Molly Ferree spent weeks preparing her exhibit of Nevada's historic homes. The exhibit is now on display at the Bushwhacker Museum. --Nancy Malcom/Herald-Tribune

Nevada, Mo. -- Molly Ferree is an outstanding young woman. Not only did she letter in tennis and track; she was the 2008 Nevada High School valedictorian as well, and the senior class secretary. She received the Laurels G.P.A. Award and served as the National Honor Society president.

As part of her duties in her gifted class (Action) she had to do a service project. With interests in writing and history, she had decided to do a newspaper article about historical houses in Nevada. Although she did complete that task, she determined to do more.

"I'm interested in photography so I expanded it to an independent study project. Most people never get the opportunity to visit these gorgeous Victorian homes so I wanted to give people a view inside."

She didn't anticipate the job would get so large. "I just wanted to take a couple of good pictures from each house. I didn't know how many houses I'd have access to, I just started calling people."

Terry Ramsey at the Bushwhacker Museum offered archived information about the Victorian homes, Ferree said, and she used that as her basic research.

She credits the discipline of setting weekly goals imposed by her teacher as her main asset.

"In my Action class I would pick certain days to contact people. I'd call people four to six different times. It was difficult to schedule a time when the owners and I wouldn't have time conflicts. I'd rush over after track and apologize for my looks. Some would give me complete tours. They all let me take lots of photos."

The interviews, photos, computer work and putting the exhibit together took all of her senior year second semester. At a time when most seniors have a thousand things to attend to, she found herself touring an average of three houses per week.

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"It took me all of January through May to get it all done."

Like all artists and researchers, she has a hindsight wish list. "I wish I could have gone to more of the houses that I couldn't schedule to tour. I had a tight budget or I would have used different material for the backgrounds. I feel I rushed things a little at the end as I was getting ready to graduate."

Touring the homes was the most enjoyable part of her task. "Just being in the houses and learning their history and seeing the different rooms was great. I love taking pictures. Making it all come together was fun. I took pictures in every single room of the things I thought were eye pleasing. I brightened up some of the colors with computer software to highlight what was most impactful. I used over 80 pictures in the exhibit but I took well over 100. I thought I would take only five pictures tops when I first started out." She paused and laughed, "It expanded a lot. My dad helped hang the photos, but I did all of the actual exhibit layout myself. The hardest part was making sure everything stayed down and looked good."

Ferree said the most important lesson she learned from the experience was being organized and trying to get things done to achieve weekly goals. "I could have easily pushed things all to the end otherwise."

Another learning experience was introducing herself to strangers. "Just calling people who've never heard of me before and who were probably wondering why I wanted to come into their home, that was a new experience."

She donated the exhibit to the Bushwhacker Museum so people could share her enjoyment of Nevada's older homes. "I want people to be able to see inside these historic houses. Some of the people who live in them have decorated them like the 19th century. I hope people see how things have changed and appreciate the beauty of these old houses."

Ferree plans to attend college in Spokane, Wash., this fall to prepare for a career in journalism or advertising, but adds that she won't loose her love of history.

Houses featured in her exhibit include those of W.F. Norman, 400 S. College; John Clack, 504 S Cedar; W.A. Armstrong, 1008 N. Washington; Z.C. Kelso, 226 W. Arch; French H. Glenn, 738 W Cherry; W.T. Ballagh, 810 W Cherry; Jacob S. Wachtel, 903 W. Walnut; Albert Churchell, 303 E. Vernon; the Bushwhacker Jail, 231 N. Main; Edward T Steele, 805 W. Cherry; E.J. Warth, 819 N. Washington; Donald Stratton, 321 N. Washington; H.P. Hildebrant, 823 N. Washington; and William D. Bailey, 812 N. Washington.

Two members of the Vernon County Historical Society who are often at the Bushwhacker Museum have only praise for both the exhibit and its creator.

Jean Banks McQueen said, "We feel that Molly's research and work has definitely enhanced the information that we have concerning historic homes in Nevada."

Gary Marquardt commented on the professionalism of her exhibit. "It's not only what she's got -- it's the organization and presentation. Being able to look inside these homes is pretty special."

"Thank you to everyone who let me into their homes -- often on a short notice -- for being willing to work with me," Ferree said.