Latest News & Announcements

Staff of the State Historical Society hosted a brunch recently at the Center for Missouri Studies to honor the volunteers who have provided assistance to the Society during the past year. Over 4,000 volunteer hours – an equivalent of two full-time staff – has helped SHSMO carry out its work. From a larger perspective, volunteers have contributed over 53,000 hours to SHSMO since we began tracking their hours in 2005.

The State Historical Society of Missouri is seeking proposals for two Gary R. Kremer Center for Missouri Studies fellowships to begin January 1, 2027. Each fellowship carries a stipend of $5,000 for a project resulting in a scholarly essay on one of the two topics listed below. Proposals must be submitted by Sept. 8, 2026.

Just under 500 middle and high school students from across the state competed in the National History Day state contest April 25, 2026, on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. The annual program is sponsored and organized by the State Historical Society of Missouri. Fifty-five Missouri students who received first and second place in the state contest will compete in the national contest June 14-18 at the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.

What better way to celebrate the centennial of Route 66 than with a road trip! Whether you're in Paris, Missouri, or Paris, France, you can follow along with us on social media as we drive from St. Louis to Joplin, stopping at iconic Missouri places that helped immortalize Route 66 in pop culture for the past century.

Join us, beginning this Thursday, as we tell the stories of people and places in Missouri that helped make Route 66 into a national icon. On the second Thursday of every month at 11am the State Historical Society of Missouri will be talking Route 66 in Missouri in this virtual program. Host Kathleen Seale, coordinator of the SHSMO Rolla and Springfield Research Centers, will talk with SHSMO staff who are contributing to the centennial events and collections. Seale serves on national and state organizations planning this year's Route 66 centennial celebrations.

A new exhibition at the State Historical Society of Missouri highlights stories and experiences of veterans, woven within the fibers of the American military uniform. The free exhibition on display at the William Guitar Little Missouri Gallery of Art also invites the public to write their wishes for the country’s future during the 250th anniversary of the nation’s Declaration of Independence on the exhibition’s “wishing wall.”  The gallery is located inside the State Historical Society of Missouri’s headquarters at the Center for Missouri Studies, 605 Elm St., Columbia, Mo.

Thanks to all who joined us for Missouri Conference on History held at Old Stoneybook Inn in Camdenton! It was a great opportunity for the 175 registrants to network and hear from scholars who are doing research in the field of Missouri history. Congratulations to the award winners whose work has contributed to Missouri history this past year. They include:

Missouri Book Award: Matthew Knox Averett, Creighton University, “Canfield Drive: A History of Race and the American City on a Street in St. Louis”

The Missouri Humanities Board of Directors recently announced two books to represent Missouri as the 2026 Great Reads from Great Places, including This Place of Promise: A Historian's Perspective on 200 Years of Missouri History by Gary R. Kremer, SHSMO executive director emeritus. Kremer's book was selected in the adult literature category to represent Missouri in 2026.

The State Historical Society of Missouri is hitting the pavement this year to commemorate 100 years since Route 66 began with a telegram sent from the Colonial Hotel Springfield, Mo., accepting the number "66" for the soon-to-be famous highway. We look back on this national icon to understand the places and people who traveled from afar or lived or ran businesses along the Mother Road. SHSMO's new exhibition, Through the Windshield: Missouri’s Route 66, helps us view this prism in 20th century history and culture in Missouri.

Ozark Vitality, the State Historical Society of Missouri, and Opportunity 1888 Foundation announce the world premiere of Soaring Together: A Tuskegee Airmen Story, a new short film inspired by the true story of World War II Tuskegee Airmen James Shipley of Tipton, Missouri, and Harry Stewart Jr. of Queens, New York.