JOPLIN, Mo. — Many people would like to leave the world a better place after they’ve left the earth, and a Joplin couple did their best to make sure that happened.

If you’ve ever been to the “Post Art Library” section of the Joplin Public Library and wondered ‘who are the people in the two portraits?’ you aren’t alone. These Joplinites are Winfred and Elizabeth Post.

“They were just very active in the community, they had a beautiful large house on 15th Street where they had this massive garden and they had a lot of garden statues, a couple of them still sit outside,” said Mariah Callari, Master’s Degree Research Project.

The couple played a major role in the founding of the Joplin Historical Society as well as the George A. Spiva Center For the Arts.

Callari is doing online graduate work through a university in Boston.

She’s working inside the room to help categorize all of the items donated by the couple, and in some cases hand made by Winfred, and find out what type of condition those items are in.

“There’s a whole slew of their other items in there including the baby book of their child, things from their ancestors, paperwork from the Civil War, those things you know should ideally be preserved and allow people have easy access to them,” said Callari.

Eventually, Callari would like to digitize all of the information she’s amassed, and make it available to the community.

In addition to their love for the arts and history of the area, the couple also had a love for architecture, books on that subject, as well as local history, are already available to visitors, especially those trying to learn about their own family history.