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Essays must be completed by the end of calendar year 2020 and must reflect significant scholarship in primary sources, evidence familiarity with appropriate secondary sources, and contain endnotes that comply with The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. The finished product will be considered for publication in a state bicentennial–themed issue of the Missouri Historical Review, although successful completion of the project is no guarantee of publication.

Patrick Atkinson finds there’s no better way to quench his thirst for knowledge than by keeping an active mind—at any age. The retired University of Missouri theater professor leads a busy schedule, volunteering with a number of organizations in Columbia. Several times a week he helps build mobility carts for people without access to wheelchairs in developing countries. During tax season, you can find him at the public library assisting others as they complete their tax forms. He also has been a steady volunteer for SHSMO, coming in twice a week since 2013.

The sixty-second annual Missouri Conference on History, hosted by Lindenwood University and sponsored by the State Historical Society of Missouri, will be held March 11-13, 2020, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis-Chesterfield.

Paper, panel, and student poster proposals in all fields of history, including public history and historic preservation, are invited. The conference is particularly interested in proposals for complete sessions, including panelists, chair, and commentator.

For three months in 1953, the residents of Springfield, Missouri, lived in fear as deadly snakes roamed the Queen City of the Ozarks. Town residents armed with hoes, pitchforks, and long poles patrolled the streets, and children were not allowed to play outside. The Great Cobra Scare of 1953 is legendary in Springfield history. Life and Time magazines sent reporters to cover the story. Eleven cobras were eventually apprehended, but no one knew where they came from until 35 years later. 

Twelve pairs of students and teachers—six from the mainland, and six from Hawaii—stood solemnly on July 28 for a ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Oahu. They were there for the culmination of the Sacrifice for Freedom: World War II in the Pacific Student and Teacher Institute, in which each student spends six months researching an American whose life was sacrificed during the war.

Mother Nature is unpredictable and terrifying at times. Missouri has faced more than its share of extreme weather this year, with damaging tornadoes and raging floodwaters affecting many parts of the state. In May, tornadoes swept across southwest and central Missouri, with one killing three people in Barton County and another ravaging Jefferson City. The one that struck the capital city tore through a historic district of hundred-year-old homes and businesses, as well as other neighborhoods.

The Center for Missouri Studies opened in grand style on August 10 with ceremonies and celebrations attended by about 1,200 supporters of the State Historical Society of Missouri. On a day chosen to coincide with the 198th anniversary of Missouri statehood, crowds witnessed elegant speeches and a ribbon cutting before pouring through the Center’s south front doors for the public’s first look at SHSMO’s new headquarters.

There will come a time, I suppose—although I cannot yet envision it—when I will not approach the Center for Missouri Studies and think, “Oh, My Lord!”

The thought came to me one morning in mid-June as I stood on the sidewalk across from the south entrance. Workers high above were...