Latest News & Announcements

Missouri Life announced its 2026 Show Me the Best Awards in categories including food and drink, outdoor and adventure, and history, culture, and travel. SHSMO is honored to be among the nominees in the history category for Best History Museum. Honestly, we see our fellow nominees as the finest places to learn history, so voting for any of them is a vote for Missouri history! However, if you're smitten with us and so inclined, we appreciate your vote! The contest is underway this week, and you can vote once per day until the contest closes on November 9, 2026.

Retired NASA Astronaut and University of Missouri Professor Emerita Linda Godwin, Ph.D., will be the featured speaker at the State Historical Society of Missouri annual meeting and My Missouri lecture Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Center for Missouri Studies, 605 Elm St., Columbia. The annual meeting begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch at noon and Godwin’s talk at 1 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

A new exhibition in the William Guitar Little Missouri Gallery of Art welcomes visitors to consider the ways representation, power, and perspective shape our historical understanding of Native American people. Indigenous Identities: From State Sanctioned Portraiture to Native Self Representation is on display through Feb. 20, 2027. 

Art historian Matthew Knox Averett, Ph.D., will be giving the African American Experience in Missouri lecture at the State Historical Society of Missouri, 605 Elm St., Columbia, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. The presentation is titled “Where Frankie Met Johnny: Targee Street and the Making of Black St. Louis.”

Organizers of the 69th Annual Missouri Conference on History is asking for proposals for papers, panels, and posters in all fields of history, including public history and historic preservation. The conference, to be held in St. Louis, is particularly interested in proposals for complete sessions, including panelists, chair, and commentator. All proposals should be submitted no later than November 6, 2026.

History comes alive over the lunch hour this fall as the State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) presents a new season of History on Elm, a free monthly program series exploring the people, places, events, art and stories that have shaped Missouri and the nation. 

Special thanks to Central Bank | Central Trust and Shortwave Coffee, which helps support this series.

The State Historical Society of Missouri will host the world premiere of The Trail State, a new documentary film that examines how Missouri has taken a leadership role in trail-making, bringing communities together and creating accessibility throughout the state for the public to enjoy its natural beauty. The film, conceived and executive produced by Magnificent Missouri, is directed and produced by Once Films of St. Louis.

This week, August 3 through August 7, SHSMO is hosting a giving campaign to help collect, preserve and share important photos and stories, so you can see more of what you love on our website. 

The State Historical Society of Missouri is seeking proposals of up to $1,000, each, to help Missouri cultural heritage institutions preserve and provide access to local history. The deadline for organizations to submit their application is September 15, 2026. The one-year grant period begins in October 2026. The Richard S. Brownlee Missouri Local History grants honor a long-time former executive director of the State Historical Society who helped expand the Society’s holdings of newspapers, reference materials, manuscripts and artworks.

Middle school students from St. Louis, Peculiar, Raymore, Dixon, Richmond Heights, Waynesville, and Belton, participated in the Missouri Civics Bee sponsored by The Civic Trust of the U.S. Chamber Foundation, Missouri Chamber of Commerce, University of Missouri Kinder Institute for Constitutional Democracy, and the State Historical Society of Missouri. Regional partners include Harrisonville Chamber of Commerce and Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber of Commerce.