The collections of the State Historical Society of Missouri include the materials for civic leaders who are not politicians, who work toward the betterment of the community and the lives of the people who live there. They may be labor leaders, civil rights leaders, environmentalists, the founders of non-profit organizations, or the supporters or opponents of a host of social and economic issues that affect society. Also, included in this category are organizations or groups who advocate for similar causes. Some examples of collections available through the State Historical Society of Missouri include the personal papers of Johnson Lykins Bingham and Martha Lykins who promoted the establishment of the Home for Widows and Orphans of Confederate soldiers; Rosemary Claypool Young who advocated for women, children and automobile safety; or groups such as the League of Women Voters. These, along with around 175 other collections, represent the civic engagement of a host of Missourians who sought to better their communities.
Articles from Missouri Historical Review and Missouri Times
- Adams, Patricia L. "Fighting for Democracy in St. Louis: Civil Rights During World War II."
Missouri Historical Review 80 (October 1985): 58-75. - Boxerman, Burton A. "The St. Louis Jewish Coordinating Council: Its Formative Years."
Missouri Historical Review 65 (October 1970): 51-71. - Bryant, Thomas Julian "Bryant’s Station and Its Founder, William Bryant."
Part I: Missouri Historical Review 3 (October 1908): 34-51.
Part II: Missouri Historical Review 4 (July 1910): 219-237.
Part III: Missouri Historical Review 5 (April 1911): 150-173. - Caldwell, Dorothy J. "Carry Nation, A Missouri Woman, Won Fame as a Kansas Crusader."
Missouri Historical Review 63 (July 1969): 461-488. - Christensen, Lawrence O. "The Racial Views of John W. Wheeler."
Missouri Historical Review 67 (July 1973): 535-547. - Crighton, John C. "Robert Beverly Price II: Banker and Philanthropist."
Missouri Historical Review 70 (April 1976): 306-314. - Daniel, Walter C. "W.E.B. Du Bois at Lincoln University: Founders’ Day Address, 1941."
Missouri Historical Review 74 (April 1980): 343-355. - Dorsey, C.P. "Americans Abroad – James Cash Penney."
Missouri Historical Review 21 (July 1927): 545-561. - Fly, David Kerrigan "An Episcopal Priest’s Reflections on the Kansas city Riot of 1968."
Missouri Historical Review 100 (January 2006): 103-112. - Foley, William E. "Slave Freedom Suits Before Dred Scott: The Case of Marie Jean Scypion’s Descendants."
Missouri Historical Review 79 (October 1984): 1-23. - Gentry, North Todd "General Odon Guitar."
Missouri Historical Review 22 (July 1928): 419-445. - Goodrich, James W. "Lewis Atherton (1905-1989)."
Missouri Historical Review 83 (July 1989): 448-458.
"Richard S. Brownlee II (1918-1990)."
Missouri Historical Review 84 (July 1990): 375-383. - Grissom, Daniel M. "Personal Recollections of Distinguished Missourians-Uriel Wright."
Missouri Historical Review 19 (October 1924): 94-98. - Heller, Otto "Charles Sealsfield, A Forgotten Discoverer of the Valley of the Mississippi."
Missouri Historical Review 31 (July 1937): 382-401. - Holland, Antonio F.; Kremer, Gary R. "Some Aspects of Black Education in Reconstruction Missouri: An Address by Richard Foster."
Missouri Historical Review 92 (July 1998): 407-420. - Huber, Patrick J.; Kremer, Gary R. "Nathaniel C. Bruce, Black Education and the ‘Tuskegee of the Midwest.’"
Missouri Historical Review 86 (October 1991): 37-54. - King, Roy T. "Robert William Wells, Jurist, Public Servant, and Designer of the Missouri State Seal."
Missouri Historical Review 30 (January 1936): 107-131. - Kremer, Gary "Just Like the Garden of Eden: African-American Community Life in Kansas City's Leeds."
Missouri Historical Review 98 (January 2004): 121-144. - Kremer, Gary R.; Mackey, Cindy M. "Yours for the Race: The life and Work of Josephine Silone Yates."
Missouri Historical Review 90 (January 1996): 199-215. - Lauer, Jeanette C.; Lauer, Robert H. "The St. Louis Provident Association: An Elitist War on Poverty, 1860-1899."
Missouri Historical Review 77 (April 1983): 296-309. - McLarty, Vivian K. "A Missionary’s Wife Looks at Missouri. Letters of Julia Barnard Strong, 1836-1839."
Missouri Historical Review 47 (July 1953): 329-343. - Mitchell, William I. "William Francis English: Educator and Civic Activist."
Missouri Historical Review 89 (July 1995): 427-446. - Morris, Monia Cook "The History of Woman Suffrage in Missouri, 1867-1901."
Missouri Historical Review 25 (October 1930): 67-82. - Muehl, Siegmar "Eduard Muhl: 1800-1854, Missouri Editor, Religious Free-Thinker and Fighter for Human Rights."
Missouri Historical Review 81 (October 1986): 18-36. - Mumford, F.B. "William H. Hatch – His Great Contribution to Agriculture."
Missouri Historical Review 18 (July 1924): 503-506. - Richardson, Joe M. "The American Missionary Association and Black Education in Civil War Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 69 (July 1975): 433-448. - Saloutos, Theodore "William Hirth and the Missouri Farmers’ Association."
Missouri Historical Review 44 (October 1949): 1-20. - Scott, Mary Semple "History of Woman Suffrage in Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 14 (April-July 1920): 281-384. - Shepherd, E.M. "Historical Activities of the Springfield, Missouri, University Club."
Missouri Historical Review 22 (July 1928): 502-510. - Shoemaker, Floyd C. "In Memoriam-Francis Asbury Sampson."
Missouri Historical Review 12 (April 1918): 129-135. - Stepenoff, Bonnie "Mother and Teacher as Missouri State Penitentiary Inmates: Goldman and O’Hare, 1917-1920."
Missouri Historical Review 85 (July 1991): 402-421. - Stevens, Walter B. "When a Missourian Forced a Special Session of Congress."
Missouri Historical Review 23 (October 1928): 44-48. - Strickland, Arvarh E. "The Plight of the People in the Sharecroppers’ Demonstration in Southeast Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 81 (July 1987): 403-416. - Sullivan, Margaret "Fighting for Irish Freedom: St. Louis Irish-Americans, 1918-1922."
Missouri Historical Review 65 (January 1971): 184-206. - Summers, Floyd G. "Charles V. Riley, Benefactor of Agriculture."
Missouri Historical Review 19 (July 1925): 611-621. - Templin, Lucinda de Leftwich "Two Illustrious Pioneers in the Education of Women in Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 21 (April 1927): 420-437. - Towey, Martin G.; Sullivan, Margaret LoPiccolo "The Knights of Father Mathew: Parallel Ethnic Reform."
Missouri Historical Review 75 (January 1981): 168-183. - Towne, Ruth Warner "Marie Turner Harvey and the Rural Life Movement."
Missouri Historical Review 84 (July 1990): 384-403. - Vaughan, William Edward "Bill Vaughan’s Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 58 (January 1964): 140-150.
Catalog
Many of the State Historical Society’s holdings are included in the SHSMO online catalog. The State Historical Society holds numerous books on the history of civic affairs and leaders in Missouri, the Midwest, and the United States generally. Use the term "civic affairs." For a more specific search, simply add the subject term “Missouri” to your search.
Editorial Cartoons
The Society’s collection of editorial cartoons was started in 1946 with an important donation of works by Pulitzer-prize-winning artist Daniel F. Fitzpatrick. The collection continues to grow, with over 8,000 works from Bill Mauldin, Tom Engelhardt, and many others.
The works graphically and often poignantly reflect the attitudes and opinions of the artists and the citizens of Missouri from the early days of the twentieth century through World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and later events that saw the United States develop into a world leader.
Historic Missourian Biographies
- Margaret Tobin Brown
- Adolphus Busch
- Rene Auguste and Jean Pierre Chouteau
- Phoebe Wilson Couzins
- Alexander William Doniphan
- James M. Douglas
- Lloyd Lionel Gaines
- Edna Fischel Gellhorn
- Richard and Ann Hawkins Gentry
- Clarence Earl Gideon
- Gwen B. Giles
- Allen Percival Green
- Fred V. Heinkel
- John Brooks Henderson
- Lucy Wortham James
- Annie Turnbo Malone
- Virginia Minor
- Carrie Amelia Nation
- Kate Richards O’Hare
- Marie Watkins Oliver
- James Cash Penney
- James Sidney Rollins
- Howard A. Rusk
- Carl Schurz
- Dred Scott
- Harriet Robinson Scott
- James Milton Turner
- White Cloud
- Walter Williams
- Margaret Bush Wilson
- Harriett Woods
- More can be found in the Leaders and Activists Historic Missourians category.
Manuscripts
The State Historical Society of Missouri manuscript collections include personal and professional papers of community leaders, but not politicians, who take active roles to improve their communities, and of organizations with similar goals. Collections may also include the records of social service organizations with civic aims.
Newspapers
The newspapers found in this list represent papers with a civic-minded agenda. Included here are labor titles, or papers that advocated for certain populations such as farmers or immigrants.
For a list of all digitized newspapers, visit the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project.
For a list of newspapers on microfilm at The State Historical Society of Missouri, visit the newspaper catalog.
| County | City | Title | Also Available On | Date Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caldwell | Hamilton | Farmers' Advocate | Microfilm | April 5, 1893-December 20, 1906 |
| Caldwell | Hamilton | Hamilton Farmer's Advocate | Microfilm | April 26, 1890-February 27, 1919 |
| Christian | Billings | Reformer | Microfilm | March 8, 1876 |
| Christian | Ozark | Free Silver Herald | Microfilm | January 15, 1897-May 21, 1897 |
| Greene | Springfield | Equal Rights Gazette | Microfilm | August 25, 1860-September 21, 1861 |
| Greene | Springfield | Springfield Labor Record | Microfilm | August 31, 1979-March 21, 1985 |
| Greene | Springfield | Springfield Laborer | Microfilm | December 12, 1916-June 15, 1917 |
| Greene | Springfield | Union Labor Record | Microfilm | October, 20 1937-August 24, 1979 |
| Jackson | Independence | Equality | Microfilm | November 15, 1909-November 1, 1911 |
| Jackson | Kansas City | Kansas City Labor | Microfilm | January 12, 1895-March 16, 1895 |
| Jackson | Kansas City | Kansas City Labor News | Microfilm | March 7, 1924-May 27, 1938 |
| Jackson | Kansas City | Labor Herald | Microfilm | February 5, 1904-September 27, 1940 |
| Jackson | Kansas City | Labor Journal | Microfilm | September 25, 1942-December 24, 1962 |
| Jackson | Kansas City | Liberator | Microfilm | January 2, 1903-December 24, 1903 |
| Jackson | Kansas City | People's Advocate | Microfilm | April 10, 1902-April 15, 1902 |
| Jackson | Kansas City | Reform | Microfilm | March 17, 1900-June 19, 1909 |
| Jasper | Carl Junction | Socialist News | Microfilm | October 2, 1906-April 16, 1907 |
| Jasper | Joplin | Labor Record | Microfilm | April 1, 1900-September 15, 1901 |
| Jasper | Joplin | Missouri Trades Unionist | Microfilm | January 13, 1908-March 16, 1921 |
| Laclede | Lebanon | Lebanon Anti-Monopolist | Microfilm | August 4, 1876-March 5, 1880 |
| Lawrence | Mount Vernon | Immigrant's Guide | Microfilm | November 1, 1878-March 31, 1880 |
| Lewis | Canton | Missouri Plebeian | Microfilm | June 16, 1848-April 27, 1849 |
| Macon | Macon | Missouri Granger | Microfilm | March 3, 1874-May 12, 1876 |
| Marion | Hannibal | Hannibal Labor Press | Microfilm | December 11, 1915-January 1, 1971 |
| Pettis | Sedalia | Liberator | Microfilm | August 27, 1910-August 22, 1914 |
| Pettis | Sedalia | Missouri Dry | Microfilm | January 1, 1916-December 1, 1916 |
| Pettis | Sedalia | Social Messenger | Microfilm | September 7, 1913-November 30, 1918 |
| Phelps | St. James | Progressive News | Microfilm | December 12, 1912-December 25, 1913 |
| Randolph | Higbee | Altruist | Microfilm | August 1, 1895-November 30, 1895 |
| Reynolds | Centreville | Centreville Reformer | Microfilm | March 3, 1904-December 26, 1907 |
| St. Clair | Osceola | Voice of the People | Microfilm | January 6, 1880-November 21, 1883 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Altruist | Microfilm | April 1, 1885-May 1, 1917 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Communist | Microfilm | December 1, 1868-February 28, 1885 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Equality | Microfilm | April 3, 1905 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Gas House Worker | Microfilm | April 6, 1935-June 19, 1935 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Gay News-Telegraph | Microfilm | October 6, 1981-November 8, 1996 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Illinois Labor Tribune | Microfilm | May 23, 1963-April 7, 1966 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Indiana Labor Tribune | Microfilm | June 1, 1955-January 9, 1970 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Labor | Microfilm | April 29, 1893-April 22, 1899 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Labor Campaign | Microfilm | October 7, 1894-October 28, 1894 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Labor Compendium | Microfilm | July 28, 1901-March 31, 1911 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | St. Louis/ Southern Illinois Labor Tribune | Microfilm | November 1, 2012-October 30, 2014 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Labor’s Call | Microfilm | April 25, 1977-June 15, 1979 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Lesbian and Gay News-Telegraph | Microfilm | June 1, 1988-December 9, 1994 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Midwest Labor World | Microfilm | May 12, 1943-May 15, 1963 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Milwaukee Labor | Microfilm | September 3, 1894 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Missouri Labor | Microfilm | February 20, 1897-January 7, 1906 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Missouri Socialist | Microfilm | January 5, 1901-November 1, 1902 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Missouri Teamster | Microfilm | June 7, 1963-December 31, 1937 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Nation-Wide Protest | Microfilm | July 1, 1937-July 31, 1937 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Progressive Press | Microfilm | December 12, 1930-January 31, 1932 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Social Revolution | Microfilm | March 1, 1917-February 28, 1918 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Southern Illinois Labor Tribune | Microfilm | January 1, 1954-May 16, 1963; April 14, 1966-December 25, 1970 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | St. Louis Labor | Microfilm | January 3, 1903-December 6, 1930; December 7, 1895-July 25, 1896 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | St. Louis Labor Tribune | Microfilm | June 25, 1937-August 29, 1985 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | St. Louis Progressive Woman | Microfilm | May 1, 1995-March 31, 2003 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | St. Louis Union Labor Advocate | Microfilm | September 3, 1934-August 29, 1958 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune | Microfilm | September 5, 1985-October 25, 2012 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | Troy Labor | Microfilm | July 21, 1894-August 18, 1894 |
| Scotland | Memphis | Farmer's Union | Microfilm | February 5, 1891-January 24, 1895 |
| Scotland | Memphis | People's Messenger | Microfilm | March 19, 1896-February 17, 1898 |
| Washington | Caledonia | Rural Progressive | Microfilm | October 6, 1977-January 26, 1978 |
Oral Histories
Maxwell Williams was a leader of civic groups concerned with transportation and educational improvements in the area, served on the board of directors of the Little River Drainage District, was president of Sikeston Federal Land Bank Association (1943-1944), and was a member of the state advisory committee of the U.S. Farmers Home Administration (1950s).
Photographs
Search the following names and collections on SHSMO's Digital Collections website for images of individuals who have served their communities. Most of the images are portraits of individuals or families who showed civic leadership during their lives. Examples include Thomas Bullene, former mayor of Kansas City, and Henry J. Haskell the editor of the Kansas City Star and a trustee of the State Historical Society of Missouri.
- Thomas B. Bullene
- Business men’s portraits of 1897 (K0542)
- Convention Halls and Municipal Auditorium Scrapbook
- Henry J. Haskell
- Kansas City Convention Hall Records
- Joseph Van Clief Karnes
- Phoebe (Test) Moulder Black
- Thomas V. Moulder
- Wilbur Moulder
- Moulder Family
- Francis Moulder
- The Missouri Collection (C3982)
- Robert T. Van Horn