On Demand Videos

In this virtual program from the State Historical Society of Missouri, Steven Brawley, founder of the St. Louis LGBT History Project and SHSMO trustee, leads a discussion on utilizing the LGBTQIA+ collections at SHSMO and the use of one particular collection–the Helen Stephens Collection (C3552)–for research in an upcoming documentary film.

Explore bicentennial musical events that speak to and about Missouri!

Records involving land transfers after the original title holder often require a deeper level of understanding to be used effectively. Watch as Bill Eddleman provides an overview on locating available information in land records and other sources.

Learn about places and events to explore this summer that will connect you to the bicentennial! Discover the history and culture in unique Missouri locales, whether they are only a short drive away or take you to the far corners of the Show-Me state.

Our panel shares their insights on the art and culture of quilt-making and talks about the special quilts created by Missourians for the bicentennial.

Watch as Missouri Civil War historian and retired SHSMO associate director John Bradbury leads a conversation with Jeremy Neely, assistant professor of history at Missouri State University, and recent MSU graduate Trevor Martin. Neely and Martin discuss their article from the January 2021 Missouri Historical Review about the correspondence between Henry Fike, a quartermaster in the Union army, and his wife, Cimbaline, who wrote from the home front in Mascoutah, Illinois, southeast of St. Louis.

Bill Eddleman discusses the basics of land grants, federal land sales, military bounty land, and numerous other ways to study records on first title.

In this presentation, hear how organizations around the state are preserving the stories of our past and engaging new audiences.

SHSMO Art Curator Joan Stack, PhD, presents a virtual tour of the 2021 Ellis Library exhibition, Historic Images of Black Families:. Focusing on artworks and photos from SHSMO collections, the show explores the various ways African American families have been depicted in 19th and 20th-century art.

Professional and amateur artists of all ages are commemorating 200 years of Missouri statehood with creative expression. Enjoy this presentation on collaborative projects across the state.

Vital records provide basic information about an individual, including birth, death, marriage, church, and cemetery details. Bill Eddleman discusses where to locate this information, how sources vary from place to place, and the pitfalls of each type of source.

This program draws on work by the Missouri Humanities Council and the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy that explores the controversy of accepting Missouri as the 24th state and how it ultimately leads to the Civil War.

Watch as SHSMO art curator Joan Stack provides a virtual tour of Daniel Fitzpatrick’s WWII cartoons. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Fitzpatrick chronicled the progression of World War II as it happened with powerful and poignant editorial cartoons.

Missourians in rural and urban communities are coming together to showcase the vast geographic and cultural diversity of the state while celebrating the similarities that bring us together. Join Michael Sweeney, coordinator of Missouri 2021, for an overview of the exciting projects and events commemorating the state’s bicentennial.

Bill Eddleman discusses the information found on censuses and how it has changed from 1790 through 1940. Eddleman also talks about special census schedules.

For SHSMO's 2020 Fall Lecture, Youngstown State University professor Amy Laurel Fluker discusses Civil War commemoration in Missouri as pursued most often by women and from both sides of the conflict.

In the 1940s, the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council managed to move over 4000 students from internment camps back into colleges in the midwest and along the east coast. This presentation from Dr. Larry Gragg and Debra Griffith identifies thirteen of these students, explores their success at Missouri School of Mines, and details the research needed to identify them.

Watch SHSMO's Sean Rost explore three unique Missouri legends that have deep ties to the Show-Me State.

In this inaugural Missouri Historical Review Author Series program, Larry Gragg, PhD, profiles George E. Ladd, the strong-willed director of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM) at the turn of the twentieth century.

Bill Eddleman explains how to find and use online records that are free and discover what’s available from subscription services.

Bill Eddleman teaches us how to assemble what we already have—or can easily access—while giving tips on how to stay organized, interview relatives, keep focused, maintain a record of research, and determine research locations.

The flu epidemic of 1918 ravaged populations around the globe. It is estimated that the flu contributed to the deaths of more than 50 million people worldwide by the end of 1920. In this two-part series, SHSMO senior archivist Kathleen Seale talks about how different communities in Missouri experienced and responded to the 1918 flu epidemic. 

"Votes for Missouri Women!" Part One features radio host Kevin Walsh talking with historian and activist Margot McMillen about the circumstances surrounding a silent protest for women's suffrage in St. Louis that took place on the opening day of the 1916 Democratic Convention.

"Votes for Missouri Women!" Part Two explores the 2020 Center for Missouri Studies exhibition Missouri Women: Suffrage to Statecraft.

Watch as SHSMO art curator Joan Stack, Ph.D., provides a virtual tour focusing on the aesthetics of the State Historical Society of Missouri’s new headquarters in Columbia. Designed by Kansas City architectural firm Gould Evans, the Center for Missouri Studies is an award-winning, state-of-the-art facility that provides lasting preservation of Missouri history and culture statewide.