This is the first in a series the News­ P­ress calls Property from the Past, focusing attention on the collec­tions of St. Joseph’s museums. Each week, the News­ P­ress is going to pick an item in a museum and tell a story you might not have heard before.

This first week, the News­ P­ress went to the Albrecht-Kemper Muse­um of Art. Upon entry, News­ P­ress readers need only walk a few steps down the hallway, where they will see the painting featured this week. The picture is the “Old Buchanan County Courthouse” by James Pen­ney. This painting has two St. Joseph connections: the obvious subject of the painting and the artist.

Mr. Penney was born in St. Joseph in 1910, one of four children. He de­scribed his home as being on the “outskirts of St. Joseph near Corby Pond.” He lived at 1911 N. 22nd St. Mr. Penney spent his early years in St. Joseph, where his father owned a hay and feed store, the firm of Pen­ney and Penney Feed Co., at 813 S. Seventh St. The industrious father also bought property to fix up. The young man graduated from Webster Elementary School and attended Central High School for two years before the family moved to Kansas.

He developed an early interest in cartooning and studied art at the University of Kansas, graduating during the Depression in 1931. The Depression was continuing to stifle the American economy, so he moved to the East Coast and went to work for the Works Progress Administra­tion. The WPA was a federal relief program that em­ployed people to work on public improve­ment projects. It also hired artists to create public art projects.

Early in his career, Mr. Penney started teaching, and ap­pears to have liked it.

He settled in central New York state in the 1940s and for 21 years was an art instructor at Hamilton College.

In 1963, he was back in the Midwest, creating three mu­rals for the Nebraska state capitol in Lincoln.

In all likelihood, he knew Sheri­dan Logan, another resident who grew up at 1906 N. 22nd St. Mr. Lo­gan, a noted St. Joseph historian, called Mr. Penney in 1972 and told him some locals wanted to tear the courthouse down. The historian en­couraged Mr. Penney to capture the building on canvas before that hap­pened. And the artist finished this painting in 1976.

“It’s a wonderful example of American Impressionism,” said Ter­ry Oldham, museum director.

The painting shows the west en­trance into the courthouse with an afternoon sun shin­ing down. It was a gift from the artist’s wife after Mr. Penney died in 1986.

This oil painting is just one of many pieces created by lo­cal artists that are part of the museum’s collection. The mu­seum, just two doors east of Noyes Boule­vard on the south side of Frederick Avenue, features American art from the past three centuries, including a room filled with West­ern art that captures the life of the American Indian. There are two spe­cial exhibitions currently, showing the work of four artists.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The museum also opens on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Newspapers in Education connection:

Draw a picture of St. Joseph as it might have looked in 1910, when Mr. Penney was born, showing Corby Pond as being on the outskirts of town. Ask an adult what “ the outskirts” means, if you don’t know. Hang your picture to start your own display of American art.