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MoHistory

Exploring Family History: A New MHS Resource

2 days ago
EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to bring a plurality of voices to our storytelling, the Missouri Historical Society frequently asks guest writers to contribute to History Happens Here. The views and opinions expressed by guest contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missouri Historical Society, its affiliates, or …
Lauren Mitchell

Beyond Baby Teeth: Environmental Activism in St. Louis

1 week 1 day ago
With 63 artifacts across 6,000 square feet, Collected has many stories rich in St. Louis history. One case near the gallery’s entrance focuses on St. Louis’s fight against pollution, efforts to safeguard health and the environment, and the development of grassroots movements. Nuclear Testing An object as simple as a baby tooth was instrumental in …
Lauren Mitchell

What Was Mill Creek?

2 weeks 1 day ago
In the first half of the 20th century, Mill Creek was more than a Black neighborhood—it was a world of its own. Tucked into the heart of St. Louis, it felt like a small city within a big city, alive with energy and vigor. Everything urban life could offer was there: shops and restaurants, hotels …
Lauren Mitchell

The Glatz Monocoupe Soars Again at St. Louis Lambert International Airport

3 weeks ago
Suspended high above the ticketing hall of Terminal 2 at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, a striking red aircraft catches the eye of travelers below. This is the Monocoupe 110 Special—an aviation gem with a storied past, lovingly preserved by the Missouri Historical Society. Built in March 1931 by the Mono Aircraft Corporation in Moline, …
Lauren Mitchell

Tuskegee Airman Sgt. George H. Carper

3 weeks 2 days ago
Although much of the public attention to the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II has focused on the nation’s first 992 Black military pilots, more than 14,000 non-pilots share the title of Tuskegee Airmen. This group includes mechanics, nurses, drivers, armorers, cooks, riveters, meteorologists, clerks, machinists, parachute riggers, instructors, radio technicians, firefighters, and other support …
Lauren Mitchell

Designing Our Kids’ Clothes Exhibit

1 month ago
Through nostalgic nods, adorable motifs, and humorous moments, The Life of Kids’ Clothes invites visitors of all ages to explore the Missouri Historical Society’s collection of approximately 2,000 children’s garments from the 19th century to today. As an exhibit designer, I collaborated with Adam MacPhĂ rlain, former curator of clothing and textiles, to develop the exhibit’s …
Lauren Mitchell

Meet Lavinia Sappington Marmaduke

1 month ago
The exhibit Collected introduces visitors to the early work of American painter George Caleb Bingham. Although the artist is nationally renowned, the woman in the portrait on display is unfamiliar to most. Let’s meet Lavinia Sappington Marmaduke (1807–1885). Born in Tennessee, Lavinia attended a young ladies’ seminary in southern Kentucky before her family moved to …
Lauren Mitchell

Soldiers Memorial Military Museum Honors Tuskegee Airman from St. Louis

1 month 1 week ago
The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, known as the Red Tail Angels, were the first Black aviators in the US military. Among them was Captain Charles L. White from St. Louis. Born on June 5, 1921, White was the oldest child of Stanley, a dentist, and Eleanor White. He had two brothers, Stanley and …
Lauren Mitchell

What Visitors Want

1 month 2 weeks ago
The Museum Column Museums are in the headlines quite a bit lately. While that would usually make me happy, most of the recent headlines have focused on the Trump administration’s efforts to get into the museum business by reviewing the historic content found in national parks and at the Smithsonian. Museum organizations have responded, including …
Lauren Mitchell

The St. Louis Story, One Chapter at a Time

1 month 3 weeks ago
A play about the legendary comedy acts that passed through Gaslight Square. A discussion of Tennessee Williams’s St. Louis chapter along with performances previewing both the Tennessee Williams Festival and Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s 2026 season. A documentary produced by the Missouri Humanities Council about how Missouri shaped the nation and a discussion with …
Lauren Mitchell

Tennessee Williams in University City

2 months 1 week ago
EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to bring a plurality of voices to our storytelling, the Missouri Historical Society frequently asks guest writers to contribute to History Happens Here. The views and opinions expressed by guest contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missouri Historical Society, its affiliates, or …
Lauren Mitchell

John Berry Meachum and the Steamboat School That Defied the Law

2 months 2 weeks ago
At a time when learning was a crime for Black Missourians, John Berry Meachum found a way to teach freedom. His story exemplifies Black resilience, creativity, and the relentless pursuit of liberation through education. Born into slavery in Virginia in 1789, Meachum spent much of his early life in Kentucky before using the earnings he …
Lauren Mitchell

Chasing Camille Dry

2 months 3 weeks ago
EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to bring a plurality of voices to our storytelling, the Missouri Historical Society frequently asks guest writers to contribute to History Happens Here. The views and opinions expressed by guest contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missouri Historical Society, its affiliates, or …
Lauren Mitchell

Meeting Owney in St. Louis—and at the Fair

3 months 1 week ago
In 1888 a stray dog roamed into a post office in Albany, New York. Perhaps initially attracted to the scent or texture of the canvas mailbags, the free-spirited Owney—a nickname for Owen—started accompanying them onto mail wagons and Railway Mail Service train cars. As Owney traveled throughout the country, Railway Mail Service clerks proudly placed …
Lauren Mitchell

Bringing Home Gold: St. Louis’s Nobel Prize Winners

3 months 1 week ago
St. Louis is home to many amazing things: baseball, toasted ravioli, the Arch, just to name a few. But did you know it’s also been home to over a dozen Nobel Prize winners? The city’s long history as a center of scientific research and innovation is evident throughout the list of laureates. William S. Knowles—along …
Lauren Mitchell

St. Louis Arts and Culture Earn Headlines

3 months 2 weeks ago
The new 1904 World’s Fair exhibit at the Missouri History Museum recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. In its first year, that gallery has earned St. Louis national and international headlines. The good kinds of headlines. The headlines that St. Louis is so in need of. And, unfortunately, the types of headlines St. Louisans talk too …
Lauren Mitchell

Soldiers Memorial Salutes Tuskegee Airmen

3 months 4 weeks ago
On Juneteenth, June 19, Soldiers Memorial Military Museum will open a new traveling exhibit, Tuskegee Airmen: America’s Freedom Flyers. Marking the 160th anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States, Juneteenth is a fitting opening day for a display that honors the contributions of Black members of the US armed forces. While the …
Lauren Mitchell