Center for Missouri Studies from Peace Park (June 2020)

The State Historical Society of Missouri, a private membership and state funded organization, is a comprehensive research facility located in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

, specializing in the preservation and study of Missouri's cultural heritage. Established in 1898 by the Missouri Press Association and made a trustee of the state in 1901, the Society is the official historical society of the state of Missouri and is located on the campus of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in Downtown

. The Society publishes the quarterly ''

Missouri Historical Review The ''Missouri Historical Review'' is an academic journal of history published by the State Historical Society of Missouri concerning the history and history related topics of the State of Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern r ...

'', the only scholarly academic journal produced in the state. The Society engages in a number of outreach programs to bring Missouri's history to the public. Such programs are the Missouri History in Performance theatre, the Missouri History Speakers' Bureau, and the Missouri Conference on History. The collection of the Society, concerning pamphlets, books, and state publications, is over 460,000 items. In addition, the Society has over 500,000 manuscript items, 2,900 maps, over 150,000 state archival records, and over 57,000 reels of

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...

. In 2011, the Western Manuscript Collection, accessible in Columbia,

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, Rolla, and

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, specializing in the preservation and collection of Missouri and Middle West history, was absorbed into the Society.

History

Establishing an official state historical society had been discussed a few years before its eventual founding in 1898 but did not gain substantial backing until the topic was raised at a January 1898 meeting of the Missouri Press Association. Two of the chief supporters were Edwin W. Stephens, later first president of the Society, and Walter Williams, founder of the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...

, and a third, Isidor Loeb, a member of the University of Missouri's history and political science faculty. At the January meeting, the proposal met with support of the members and a committee was established to draw up a constitution and bylaws for a historical society that would serve the state of Missouri. In this formative period of the Society's underpinnings, Stephens and Williams sought and received great support from the University of Missouri. Such was the support, that the not yet formed Society was given space in present-day

Jesse Hall Jesse Hall is the main administration building for the University of Missouri. Its dome has towered 180 feet above the south end of David R. Francis Quadrangle since its completion in 1895. In the lawn in front of Jesse Hall are The Columns, all ...

. Progress advanced quickly and only four months later, at the association's annual meeting on May 26, the Missouri Press Association voted to create the State Historical Society of Missouri, and named Stephens as its president, as well, Williams as its secretary.Havig,''A Centennial History of the State Historical Society of Missouri'', p. 21. The Society's leaders sought to see the formal adoption of the historical society by the state. In just under a year, their lobbying efforts were awarded by the passage of a bill by the Fortieth General Assembly, signed into law on May 4, 1899, by Governor Lon Stephens, which established the Society as a trustee of the state. However, the Society did not receive its first appropriation until 1901. That amount was $4,500 dollars, intended to service the Society from 1901 to 1902. The 1899 bill stated precisely the duties of the new state historical society: Newspapers formed the nucleus of the Society's collection, because of the society's close relationship with editors. Membership could be gained for such men by the annual donation of their papers, and after ten years, a lifetime membership granted. Secretary Loeb quickly sought to expand the collection further, putting out a request to citizens of the state for all types of items, both public and private, and including "

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s." The collection received a noted boost in 1901 by the donations of the new secretary, Francis Asbury Sampson, which consisted of nearly 2,000 books and just over 14,000 pamphlets. Additionally, he convinced the Sedalia Natural History Society to donate an equally considerable collection of books and pamphlets, as well maps and charts. In the same time period, the Society prepared an exhibit on the state's newspapers for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and began the first publications of the ''Missouri Historical Review.'' The growing collection necessitated the need for more space to store it. Slowly the society had expanded its presence in Jesse Hall, storing much of its collection in its basement, while taking over the first floor of the building. By 1902, the Society had begun looking for the resources for a new facility, going so far as attempting to lobby library philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

.Havig,''A Centennial History of the State Historical Society of Missouri'', p. 39. Just over a dozen years later in 1915, the Society moved into the newly built Ellis Library, its home ever since.

Shoemaker years

At approximately the same time, Floyd C. Shoemaker joined the Society and began a forty-five year career with the institution. In his time, Shoemaker accomplished a number of milestones under the Society. One such accomplishment was a campaign to establish the Society's membership as the largest in the nation, with the membership expanding from 1,285 in 1916 to 3,356 in 1936. While the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

did not seriously affect the Society, it did become involved in several ways with the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

programs. For a couple years, it hired men from the

National Youth Administration The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal agency sponsored by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency. It focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. It operated from June 26, 1935 to ...

to assist in the moving books and newspapers. As well as hiring women from the

Civil Works Administration The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a short-lived job creation program established by the New Deal during the Great Depression in the United States to rapidly create mostly manual-labor jobs for millions of unemployed workers. The jobs were ...

to complete needed tasks about the Society such as updating the Society's "Who's Who" files for the state and indexing selected newspapers.Havig,''A Centennial History of the State Historical Society of Missouri'', p. 68. The Society also assisted the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It ...

and the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. Joining Shoemaker at the Society in the same time period was George Mahan, who served as a trustee and as president. Mahan's contributions included a post-mortem donation to allow the Society to purchase books for the Society's

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

collection, as well as the payment for the Society for the establishment of twenty-nine roadside

historical marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

s along United States highway 36 from

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

. The staff of the Society researched each marker and wrote their inscriptions. The Society would expand the historic marker program over the next decades, planting them across the state. Shoemaker also continued to expand the Society's collection, writing personal requests with some success. In 1932, Shoemaker cataloged donations for that year consisting of, "1,207 books, 964 pamphlets, 1 painting, 86 photographs and negatives, 28 manuscript collections, 3 ledger books, 1 medal, 49 clippings, 4 sheets of music, and 4 poems," not including newspaper donations. Shoemaker pushed for more publications from the Society, which ranged from books to newspaper weeklies. From 1925 to 1939, the Society published a series of articles entitled, ''This Week in Missouri History'', that appeared in at least one paper in 97 of the 114 counties across the state, including St. Louis.Havig,''A Centennial History of the State Historical Society of Missouri'', p. 90. Begun in 1922, the Society embarked on a twenty volume project that concluded in 1965, entitled ''The Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of the State of Missouri.'' These volumes included biographical sketches, in addition to the documentation. Shoemaker proudly considered the ''Missouri Historical Review'' as one of the finest such publications in the country at the time.

Center for Missouri Studies

On August 10, 2019, the 198th anniversary of Missouri's statehood, the Center for Missouri Studies opened in Columbia. The center is a large public facility built to replace Ellis Library as the headquarters of the State Historical Society of Missouri. It contains a vastly expanded gallery/collection display area, a library/reading room, classrooms, offices, open and closed stacks, microfilm rooms, art restoration lab, a large event room, and a gift shop. The Center for Missouri Studies is located on Elm Street on the University of Missouri campus in Downtown Columbia, across from Peace Park. File:Center for Missouri Studies from the southeast (June 2020).jpg, From across Elm Street File:Center for Missouri Studies Elm Street entrance (June 2020).jpg, Elm Street entrance File:Center for Missouri Studies alley (June 2020).jpg, Loading dock and alley File:Center for Missouri Studies southwest corner (June 2020).jpg, Elm and 5th Street File:Center for Missouri Studies North Entrance (June 2020).jpg, North entrance and parking lot

Collections and exhibits

The Society houses a large collection of works by famed Missouri artists

George Caleb Bingham George Caleb Bingham (March 20, 1811 – July 7, 1879) was an American artist, soldier and politician known in his lifetime as "the Missouri Artist". Initially a Whig Party (United States), Whig, he was elected as a delegate to the Missouri legisl ...

and Thomas Hart Benton, in addition to other artists. Overall, the Society possesses over four thousand pieces of artwork, including paintings, lithographs, sketches, and engravings. The editorial cartoon collection includes works by Daniel Fitzpatrick, S. J. Ray, Don Hesse, Tom Engelhardt, and renown

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

artist,

Bill Mauldin William Henry Mauldin (; October 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) was an American editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers, as represented by the ...

. The Society also contains photography and map collections. The State Historical Society of Missouri hosts changing exhibits of art and history drawn from its collections. All exhibits and collections are open and fully accessible to the public.

George Caleb Bingham collection

One of the prominent artists of the Society's collection is George Caleb Bingham. Though born in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, Bingham grew up and lived in Missouri. Famed for his depictions of everyday life on the rivers flowing through and along the state, as well for his portraiture, one of his most famous works is ''General Order No. 11.'' A crown jewel of the Society's collection, the painting depicts the forced removal of Missourians from western counties during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

by the general order of

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is als ...

. The collection of Bingham's artwork owned by the Society represents one of the largest in the nation.

Jon Luvelli Collection

The Society has an established collection by international recognized street photographer Jon Luvelli. Luvelli's fine art photography has garnered worldwide recognition for his distinguished images of rural America townscapes. A native of

Como, Italy Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

, Luvelli was raised in a Mid-Missouri farm town. His work casts an aesthetic spotlight on contemporary life in the rural routes and small-town streets of the Show-Me State. Luvelli's work also conveys social messages, never shying away from the complicated subjects of racism, poverty, sexuality, abuse, and addiction.

Daniel Fitzpatrick Collection

Daniel R. Fitzpatrick is a two-time

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning, editorial cartoonist for the

St. Louis Post Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, serving the Greater St. Louis, St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpass ...

has become one of the largest collections for the Society with over 1,500 original cartoon drawings. Social, political, and aesthetic attitudes shaped his artwork, with a special focus on the cartoons he created during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

era.

Libraries

The Society's Newspaper Library has the largest collection of Missouri state newspapers in the nation beginning with the very first newspaper published in 1808. Thousands of newspapers on microfilm are available to the public at the Society or via inter-library loan. The Society has at least one newspaper for each of Missouri's one hundred and fourteen counties. In 2008 the Society was chosen to participate in the

National Digital Newspaper Program The National Digital Newspaper Program is a joint project between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress to create and maintain a publicly available, online digital archive of historically significant newspapers publi ...

, a joint initiative sponsored by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

to digitize historically significant newspapers. Select newspapers from the Society collection between the years 1880 and 1922 appear on the

Chronicling America ''Chronicling America'' is an open access, open source newspaper database and companion website. It is produced by the United States National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endowme ...

website. The Society also has a collection of digital newspapers available through its own website. The Society's Reference Library is home to over half a million volumes of published secondary sources on Missouri and the Middle West. Family histories, county histories, city directories, official state publications, church histories, scholarly journals, and genealogical indexes are among the many items that the public can consult. One of the Society's most notable collections is the J. Christian Bay Collection of Western Americana.

Western Historical Manuscript Collection

A joint collection held between the University of Missouri and the Society, the Western Historical Manuscript Collection (WHMC) is accessible at various locations throughout the state. Each of the four locations offer different historical material; the WHMC in Kansas City, specializes in the history and culture of Kansas City; the WHMC collection located at the

Missouri University of Science and Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Missouri S&T, is a public research university in Rolla, Missouri. It is a member institution of the University of Missouri System. Most of its 7,645 students (fall 2020) study engineering, busin ...

features material concerning the

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...

highland and southern Missouri; and likewise, the WHMC office in St. Louis focuses on collecting material relating to the history of St. Louis and its surrounding region. The WHMC location in Columbia, Missouri, specializes on the history of the state from prior its establishment to the present, as well as, "the trans-Mississippi West: social and cultural, religious and educational, military and political, economic and legal, business and labor, urban and rural, ethnic, environmental, and many others."Western Historical Manuscript Collection site on Columbia location.
The Columbia collection consists in part of diaries, letters, photographs, and other material, of Missourians ranging from farmers, bankers, and frontier pioneers. In 2011, the Western Historical Manuscript Collection was absorbed into the State Historical Society and ceased to exist. The manuscripts and collection of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection can be accessed at the Society's Research Center located in Ellis Library and at Society research centers in Kansas City, St. Louis, Rolla, Cape Girardeau, and Springfield.

Outreach

In an effort to bring history to the public, the Society operates a number of programs. The Missouri History in Performance (MoHiP) is one such way. Through MoHiP, playwrights craft performances concerning moments in Missouri history, often which use the talents of folk musicians Cathy Barton and Dave Para. Often the playwrights draw upon 19th century plays, personal letters, and newspaper stories for reference. Another avenue adopted by the Society to extend history to the public is the Missouri History Speakers' Bureau. For nearly forty years, the Society, through the Bureau, has made available lecturers to groups and organizations throughout the state to speak on various moments in the state's history. It is funded in part by the Missouri Humanities Council with assistance from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

. Annually, the Society holds the Missouri Conference on History, a multiple day event, in which lectures are given on Missouri related topics in history. In addition, awards are presented to the best book, best journal article, and best graduate student paper concerning state history.

Publications

In addition to the programs described above, the Society reaches the public through the means of publishing the ''Missouri Historical Review'', a quarterly newsletter to members titled the ''Missouri Times'', and books. The ''Missouri Historical Review'', published since 1906, the ''Review'' publishes articles on Missouri history, as well as reviews of books concerning Missouri history. The review is award-winning and published every four months. In 2006, the Society published a number of collections celebrating 100 years of the ''Review'' on specific topics, such as the ''Civil War in Missouri'' and ''Kansas City: America's Crossroads.''

National History Day in Missouri

Since 1989, The State Historical Society of Missouri also sponsors National History Day in Missouri, the state contest for

National History Day National History Day is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland that operates an annual project-based contest for students in grades 6-12. It has affiliates in all fifty states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, American Sam ...

. More than 2,400 students across the state participate in the contest, with more than 500 moving on to state. 50-55 students from Missouri move on to the national contest in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

based on performance in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance/acting, and website.

Missouri Conference of History

The Missouri Conference of History brings together history teachers and professional historians to share results of research, exchange information of teaching and curriculum, to consider ways to promote interest in history and the welfare of the profession and to discuss other concerns common to all historians. The conference takes please yearly at the

University of Missouri-Kansas City A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

References

External links

* {{authority control State historical societies of the United States History of Missouri

Art museums and galleries in Missouri Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, A ...

University museums in Missouri Museums in Columbia, Missouri Libraries in Columbia, Missouri History museums in Missouri Organizations based in Columbia, Missouri Works Progress Administration in Missouri M University of Missouri campus 1898 establishments in Missouri