Joplin Council for the Arts, serving as president from 1965 to 1980. She was also the cultural chair of the Joplin Chamber of Commerce for 10 years. She organized the first Fall Festival of the Arts in 1967 and was a leader in the creation of the Post Memorial Art Library and of the Spiva Center for the Arts.

The nomination form said that the capstone to her public service was the Thomas Hart Benton mural in Joplin City Hall, which was his last mural. She convinced Benton to paint the mural, found the funding for the project and made sure it was completed.