Jacqueline Dace was the first project director at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. She now works as director of Internal Affairs at the National Blues Museum in St. Louis. She took this job, in part, to be closer to her family.
Through her life, she has had about 20 jobs, and sometimes she worked three jobs at one time. Her first job was at Centreville City Hall in Centreville, Illinois, at age 15.
Her first job in a museum was as a security guard/receptionist at the Missouri History Museum, not a curator. She first left the St. Louis area for Chicago to work at the DuSable Museum of African American History.
She attended Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, and later Webster University, after she graduated from Cahokia High school.
She was only 11 when her mother died and 19 when her father died.
“It’s difficult, and I used to think that my pain was more intense than others because I was so young,” she said. “As I’ve matured, I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter how old you are when your parents die, it’s a loss that you’ll never forget and that you have to learn to live with.”
The National Blues Museum, according to its website, “is the only museum dedicated exclusively to preserving and honoring the national and international story of the blues and its impact on American culture in the United States.”
Dace oversees the museum’s permanent and temporary exhibitions and its education department.
She said, “I love the energy of this space. I love the fact that it is bringing together multiple generations of people to learn to appreciate the blues.”
It is located at 615 Washington Ave. Its hours are 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday and Monday. Admission costs $15 for adults, $12 for people older than 65, $10 for children ages 5-17. For more information, call 314-925-0016 or visit www.nationalbluesmuseum.org.
Academy Journalism is a partnership between The St. Louis American and St. Louis Public Schools founded by DaMaris White, principal of Pierre Laclede Junior Career Academy, where Megan M. O’Brien runs the program with a staff of volunteers organized by The American.
