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MoHistory

10 Historic Fashion Pieces Inspiring Runway-Ready Designs

15 hours 19 minutes ago
Threads, our highly anticipated signature fundraiser, is returning on April 18, 2024. This year, St. Louis-based designers have been selected to create a 21st-century piece inspired by an item of their choice from the Missouri Historical Society’s textile collection. Check out the 10 historic artifacts that inspired these student and professional designers to make bold, …
Winter Racine

1960s Spring Fashion Trends as Seen in Prom Magazine

2 days 15 hours ago
St. Louis teenagers from the late 1940s to the early 1970s eagerly anticipated the next issue of Prom magazine as their go-to source for all things high school—sports, homecoming, graduation, and fashion trends. The magazine featured a fashion editor and advertisements for local department stores like Famous-Barr and Stix Baer & Fuller, which were St. Louis …
Brittany Krewson

The Campaign to Save St. Louis’s Last Chinese Laundry

1 week ago
You might not expect to find a 46-year-old cardboard box in the Missouri Historical Society Collections. But this seemingly everyday item, still in relatively good condition, held a shrine belonging to Gee Wong and Gee Hong, the owners of the last hand-wash Chinese laundry in St. Louis. The story of their business, Sam Wah Laundry, …
Brittany Krewson

The People’s Princess: The Impact of Princess Diana’s Death in St. Louis

2 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 …
Lyndsey Watkins

A Painter of Exceptional Gifts: Hannah Brown Skeele in St. Louis

2 weeks 3 days ago
The highly skillful and evocative work of local artist Hannah Brown Skeele still thrills and engages us today. As an independent and assertive single woman working in a worldly and cosmopolitan city on the edge of the American frontier, Skeele won numerous awards and male critics lauded her art. She also may have associated with …
Lyndsey Watkins

Built St. Louis: Clay, Part 1

3 weeks ago
This post is part of a series about the materials that built St. Louis. The story of St. Louis becoming a brick metropolis is one of getting extremely geographically lucky. Just south of Forest Park, in the area commonly known as Dogtown, is the Cheltenham syncline. The geologic term refers to the bowl-shaped dips in the rock …
Brittany Krewson

Mind the Gap: Thinking Historically about Untold Stories

4 weeks ago
Thinking Historically is a series of short talks and conversations presented at the Missouri History Museum’s monthly family event History Exploration Days. The series is designed to help learners and visitors of all ages explore how historians think about and make sense of the past and the present. Maria Explains the Gap of Uncollected History …
Brittany Krewson

New to the Collections: African American History

1 month ago
The Missouri Historical Society’s African American History Initiative (AAHI) supports the collection of unique artifacts and materials concerning historically underrepresented communities, the development of future museum professionals, and the preservation of African American resources and history in the greater St. Louis area. Here are a few items exploring the African American experience in St. Louis …
Brittany Krewson

Built St. Louis: Sandstone

1 month 1 week ago
This post is part of a series about the materials that built St. Louis. Southwest of St. Louis the landscape rises into rolling hills and exposes a long, thin strip of sandstone that stretches from Eureka and Pacific down southeast toward Crystal City and Festus. Sandstone is extremely soft and crumbles apart very easily, so it wasn’t useful …
Brittany Krewson

Celebrating Lunar New Year in St. Louis

1 month 2 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 …
Brittany Krewson

The Life of William Blue and the Power of a Diary

1 month 3 weeks ago
As a notable bandmaster, talented cornetist, composer, and teacher, William Joseph Blue spent his life sharing his passion for music with the world. He was born to George and Mary Blue on July 25, 1875, in Bloomfield, Missouri. After marrying Eva Mapp on September 8, 1898, the couple moved to St. Louis around 1900. Blue’s …
Lyndsey Watkins

Thinking Historically: Activism

1 month 4 weeks ago
Thinking Historically is a series of short talks and conversations presented at the Missouri History Museum’s monthly family event History Exploration Days. The series is designed to help learners and visitors of all ages explore how historians think about and make sense of the past and the present. In this blog post, readers can study …
Lyndsey Watkins

St. Louis’s Prankster Police Reporter

2 months 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 …
Lyndsey Watkins

What Could Have Been: A Different Vision for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

2 months ago
One of the most iconic American landmarks is the Gateway Arch, which stands on the site of the original French town of St. Louis. It would be hard to imagine a St. Louis without the Gateway Arch. But the Arch we see today was just one of many designs entered into the 1947 architectural competition …
Lyndsey Watkins