Founded by longtime preservationists Drs. Mary Ann and Bert Kellerman, the Kellerman Foundation for Historic Preservation exists to ensure the stories of Southeast Missouri’s places are not only protected, but shared. With roots in decades of hands-on restoration and research-driven authenticity, the Foundation supports preservation through studies, restoration projects, exhibits, and public programming—connecting today’s community to the architecture, history, and cultural legacy that shaped it.

Roots in place-based stewardship (1970s–2000s)

Long before the Kellerman Foundation existed as a formal organization, Drs. Mary Ann and Bert Kellerman were already living a preservation-minded life in Cape Girardeau—investing in historic buildings, researching local stories, and modeling the idea that the built environment is a primary record of community memory.

Their preservation work dates back decades. In a later interview about acquiring and repurposing a major historic building, the Kellermans described themselves as having been “in preservation…since 1971.” That long arc is echoed in accounts of their personal commitment to historic properties in Cape Girardeau’s older neighborhoods: Mary Ann Kellerman has written that she and her husband purchased an 1880s-era home near the City Hall area in 1970 and lived there for decades—an early, personal investment in historic residential fabric.

Over time, their work increasingly blended hands-on restoration with public interpretation—not just saving historic structures, but helping residents and visitors understand why they matter.

The Kellermans before the Foundation: professional lives that shaped their preservation approach

Dr. Mary Ann Kellerman built a career at the intersection of design and education. She has described herself as an interior designer and professor Emerita at Southeast Missouri State University, holding a PhD in interior design. In interviews and profiles, she is also described as continuing to operate a design gallery even after retirement from academia. Her training and teaching in design shows up in the way the Kellermans approach preservation: restoration decisions, material authenticity, and the visitor experience are treated as part of one coherent whole.

Dr. Bert Kellerman brought a parallel career in higher education and leadership. He is identified as a retired professor who served as Associate Dean of SEMO’s Harrison College of Business. Southeast Missouri State University’s alumni materials also list him among Faculty Merit Award recipients (1995) as a Professor of Marketing, pointing to a career recognized for impact within the university. His academic and administrative background is often reflected in how the Foundation’s work is framed—combining mission clarity, programming, partnerships, and long-range planning.

Together, their pre-Foundation careers—design + business/organizational leadership—help explain why their preservation efforts tend to be both aesthetically rigorous and institutionally durable.

A landmark example: the Oliver-Leming “Flag House” restoration (2002 onward)

A widely cited milestone in the Kellermans’ preservation story is their acquisition and restoration of the Oliver-Leming House—often called Cape Girardeau’s historic “Flag House.”

Their approach emphasized documentation and authenticity. Mary Ann Kellerman highlighted the importance of original blueprints and specifications, describing the project as unusually precise because restoration choices could be anchored to what was documented in 1895, rather than reconstructed through guesswork. In the same reporting, she described a preservation ethic of replacing only what truly must be replaced—an approach that later becomes part of the Foundation’s identity: preservation as careful stewardship, not cosmetic “updating.”

The Flag House restoration also demonstrates how the Kellermans’ work bridges the private and public: a saved building becomes a community asset through interpretation, storytelling, and heritage tourism.

Formalizing the mission: the Foundation takes shape (2013–present)

As their projects expanded, the Kellermans’ preservation work evolved into an organization with a defined public mission. 2012 is the year the organization was established as the Mary Ann and Bert J. Kellerman Foundation.

Locally, the Kellerman Foundation for Historic Preservation is described as existing to encourage and support historic preservation in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, and to connect the community to its architectural, historical, and cultural legacy by telling its stories. The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce similarly describes the organization as supporting preservation through funded studies and restoration projects, and offering year-round historical exhibits.

A central public-facing expression of the Foundation’s work is Heritage Hall and related exhibits/programming, which the City of Cape Girardeau notes are associated with the Kellerman Foundation and located on Main Street in Cape Girardeau.

Recognition and community role

By the mid-2010s, the Kellermans and the new Foundation were recognized as part of the broader statewide preservation movement. Missouri Preservation’s recap of its 2015 annual conference lists “Drs. Mary Ann and Bert Kellerman and the Kellerman Foundation for Historic Preservation” among the Preservation Legacy Award recipients—placing their work alongside other major people and projects shaping preservation outcomes in the host community.

The Foundation’s public programming has continued into the present through talks and community events (including coverage of ongoing speaker-series programming in early January 2026).

Continuing the work: adaptive reuse and new preservation capacity

The Kellermans’ preservation work has also moved into large-scale adaptive reuse—projects intended not just to save buildings, but to create new capacity for archives, exhibits, and public history.

For example, in 2023 the Kellermans purchased Cape Girardeau’s former City Hall building (historically the Lorimier School), with plans to use the space as a museum and to house and present significant local collections, framing the project as a response to limited space and as a way to keep historic resources active and visible.