MoHistory

One hundred years ago, arguably the most transformative event in the history of St. Louis occurred with the passage of an $87,372,500 bond issue—about $1.55 billion in 2023 dollars. As of this writing, it remains the third largest municipal bond ever passed in the US. The 20 projects undertaken by its passage facilitated urban renewal, …

Continue reading "The Bond Issue That Transformed St. Louis"

Born in 1883 to Bettie Baxley and Henry Johnson in Clarksville, Tennessee, Jesse J. Johnson became an essential part of Mill Creek Valley’s social culture and the St. Louis blues scene through his personal and business enterprises. Known as the “King of Market Street,” he was a restaurant owner, music promoter, booking agent, businessman, and …

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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 …

Continue reading "Notable Chinese Alumni of Missouri Institutions"

As we enter the height of fall and approach the holiday season, the time comes for many of us to harvest, preserve, bake, and cook seemingly endless amounts of food to share with family and friends. Instead of sticking to the basics this year, look for the unexpected. Now is the time to try out …

Continue reading "Tasting History: Fall Recipes"

This blog post contains content that may be sensitive in nature. Shortly after noon on November 22, 1963, 35th US President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while traveling in a motorcade through Dallas, Texas. As part of a campaign tour, the presidential procession had been winding through the crowd-lined suburban streets of Dallas’s …

Continue reading "60 Years Later: The JFK Assassination Unfolds in the St. Louis Newsroom"

In Part 2, Tom Dooley found a sense of purpose helping Vietnamese refugees and also found himself tied to nation-building efforts led by CIA agent Edward Lansdale. As a result, his celebrity grew along with his humanitarian work. However, the CIA loomed over Dooley until his death in 1961, complicating his legacy as a humanitarian. …

Continue reading "A Closer Look at Dr. Tom Dooley: Creating an Iconic American"

This post is part of a series about the materials that built St. Louis. Southeastern Missouri’s Iron Range stretches roughly from the St. James area down toward Bonne Terre. Iron had been mined in this area since 1826, when the Merrimac Iron Works opened up, but it wasn’t until the 1850s that the material really started taking …

Continue reading "Built St. Louis: Iron"

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 …

Continue reading "Come Hell or High Water: The Great Flood of 1993"

Daniel L. Rust and Alan B. Hoffman are the authors of Come Fly with Me: The Rise and Fall of Trans World Airlines. The following is an excerpt from the book.  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 …

Continue reading "Transcontinental Air Transport’s Inaugural Flights"

From a multiday Día de los Muertos festival to the family favorite Winter Getaway series, the next two months are packed with opportunities to celebrate, learn, and engage at the Missouri History Museum, Soldiers Memorial Military Museum, and the Library & Research Center. Here are 11 reasons to visit the Missouri Historical Society before ringing …

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Halloween is here, and we’ve got a spine-tingling blog post that’ll be sure to give you chills! If you’ve spent any amount of time exploring the Missouri Historical Society (MHS) Collections via our Online Collections Search, you’ve likely noticed our extensive dolls collection. There’s a valid reason for this: The history of dolls can be traced …

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Listen to an episode about the Pine Street Specter on our Here’s History podcast with KDHX. Everyone loves a ghost story, which may explain why thousands braved chilly conditions one week in January 1887 to glimpse a mysterious specter reportedly haunting an upper-class St. Louis neighborhood. Sunday, January 16, 1887 The St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that …

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The All-Volunteer Military Force program replaced compulsory US military service in 1973. I served in the army both during and after the draft years and have watched the transition with enthusiasm as well as concern. A Brief History The US initiated the draft, or compulsory military service, via the Selective Training and Service Act of …

Continue reading "US All-Volunteer Military Marks 50 Years—but Is It Sustainable?"

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 …

Continue reading "Lucas and Garrison: General Andrew Jackson Smith"

As part of the Missouri Historical Society’s ongoing Collections Access project, the collections management department recently cataloged and photographed over 250 chairs in collections storage. Many of these chairs have incredibly interesting stories that help tell the history of St. Louis in new and exciting ways. We explored some of them in part 1. Now sit …

Continue reading "Highlights from the Chair Collection, Part 2"

If people in St. Louis today remember newspaper editor John A. Cockerill, it’s probably because of his involvement in the infamous shooting at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in October 1882. Cockerill, however, was instrumental in developing the newspaper that is still published today. Cockerill’s career as a journalist started when he was young. In 1859, …

Continue reading "The Man behind the Headlines"

During his three decades in St. Louis, Takuma Kajiwara became one of the most prominent photographers in the US. He was born in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1876 and moved in the 1890s to Seattle, where he worked at a photography studio. A photographic plates manufacturer invited Kajiwara to St. Louis to run a studio for …

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This post is part of a series about the materials that built St. Louis. Anyone who has spent time driving around St. Louis has likely been blown away by some aspect of our city’s architecture. We have structures of every shape, size, style, and era represented in our city. But far fewer people probably realize that the …

Continue reading "Built St. Louis: Limestone"

Rowing was a very popular sport in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, receiving much newspaper coverage and drawing large crowds for races and regattas. A group of rowing medals in the Missouri Historical Society Collections attest to this popularity. There were numerous rowing clubs in St. Louis, and their members were considered local …

Continue reading "A Crack Four-Oared Crew: Rowing Medals in the Collections"

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 …

Continue reading "Lucas and Garrison: Robert Barnes"