As part of its mission to generate interest and appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of the state and its people, the Society hosts a wide range of engaging and educational events for scholars and community members of all ages.
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View past Missouri student projects and learn how you can be a participant in the National History Day competition with an original documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or website. Facilitated by Danielle Griego and Maeve Prusnick, National History Day in Missouri coordinators.
The State Historical Society of Missouri and Phelps County Historical Society are hosting a series of Route 66 events to celebrate National Archives Month in October. Join us for the opening reception at the Old Phelps County Courthouse to experience Missouri’s Main Street: 100 years of Route 66. The State Historical Society of Missouri’s travel exhibit that highlights the people and places that made the mother road.
Art historian Matthew Knox Averett examines the vital center of Black life in St. Louis at the turn of the 20th century and how Black migration, real estate, housing, poverty, and policing shaped the neighborhood of Chestnut Valley. The vibrant Black neighborhood in downtown St. Louis centered around Market, Targee, and Chestnut Streets and became a place of community, survival, and culture creation with ties to ragtime, the Blues, and the famous ballad "Frankie and Johnny."
Do you love a good ghost story? Join SHSMO archivist Hali Allen as we take a spooky ride along Missouri’s Haunted Route 66, exploring haunted mansions, castles, roads, theatres, and other paranormal activities. For more than a cetury, the area surrounding the Mother Road has produced tales of ghosts, zombies, spook lights and other unexplained phenomenon. Allen will share stories about the spirits at St. Louis's Lemp Mansion, the infamous Zombie Road, the Goat Man in Rolla, and the Ozark Spook Light outside of Joplin. Register and attend this webinar…if you dare.
Often overshadowed by battles in the East, the Revolutionary War in the West played a pivotal role in shaping the future United States. Orders were issued from the highest levels in Great Britain to sweep the Americans and Spanish from both sides of the Mississippi River. While coordinating several separate attacks, the centerpiece of this grand plan was the descent from the North by a huge British-led contingent of 1,000 men against St. Louis (the administrative center for Spanish Upper Louisiana) and American-held Cahokia, which suffered simultaneous attacks on May 26, 1780.
The State Historical Society of Missouri and Phelps County Historical Society are hosting a series of Route 66 events to celebrate National Archives Month in October. Join Ed Klein as he discusses the revitalization of Spencer Station, an iconic stop on the mother road in Lawrence County, Missouri.
Retired Judge Gary Oxenhandler of Columbia offers a compelling behind-the-scenes account of the 1976 disappearance of University of Missouri student Rebecca Abbott Doisy and the relentless 35-year pursuit of justice that followed. Through meticulous storytelling, Judge Oxenhandler, who presided over the final trial, takes us through the cold case – from the initial investigation and a prison informant’s revelation to the suspect’s unexpected self-initiated arrest in Georgia.
The State Historical Society of Missouri and Phelps County Historical Society are hosting a series of Route 66 events to celebrate National Archives Month in October. Join Bob Roach and Tim Jones as they discuss growing up on Route 66 and running their families iconic Phelps County businesses along the famous route.
The Film Verliebte Feinde (Enemies in Love) tells the story of one of the most well-known, provocative, and politically connected married couples of 20th century Swiss history. After falling in love after meeting in law school, Iris and Peter von Roten had an unconventional marriage with opposing views on politics, culture, and women's rights. While married, Iris, travelled to Columbia, Mo. to study at the University of Missouri in the early 1930s with plans to write a book when she returned to Switzerland.
Join us for the 2026 Annual Meeting of the State Historical Society of Missouri, featuring a talk by Dr. Linda Godwin, former NASA astronaut and professor emeritus, University of Missouri Department of Physics and Astronomy. Learn about Dr. Godwin's career and how the state of Missouri influenced her life.
The business meeting and annual report begins at 10:30 a.m., including a presentation of the Book and Article Awards. The meeting is open to the public.
The State Historical Society of Missouri and Phelps County Historical Society are hosting a series of Route 66 events to celebrate National Archives Month in October. Join the SHSMO Rolla and Springfield Research Centers Regional Director Kathleen Seale for her discussion about navigating Missouri’s Route 66 through the years.
Join us for an afternoon of music so good it’s scary! This Halloween, SHSMO will close out the 2026 Music on Elm concert series with performances by hometown heroes The Onions and Adventure Hat. The event and the music are family-friendly and we encourage you to get into the holiday spirit with your finest costume! Crafts and candy provided for all the ghouls and goblins.
Are you participating in the National History Day program for the first time? Or maybe you're looking for History Day project ideas? We have you covered! Join us at the State Historical Society of Missouri St. Louis Research Center to learn more about the program and topics related to this year’s theme. Please RSVP to the regional coordinator at: ivqvw@umsl.edu.
Norman Akers, Osage artist and educator from Oklahoma will speak on Osage artists and the art that moves our culture forward. Osage Artists Today will examine a selection of contemporary Osage artists and how their work serves as a bridge between our history and cultural practices and the present. The Osage people experienced forced removal from Missouri and Arkansas in the early 1820s and subsequently settled on the Osage Reservation in Oklahoma in 1872. This displacement has led some to assert that there was a loss of culture and traditional practices.
As we end a full year of activities for the commemoration of Route 66 in Missouri, we reflect on the centennial and share video travelogues and conversation of a week-long epic road trip from St. Louis to Joplin with SHSMO staff Kathleen Seale, Beth Pike and Stacia Schaefer. What did the centennial mean to people in Missouri and around the globe and where does this journey take the next travelers who will experience the open roadways in the U.S. and meet the people, visit places, and hear unique stories along the way.
Author Greg Olson of Columbia's newest book in 2026 tells the story of Jeffrey Deroine (de-rō-NAY), an enslaved trader, prairie diplomat and Missouri settler. Born into slavery in St. Louis in 1806, Deroine worked and lived in the heart of a rapidly changing nation. Forced to work in the fur trade on the Missouri River, he gained his freedom and became an interpreter for the Ioway nation. Later, he participated in the founding of the frontier city of St. Joseph, Missouri.
Join the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society to hear from author and photographer Candacy Taylor on her work regarding the realities of travel on Route 66. Her work examines the gulf between our nostalgic reimagining of the postwar “happy days” and the fabled highway’s idealized past. It takes the audience through a state-by-state journey a Black family would have experienced traveling Route 66 during the Jim Crow era.
Join the State Historical Society of Missouri and Richard Bookstore (inside the Center for Missouri Studies) for our annual community tradition featuring unique local vendors, holiday shopping, live caroling, and a visit from Santa and the Grinch! The Holiday Open House brings together makers, artisans, and small businesses for a cheerful morning of shopping and festivities. It's the perfect place to enjoy the holiday spirit and find one-of-a-kind gifts and books for friends and family.
Vendor Registration
As Spencer and Route 66 both mark their centennial year, a once forgotten stretch of America’s Mother Road is experiencing a remarkable revival. Located 24 miles west of Springfield, Mo. in Miller, travelers from across the globe stop at Spencer Station to visit this historical gem that is making a comeback.
SHSMO has a selection of on demand programs that are freely available to worldwide audiences.
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Ladies and Gentlemen… the Beatles! With those words Ed Sullivan – America’s unofficial Minister of Culture – introduced us to the Fab Four on February 9, 1964. With just five catchy songs on Sullivan’s show, “the sixties” as an era began that Sunday night. During their 1964 U.S. tour, the Beatles played an exhausting stretch of eight concerts a week, including Kansas City. On September 19, they were secretly flown to a ranch in Alton, Missouri for a needed weekend of rest and relaxation. Join Dr.
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In 2026, the State Historical Society of Missouri embarked on a five-day roadtrip from St. Louis to the state line, just west of Joplin, to meet the people and places along America's beloved Main Street - Route 66. SHSMO's crew of history adventurers arrived in Springfield, Mo., on April 30, 2026, just in time for the kickoff of the National Route 66 Centennial. Come along on our five-day adventure!
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, St. Louis renowned photographer and author Quinta Scott (1941-2024) traveled extensively along Route 66 capturing this iconic road and the people and places associated with it. AJ Medlock, regional director of the State Historical Society of Missouri St. Louis Research Center, recounts Scott's groundbreaking research on Route 66 as was one of the first historians to chronicle Route 66’s history. Her books "Route 66" (1988) and "Along Route 66" (2000) provided the foundations for the study and preservation of the Mother Road.
Alberta Northcutt Ellis was a Springfield, Missouri, entrepreneur who owned and operated several businesses along Route 66 including Alberta’s Hotel. Her businesses were noted locations listed in the Green Book. Open to locals and travelers, the hospitality and community sanctuary found at Alberta’s has become an enduring legacy for future generations.
The State Historical Society of Missouri Executive Director Joel Rhodes interviewed Colonel John W. Clark (USAF. Ret.), chronicling the Columbia, Missouri, native and University of Missouri graduate’s inspirational journey as a Prisoner of War in the infamous Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. Colonel Clark’s Phantom II jet was shot down during a reconnaissance flight on March 12, 1967. For the next six years – 2,176 days – the North Vietnamese held him in captivity under squalid and horrific conditions.
